"One corollary of all the detective novels to which a goodly share of mankind repairs for refreshment specifies that a crime present its investigators with a picture, the material and, so to speak, stylistic elements of which, if meticulously assembled and analyzed, permit a sure solution. In actuality, however, the situation is different. The coefficients of impunity and error are high not because, or not only or not always because, the investigators are men of small intelligence but because the clues a crime offers are usually utterly inadequate. A crime, that is to say, which is planned or committed by people who have every interest in working to keep the impunity coefficient high."
--from Leonardo Sciascia's To Each His Own (trans. Adrienne Foulke)
This reminds me of the policeman Vimes from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels -- he's mistrustful of Clues.
interesting, these books were recently recommended to me by someone else. maybe i will check them out soon.
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