Bon mots from the Thorndyke books

[cimorene]

1. His countenance (which served the ordinary purposes of a face, inasmuch as it contained the principal organs of special sense, with inlets to the alimentary and respiratory tracts) was, as an apparatus for the expression of the emotions, a total failure.
—R. Austin Freeman, The Eye of Osiris

2. "The decisions of Courts depend on idiosyncrasies of temperament that no one can foresee."
—R. Austin Freeman, The Eye of Osiris

3. and here throughout most of the year the fleecy victims of the human carnivore carry on the industry of converting grass into mutton.
—R. Austin Freeman, The Eye of Osiris

4. “Here you are, then?” said she.
“You are perfectly correct, Miss Oman,” I replied; “in fact, you have put the case in a nutshell."
—R. Austin Freeman, The Eye of Osiris

5. “Life is made up of strange coincidences,” said Thorndyke. “Nobody but a reviewer of novels is ever really surprised at a coincidence."
—R. Austin Freeman, The Eye of Osiris

6. “A sound thinker gives equal consideration to the probable and the improbable.”
—R. Austin Freeman, The Red Thumb Mark

7. "This drawing only faintly resembles a human being and certainly could not be a recognizable likeness of any particular person."
—R. Austin Freeman, The Jacob Street Mystery

Comments

[viggorlijah]

That first one is so very very good. I just borrowed eye of Osiris to try

[cimorene]

I highly recommend it!

But also Mr Pottermack's Oversight (not as brilliant a mystery, but an incredibly fun read), The Red Thumb Mark, The Penrose Mystery, and Felo de Se or Death at the Inn.

[cimorene]

A couple of them have some antisemitic passages, apparently from literary expediency and not sincere feeling, but which were upsetting to read, but I don't think any of those do.