Цитаты из книги Whispers Under Ground

rules of English grammar are largely an artificial construct with little or no bearing on the language as it is spoke

I bet Gandalf could drink you under the table.

Molly gave me a long stare and then inclined her head at me, exactly the way Ziggy the dog had, before gliding off toward the stairs. Possibly to put fresh linen on the guest bed or perhaps to sharpen her meat cleavers - it's hard to tell with Molly.

"Do you think this is funny?" she asked, and her voice was hoarse. "Is it because the victim is an American citizen? Do you find the murder of American citizens funny?" I was tempted to tell her it was because we were British and actually had a sense of humor, but I try not to be cruel to foreigners, especially when they're that strung out.

‘My dad was a fairy,’ said Zach. ‘And by that I don’t mean he dressed well and enjoyed musical theatre.’

Я, конечно, не сильно разбираюсь в схеме взаимодействия лондонской полиции со СМИ, но в части общественной репутации уверен: мертвый агент ФБР испортит ее гораздо эффективнее, чем живой.

Папа как-то сказал, у русских есть поговорка: «Человек, подлец, ко всему привыкает». Увы, в список «всего» не входит аромат лондонских коллекторов, для описания которого и слов-то не подберешь. Скажу только, что он из тех запахов, которые увязываются за тобой до дома, поджидают за порогом и норовят просочиться даже через голосовую почту.

Папа как-то сказал:"У русских есть поговорка. Человек, подлец, ко всему превыкает ".

я поведал ей, что работаю в особом подразделении столичной полиции, которое расследует сверхъестественные преступления. Мама тут же окрестила мою деятельность «охотой на ведьм», и это было хорошо, поскольку она, как многие уроженцы Западной Африки, считает охоту на ведьм профессией гораздо более престижной, чем служба в полиции.

'Is that what you call them?' I asked, and thought that what we needed was some bloody agreement about nomenclature. An EU directive perhaps, looking to harmonize the terminology appropriate to the uncanny on a Europe-wide basis. Maybe not -- it would probably end up all being in French.

When you're police it's important to always convey the impression that you know more about what's really going on than any random member of the public. The best way to achieve this is to actually know more about something than people think you do.

'In London, in Notting Hill,' said Beale. 'Most people don't realise that London has a rich industrial heritage. Notting Hill used to be known as the Potteries and Piggeries because that's what it was famous for.'

It also had a reputation for some of the vilest living conditions in Victorian England and -- given the competition was Manchester -- that was pretty vile.

Leave the police alone in a room for five minutes and we start looking in drawers, locked or otherwise. It's a terrible habit.

She got me logged in, which was a suspicious amount of help and attention from a Detective Inspector, and explained the priority codes to me.

'Officially, low means we want it within week,' said Stephanopoulos. 'Medium is five days and high priority is three.'

'And really?' I asked.

'Today, now and "I want it bloody yesterday."'

We don't generally explain how we do things to the rest of the Met -- apart from anything else because we make most of our procedures up as we go along. As a result senior officers like Stephanopoulos know we do something but they're not really sure what it is.

"Well, our victim had a thirst for knowledge", said Stephanopoulos. "He was a student at St.Martins Colledge".

‘Zap,’ I said. ‘That’s the technical term for it, is it? What do you call someone who’s been zapped?’ ‘Mr Crispy,’ said Kumar.

Если вы, подобно моей маме, профессионально занимаетесь уборкой помещений, то с пылью в углах поступаете так: берете швабру, мочите в воде и проходитесь вращательными движениями вдоль плинтуса. Пыль скатывается в комочки, потом надо немного подождать, пока они высохнут, и собрать пылесосом.