It's a sad fact of modern life that if you drive long enough, sooner or later you must leave London behind..

What frustrated me was the thought that with three thousand years of history someone in China, some monk in a monastery halfway up a mountain, must h….

...good-Samaritanism in London is considered an extreme sport - like base-jumping or crocodile-wrestling..

When you're a boy your life can be measured out as a series of uncomfortable conversations reluctantly initiated by adults in an effort to tell you t….

In the winter she curls up around a good book and dreams away the cold..

Conflict resolution,' said Nightingale. 'Is this what they teach at Hendon these days?' 'Yes, sir,' I said. 'But don't worry, they also teach us how ….

Carved above the lintel were the words SCIENTIA POTESTAS EST. Science points east, I wondered? Science is portentous, yes? Science protests too much.….

Actually I'd always thought he sat in the library with a slim volume of metaphysical poetry until the commissioner called him on the bat phone and su….

If you just warn people, they often simply ignore you. But if you ask them a question, then they have to think about it. And once they start to think….

Landscaping is the great cardinal sin of modern architecture. It's not your garden, it's not a park - it's a formless patch of grass, shrubbery and t….

My Dad says that being a Londoner has nothing to do with where you're born. He says that there are people who get off a jumbo jet at Heathrow, go thr….

The general public have a warped view of the speed at which an investigation proceeds. They like to imagine tense conversations going on behind the v….

If you find yourself talking to the police, my advice is to stay calm but look guilty; it's your safest bet..

The study of the victim is called victimology because everything sounds better with and ology tacked on the end..

...don't ask me why I know what an Edwardian smoking jacket looks like: let's just say it has something to do with Doctor Who and leave it at that..

Coffee arrived and the espresso was excellent, like an aromatic electric fence..

What's the biggest thing you've zapped with a fireball?' I asked. 'That would be a tiger,'said Nightingale. 'Well don't tell Greenpeace,' I said. 'Th….

If you ask any police officer what the worst part of the job is, they will always say breaking bad news to relatives, but this is not the truth. The ….

What do you think you're doing?.

This is your brain on magic..

The clever people at CERN are smashing particles together in the hope that Doctor Who will turn up and tell them to stop.