From Death of a Cozy Writer, by G. M. Malliet:

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Jim had decided to give the customers what they wanted. What they wanted, apparently, were striped red velour seat coverings and antique farm implements suspended from the ceiling. The place now looked like a cross between a Victorian brothel and a cowshed.

***

"I have no money, you know that. At least, not the sort needed to buy someone off. I doubt I could buy off a poodle."

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[Author Shows Off Her Erudition in a De Facto Footnote dept.:]

"She got off scot free for that [crime committed in Scotland]."
"Please, no puns, Sergeant. Even though, as I understand it, scot free has nothing to do with Scotsmen."

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[The funniest character in this book, which is set in England, is an American who tries too hard to talk like a Brit. As far as I know, "fish and chips" is *not* British slang for "baloney" (i.e., nonsense), but this American named Jeffrey Spencer, quoted below, thinks otherwise.]

"Baloney. Or as you might say, fish and chips."

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[And here's what the protagonist has to say about Jeffrey:]

"I imagine he came here to search for his roots. With a name like Spencer he's bound to climb up several wrong branches of the family tree."