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“Folks in village don’t go reporting things,�� he said. “We live and let live. Life wouldn’t be worth living if us got telling on one another.�� “Live and let live. In this case it’s been die and let die, hasn’t it?�� said Macdonald.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Murder in the Mill Race

“Closing the door behind him, Macdonald stood still in the darkness, as he had stood so often in other buildings. Houses, barns, shops, flats, warehouses, all dark, as this passage was dark, but having in the darkness their own character because each had its own peculiar smell. Gramarye smelt of floor polish and carbolic and soap: something of the unwelcoming smell of an institution, but behind the overlay of modern cleanliness, the smell of the ancient house declared itself, of old mortar, of stone walls built without damp courses, of woodwork decaying under coats of paint, of panelling and floor boards which gave out their ancient breath as the coldness of the stone house triumphed over the warmth of the midsummer evening.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Murder in the Mill Race

“Never make trouble in the village�� is an unspoken law, but it’s a binding law. You may know about your neighbours�� sins and shortcomings, but you must never name them aloud. It’d make trouble, and small societies want to avoid trouble.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Speak Justly of the Dead

“a great hawk flew in front of them and came back again and again as though to protest against their intrusion into his territory.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Murder in the Mill Race

“That's the beauty of it," replied Worsley happily. "Life's usually all humdrum, trivial round and common task, you know, but it doesn't furnish all I've got to ask, by a long chalk. The only thing I'm sorry about is that you should have been worried by this tripe merchant, otherwise, I've enjoyed it all no end. If you only knew how I've been thanking my lucky stars that I decided to cut Metallurgy today, so that we all synchronized on the bridge.”
― E. C. R. Lorac, The Greenwell Mystery

“This village has its own peculiar character, you know. You’ll realise that when you’ve lived here a bit longer. At first one sees only its charm, everybody fitting together pleasantly, according to their station in life—but there’s more to it than that.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Murder in the Mill Race

“Never was good coffee more enjoyed,”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Murder in the Mill Race

“bats cut erratic tangents across the pale sky,”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Murder in the Mill Race

“he heard nothing save the characteristic groans and grumblings of the ancient house.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Rope’s End, Rogue’s End

“Macdonald nodded. “Life in the country would be almighty dull if it weren’t enlivened by conjectures about infiltrating ‘foreigners,”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Death Came Softly

“This is where I examine his effects, as the lawyers say.�� “Well, I wish you luck. Rather you than me. Thames mud isn’t too savoury.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Bats in the Belfry

“In his heart of hearts Layng believed that all farmers were stupid—otherwise they wouldn’t have been farmers.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Fell Murder

“He knew that all was well in the silent house. Reeves was here—somewhere—as good as a watch dog and an insurance policy in one. Reeves would have been all over the house, as silent as a shadow, prying and guarding both. He would have looked in at the two sleeping women, quite calm and unembarrassed. Reeves was a very domestic character”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Murder in the Mill Race

“Bruce Attleton mixed himself a whisky and soda calculated to reduce funereal impressions to a minimum, and”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Bats in the Belfry

“the other sat with his face in his hands. Looking up at the stern-faced man beside him, Mr. Burroughs shuddered weakly. “Is this a nightmare?�� he asked. “No. It’s very grim reality,�� retorted Macdonald. “This is a police station, and I am an officer of the Criminal Investigation Department working on a case of murder. It’s better for you to remember it.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Bats in the Belfry

“If you were landed with a corpse on your hands, by what method could you dispose of it so as to avoid any future liabilities? Highest marks will be given for a method which is not only ingenious, but possesses the elements of practical common sense.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Bats in the Belfry

“Have you got a hot toddy in that cottage of yours?�� “No, I haven’t and I’d say you don’t need one,�� retorted Hoggett. “You’re a rotten runner anyway. You can have a cup of tea and get dry while you’re explaining why I shouldn’t get you certified.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Murderer's Mistake

“Likes and dislikes are fundamentally irrational.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Death Came Softly

“every mickle helping towards the muckle,”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Two-Way Murder

“I’d better go back and be ready to do the sympathetic friend act. It’s a darned funny show. I seem to have tumbled into the story with the lid off.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Death Came Softly

“Let us get this quite clear,�� she said. “Are you suggesting that I am insane because I had a nervous breakdown five years ago?”
― E.C.R. Lorac, I Could Murder Her

“You’re one of that kind, are you?�� said Fuller disgustedly. “You first kick another chap in the middle, and then offer him a bribe to get off. Well, you’ve made a little mistake this time. Bates�� (this to the constable) “I’m detailed to stop here. You’d better whistle up your point-mate at the next corner and tell him to take over your beat till you return. Report to the superintendent that the man you’ve got in charge was arrested for suspicious behaviour attempting to enter the Belfry, and that he attacked the officer in charge in attempting to escape. And you can keep your explanation for my superior officers, sir,�� he ended up in his best manner.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Bats in the Belfry

“The light-hearted London to which Emmeline had looked forward was no longer there, and herself, a comparatively young married woman of leisure, seemed out of the picture. Everything seemed to be a problem—food, service, even laundry, all those things which had been taken for granted so gaily in the old world, were now major problems, crises occurring afresh week after week.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Death Came Softly

“The two men stepped out into a cold, white mist, in which all sound seemed to be muffled, as is the curious paradox of fogs. In actual fact the silence was due to the slowing down of the traffic.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Bats in the Belfry

“Macdonald drove on up the hill to the little plateau between inn and manor and church. Every south-facing wall was white in the moonlight, white as milk: every thatch gleamed with the faintest tinge of gold on its well-combed surface, and beneath the eaves the shadows were purple black.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Murder in the Mill Race

“I have always been rather sorry for Keston, as was Crewdon himself. Keston is one of the world’s lonely fellows.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Death Came Softly

“I want to know who knocked Mr. Grenville down, too.�� “So do I!�� said Elizabeth trenchantly. “He was a goop! Fancy going to the beastly place!�� “He certainly was a goop,�� agreed Macdonald,”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Bats in the Belfry

“Emmeline Stamford met Macdonald’s eyes with a glance such as she might have bestowed on an intelligent Hindu, remote, condescending and faintly tinged with dislike.”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Death Came Softly

“She’d have made enough noise to wake your dog and the dog would have barked.�� “The dog didn’t bark,”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Murder in the Mill Race

“three steps leading up the necessary. Funny notion of preserving dignity on undignified occasions. You either go up steps or else go down them for all purposes”
― E.C.R. Lorac, Rope’s End, Rogue’s End