my crime books are actually novels and are written as such. One might even say that each one is really two novels, one of which is the story I tell the reader, and the other the buried story I know and let slip now and then into a clue to whet the reader's interest.

pretense is the oil that lubricates society.

A cat and a Bible, and nobody needs to be lonely.

From class consciousness to class hatred was but a step.

Young Doctor Arden was gong through the process of reorienting himself after a night's sleep.

having considerable mind, changing it became almost as ponderous an operation as moving a barn, although not nearly so stable.

[To her frequently needed plumber:] How would you like to be adopted? I'm sure it would be cheaper.