Characters in Big Driver

“You were going to kill yourself, and then some phantom voice told you to go back to Alvin Strehlke’s house, instead.” “Yes,” Tess replied. “Where I found my purse. And the duck with the blood on it.”

… by a businesslike woman who identified herself as Andrea. She listened to Tess, and said they would send a car right out, her driver would be Manuel. Yes, she knew exactly where Tess was calling from, because they ran cars out to The Stagger Inn all the time. “Okay, but …

… was from a woman who identified herself as Betsy Neal. She said she was calling from The Stagger Inn. “As part of our effort to discourage drinking and driving, our policy is to courtesy-call people who leave their cars in our lot after closing,” Betsy Neal said. “Your Ford Expedition, …

In one of the Knitting Society books, Doreen Marquis had said, The two best things in life are warm croissants and a quick way home. This was a case of the writer using her own dearly held beliefs to enliven her fiction. “Can you program intersections in your GPS?”

I don’t want to see Dr. Hedstrom, and I don’t need to see Dr. Hedstrom. That decision’s been made, although later—a couple of weeks from now, maybe, when my face looks more or less normal again—I’ll have to get checked out for STDs... “Don’t forget the AIDS test,” she said, …

And Fritzy, her cat, hated keeping house by himself. This he made clear when she came home, twining between her feet on the stairs and often making promiscuous use of his claws when he sat in her lap.

“Goober?” What the hell, it was as good a name for a country dog as any. “My name’s Tess. I have some hamburger for you. I also have a gun with one bullet in it.

… inscribe happy birthday wishes, happy anniversary wishes, To Janet, a fan of all my books, and To Leah—Hope to see you at Lake Toxaway again this summer! (a slightly odd request, since Tess had never been there, but presumably the autograph-seeker had). When all the books had been signed and …

… a fan of all my books, and To Leah—Hope to see you at Lake Toxaway again this summer! (a slightly odd request, since Tess had never been there, but presumably the autograph-seeker had). When all the books had been signed and the last few lingerers had been satisfied with more …

… She still had an obligation to the women in the pipe, and any other women who might join them if Lester Strehlke escaped. And after what she had just done, it was more important than ever that he not escape. She had one more stop to make. But not in …

… a car right out, her driver would be Manuel. Yes, she knew exactly where Tess was calling from, because they ran cars out to The Stagger Inn all the time. “Okay, but I’m not there,” Tess said. “I’m at the intersection about half a mile down from th—” “Yes, ma’am, …

“Make it ‘To Mary, a true fan.’ Can you do that?” Tess could. And as she was adding the date, a fresh confabulation came to mind. “A man helped me when my boyfriend and I were... you know, tussling.

I have a gun. My brother Mike is my only surviving close relative. He lives in Taos, New Mexico. I suppose he may inherit my estate. It depends on the legal ramifications of my crimes.

… ran into trouble there, I’ll have to have Mr. Rumble talk with the security staff. Mr. Rumble’s the boss, and security’s supposed to check the video monitors regularly on busy nights.” “It happened after I left.” I really do have to make the report anonymously now, if I mean to …

And although Patsy McClain from next door was very good about feeding him, he rarely ate much until Tess came home.

The query letter came from one Ramona Norville, who explained that, although she was the head librarian at the Chicopee Public Library, she was writing in her capacity as President of Books & Brown Baggers, which put on a noon lecture each month.

… was a single hit, for a man named Roscoe Strehlke. According to the 1999 obit, he had died suddenly in his home, at the age of forty-eight. Survived by his wife, Ramona, and two sons: Alvin (23) and Lester (17). For a mystery writer, even of the bloodless sort known …

A trap, in fact. “Too much imagination, Tessa Jean,” she said, quoting her mother... and that was ironic, of course, since it was her imagination that had ended up providing her with her daily bread.

… “If you’re going to stay, you need to get out of sight,” Tom said... and no, that didn’t sound like her voice. Or not exactly like her voice. Perhaps it was the one that belonged to her deepest self, the survivor. And the killer—her, too. How …