Detective novel: “1.5 gallons of blood doesn’t sound like a lot to most people. Pour 1.5 gallons of milk on your kitchen floor and get back to me.”

Question

I'm looking for the detective novel matching this description:

I have nothing to add, except that one of my favorite lines from a detective novel (long since forgotten which one) was to the effect of “1.5 gallons of blood doesn’t sound like a lot to most people. Pour 1.5 gallons of milk on your kitchen floor and get back to me.”
— Ursula K Vernon

It's not a lot to go on, but I'm hoping such a distinctive line would be recognisable.

On the other hand, a few tweets suggested Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter. — Andrew T., Oct 15 '22 at 11:03
1.5 gallons is 5.5 liters. How can such an amount of blood be "not a lot"? It is almost 4 typical bottles of water. One bottle would change my kitchen floor to a skating ring, 4 would be some ass kick action vampire movie. — WoJ, Oct 16 '22 at 18:42

Peter Shor · Answer 1 · 2022-10-14T11:03:04.457

23

Googling finds a possible candidate: A Winsome Murder by James DeVita, from 2015. This doesn't quite match the excerpt Ursula Vernon described, but it's close.

It never ceased to amaze Mangan just how much blood was actually in the human body. Five quarts or so in the average male. One actually has to see it spilled outside the body to truly appreciate its volume. Imagine slowly pouring an entire gallon of milk on your kitchen floor and letting it run and pool everywhere. Now picture the milk as very thick, syrupy, like olive oil, and red, a deeply rust-ridden red.

edited Oct 14 '22 at 11:03

answered Oct 13 '22 at 23:54

Peter Shor

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"Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" – david Oct 15 '22 at 11:30
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@david Hot potato, off his drawers, pluck to make amends. – BillOnne Oct 16 '22 at 17:58

Detective novel: “1.5 gallons of blood doesn’t sound like a lot to most people. Pour 1.5 gallons of milk on your kitchen floor and get back to me.”

1 Answers1