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unearths some literary gems.
From Murder at Maddlingley Grange, by Caroline Graham:***[Casual Paradoxes dept.]It was becoming obvious that the Gibbses were not even going to have the decency to run true to form. Typical.***[One character in this novel fancies himself a stand-in for Sherlock Holmes. He's a "tarsome" (my borrowing, not Graham's) humbug, and the narrator notes that his attempt to stride around the room in the manner of his hero might be described as more Marxian than Holmesian. A few choice moments from his scenes...]a. [Derek] managed to look simultaneously thrilled and complacent, which remarkable accomplishment impressed everyone far more than the lecture on the history of detective fiction.b. Then she stretched out her arms and started to move in circles, rhythmically and very slowly: one, two, three. One, two, three. Her white linen skirt spun palely out and the glass berries on her hat shivered. Her head was cocked in an attitude of surprised happiness as if suddently alerted to the music of the spheres[....][Derek] did not know what to do. Holmes's suspects might have drawn a revolver or thrown a punch when his probing became too incisive. They /never/ went into their dance.c. 'Now--I shall be interviewing in the library and will require you to come in one at a time.''Well, I'm not going anywhere one at a time,' said Simon. 'I'm going back to sleep.'***
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