Mystery has its own mysteries, and there are gods above gods. We have ours, they have theirs. That is what's known as infinity.
As I make my slow pilgrimage through the world, a certain sense of beautiful mystery seems to gather and grow.
I would say that, in the future, the book will be reserved for things that function best as a book. So, if I need a textbook that's going to be out of date because of new technological inventions, you're better off having it where you can download the supplements or the update. If you're going to read a quick mystery novel to keep you amused while you're traveling, it's fine.
The mystery story is two stories in one: the story of what happened and the story of what appeared to happen.
It's important to write a mystery novel where the takeaway is not a giveaway - where something could be read over and over.
Has all the trappings of a mystery novel, doesn't it?
[On Dashiell Hammett:]. . . he is so hard-boiled you could roll him on the White House lawn.
