M.S. Morris > Quotes

“Raven shuddered. He distrusted religiosity in all its forms. He wasn’t an atheist as such, just a natural sceptic. But he disliked being reminded of the possibility – however remote – that he might one day burn in hell.”
― M.S. Morris, The Foaming Deep

“Bridget could remember how they had been as fresh-faced teenagers, full of hopes and dreams, their lives as yet unwritten. Now the choices they had made had caught up with them, shaping them in ways they could never have imagined in their youth.”
― M.S. Morris, Do No Evil

“The students were looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something more. Something profound and enlightening, perhaps. How young they looked, with their sincere expressions of belief in the value of education. Experience had not yet taught them that it would lead them to an endless cycle of bitter nothingness.”
― M.S. Morris, In Love and Murder

“This was the time of day when his colleagues would start to gather in the Senior Common Room for pre-dinner drinks, at least those who didn’t have partners and families to go home to and instead preferred to dine in college rather than admit their sad, lonely existences to themselves.”
― M.S. Morris, In Love and Murder

“to spend the rest of his evening listening to the Classics tutor droning on about Cicero as the hourglass slowly emptied, laying waste to his life.”
― M.S. Morris, In Love and Murder

“the more one pursued knowledge, the more one came to the realisation that ignorance was ever man’s fate.”
― M.S. Morris, In Love and Murder

“The muffin glared back at her, seeming to know too much.”
― M.S. Morris, Killing by Numbers

“Jake ordered coffee and chocolate muffins for both of them while Amber found a place to sit. She chose a table by the window, looking out over a butcher’s shop that had a whole pig’s carcass hanging outside from a hook.”
― M.S. Morris, Killing by Numbers

“There are two important lessons that life has taught me. One is never to hold onto grudges. Don’t allow the past to suck the joy out of the present. Choose love, not hate.”
― M.S. Morris, Beneath Cold Earth

“As he left his car, rubbing his still-aching thigh, he wondered what the young Raven would have made of the way things had turned out. One thing he had learned over the years was that it was impossible to guess the twisty pathway that life had in store for you.”
― M.S. Morris, Beneath Cold Earth

“Vigilamus – We Are Watching.”
― M.S. Morris, Vigil for the Dead

“the”
― M.S. Morris, Do No Evil

“The dark clouds that had appeared on the horizon that morning seemed to be gathering into a full-blown storm, and he was at the centre, while the two women in his life rained down hail and thunder all around.”
― M.S. Morris, In Love and Murder

“Bridget didn’t know how to bridge it.”
― M.S. Morris, In Love and Murder

“A human soul is like a diamond. It has so many different facets. Turn it one way, it grows dull; turn it another and it sparkles in the light.”
― M.S. Morris, Vigil for the Dead

“The Tudor walls were being hung with miles of fairy lights, and Chinese lanterns suspended on metal cables were being strung across the quadrangle. No doubt Cardinal Wolsey was turning in his grave.”
― M.S. Morris, Aspire to Die

“it was like travelling back into the past. She was caught suddenly in the grip of self-doubt, as if she and the others were really only pretending to be adults, and were simply dressing up and taking on parts. She felt an irrational fear of being called out as an imposter. Once again she was struck by the thought that they were characters in a play, and that this was mere fiction.”
― M.S. Morris, Do No Evil

“She checked her phone to see if Chloe had sent her a message, but of course there was nothing. Expecting your teenager daughter to be helpful and informative was a certain road to disappointment.”
― M.S. Morris, Do No Evil

“Well done, ma’am,’ said Jake, coming up behind her. ‘He needed a bit of firm handling.’ ‘Most men do,’ said Bridget.”
― M.S. Morris, Aspire to Die

“After they’d gone, the hall was filled with silence. Ryan came over to Jake and whispered in his ear. ‘I don’t know why we didn’t arrest the butler right at the start.’ ‘Really? How come?’ Ryan broke into a broad grin. ‘It’s always the butler, isn’t it? Haven’t you read any Agatha Christie, mate?”
― M.S. Morris, Do No Evil

“We certainly can’t call him up on Boxing Day,”
― M.S. Morris, A Darkly Shining Star

“Every man is the architect of his own misfortune.”
― M.S. Morris, Killing by Numbers

“Having all the facts at her fingertips was a habit that stretched back to her days as an Oxford undergraduate and the weekly one-on-one tutorial with her tutor, a woman possessed of unparalleled mental agility and wit. She had constantly challenged Bridget with probing questions and controversial hypotheses, forcing her to engage in arguments which she hadn’t previously considered. Gruelling at the time, but a surprisingly good preparation for a police detective.”
― M.S. Morris, Aspire to Die

“Ffion had enough self-awareness to know that she was a complex character, and could be difficult to get on with at times. Jake had rebuked her once or twice for being short with him, or for failing to show due consideration, and she hadn’t minded. Jake had a natural gift for empathy that Ffion knew she sometimes lacked, and she was willing to learn and to change.”
― M.S. Morris, In Love and Murder

“This isn’t the first time I’ve had to face a tragic death. It tends to come with the job.’ ‘Ah, yes, of course. Police officers and the clergy – we have a lot in common. You might say that death is our business.”
― M.S. Morris, Do No Evil

“But what Becca did understand was a young woman who had just received the worst news imaginable and had, quite understandably, fallen to pieces. It ought to be Scarlett’s family consoling”
― M.S. Morris, The Landscape of Death

“Back in the car, Bridget noticed that Jake seemed unusually quiet. He’d hardly said a word during the interview with Julia Carstairs, and it was perhaps unsurprising, given the way that she’d embarrassed him. ‘What is it with these older women?’ he said at last. ‘I wish they’d act their age. I can’t understand why they’re all so desperate.’ ‘I think you’ll find that they’re lonely,’ she said. ‘It must be hard to reach a point where the best of your life seems to be behind you, and you find yourself alone, especially at Christmas.”
― M.S. Morris, A Darkly Shining Star

“The Swedish art of death cleansing intrigued him – clearing out all your clutter before you die so that your family don’t have to deal with it after you’re gone.”
― M.S. Morris, Deep Into That Darkness

“the well-cut suit designed to disguise the middle-aged paunch.”
― M.S. Morris, Aspire to Die

“quadrangle, the biggest”
― M.S. Morris, Aspire to Die