Gwen Moffat

“Doug Spears; the rancher who lived at the mouth of Hell Roaring Creek. ‘So you’re the lady who found the body,’ he said. She hesitated, wondering which body he meant, how much they knew. ‘I mean the hiker’s body,’ he said. ‘Archie told us Jed Trotter got took by a bear too.’ She said: ‘I was talking to Otis Lenhart this afternoon; he says someone was shooting on Wapiti on Sunday.’ Spears smiled and shook his head. ‘It wasn’t me, ma’am.’ Zack Coons regarded her without expression, chewing solemnly.”
― Gwen Moffat, Grizzly Trail

“Gossip’s not amusement, Uncle Zeke.’ Arabella was grave. ‘It’s an essential part of social life.’ ‘Why?’ ‘It keeps up the moral values of a community by picking out the deviants and criticising their behaviour.”
― Gwen Moffat, Miss Pink Investigates: Part One