Quotes from Caroline Graham

One would have thought that not even Joyce could have maltreated a salad to the point where it became inedible, but one would have been wrong. Abustle with wild life, it was also soaked in a vinegary dressing. Barnaby lifted a soggy lettuce leaf. A small insect emerged, valiantly swimming against the tide.

We try on many masks throughout our lives. Eventually we find one that fits so well we never take it off.

The stars in their courses, never all that concerned with the welfare of the human race, tonight looked especially indifferent.

All theatricals are round the twist, Troy,' said Barnaby, tugging at the doors that led to the foyer. 'If they weren't they'd get out of the business and into real estate.

They had always seemed to Brenda antiseptically unaware that such a thing as romance existed.

Ah—that's the beauty of higher education, sergeant. Never use two simple words when one really complicated one will do.

The library at Madingley Grange was rarely used. The pristine books in their diamond-paned cases seemed never to have been sullied by anything so coarse as the perusal of the human eye.

argument before he was

Everyone had helped themselves to something with the exception of Fred, who had helped himself to everything.

Unburdened by any medical knowledge, what would they think of Karen's strange ramblings? The answer came quickly enough. They would think she was making it up. What an imagination, they would say. And if it all went a stage further? Would they see this as genuine derangement, as he had done? Probably not. They would say she'd been watching too much telly. Or eating cheese before bedtime.

Never forget, she used to tell him, that Jesus loves you. Personally he'd never felt this and, even if it had been true, would have gained little consolation—for who wanted to be loved by someone who loved everybody? And then only because it was their job.

I had a sports teacher like that,' said Troy when Janet had departed. 'Knobbly knees, plimsolls, no tits, whistle round her neck. They really turn me up, dykes. All members of the buggerocracy, come to that.

Nicholas, who had never seen the willingness to embrace septicemia as one of the more obvious qualities a young actor might find useful, jibbed at this robust assertion. "There.

All human life seemed to be out there. And it was not a pretty sight.

In his experience people (hardened criminals apart) who had something to hide and people who had nothing to hide had one thing in common. Faced by a policeman asking questions, they could never remain silent for long.

a trouble shared is a trouble halved'.

A stranger in a small community is always an object of keen interest and he had seen more than one curtain twitch as he passed by.

Mrs. Saville had a superb swoop of bosom. It started directly beneath the hollow of her neck and finished just a smidgen above what, if only a hint of indentation had been present, could have passed for her waist.

Violet had a foolish, doll-like face and primrose colored hair in lifeless curls pinned all over her head like synthetic sausages. She opened her tiny wet mouth like a sea anemone and spoke.

He felt it would hardly delight his fiancee should he reveal his true opinion, which was that his future mother-in-law's profile had struck him as so alarming that he would prefer in future to view only its muted reflection, perhaps on the surface of a tea tray.

beaten up, raped, murdered, arsonised—if there was such a word—yet the confidence of the human race that they, their loved ones and acquaintances had personally been granted divine immunity was uncrackable.

Brutal duplicity was his coinage. He played his games with little else.

In a community as small as Badger's Drift, everyone will know what you're about. Someone who has killed once and who thinks he can protect himself by killing a second time will not hesitate to do so. And don't forget'—he turned and they walked together towards the exit—'that if Miss Simpson knew the murderer very well, so do you.

Til the Dawn Breaks and Shadows Flee Away.