I had to share it with you. I can’t think of a better first line from a crime novel. It made me laugh with pleasure!
It’s from Arnaldur Indridason’s Silence of the Grave, the second book (in English) in the Erlendur series. Some of the best reads I’ve had recently; I love the (ahem) gallows humour.
One of my favourites is “Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months” Which is one of the only details to have stayed with me from High Rise by J G Ballard (admittedly, I had to look up the exact quote.) A cracking first line!
That’s pretty good, too. Ballard had a good line in gallows humour.