Holy Island Quotes

“Violent murder tended to kill your appetite for sugar.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“He lifted one tentative hand to cradle her face and watched her eyes darken. Another hand turned her, lifted her face to bestow the gentlest of kisses. As her hands lifted to frame his face, tracing the rough stubble she found there, she felt his momentary shock and it made her reckless. Her fingers arrowed into his black hair to pull him closer, urging him to go on. There was a battle waging inside him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt the desperation in the kiss, could still taste the salty tears on her skin.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Jesus.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“He was waiting for her when she arrived back at the little white-washed cottage just before eight-thirty, as she had known he would be. She watched Ryan push away from where he had been leaning against the porch and allowed herself a moment to appreciate him. His dark hair whipped wildly around his face in the morning breeze, and the ends brushed the collar of his navy jacket.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“First rule of murder investigation, Ryan thought, was not to expect the perp to think like a normal person. “Get Faulkner’s”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Reverend Ingles,” she said, managing a half-smile for the Anglican vicar of Lindisfarne. Mike Ingles was well-matched to his profession, both in temperament and looks. He was reasonably tall and trim but with the slight paunch of a man who enjoyed being middle-aged. Salt and pepper grey hair was neatly combed, and mild brown eyes peered at her from behind jazzy red glasses—a nod to fashion which contrasted with the bobbled olive-green jumper he wore over his collar with brown chinos”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“her. Her clothes were missing. “Careful, weren’t you?” Ryan murmured. Eyes tracking, always tracking, he moved back to the entrance to guard the scene until the coastguards arrived. “Taking their sweet time,” he said, checking his watch. Nearly six-fifteen. It would be another forty minutes until police could get across to the island; calling out a helicopter from the RAF base on the mainland would take the same”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“All very young, very sweet. He was my first,” she said openly because somehow she felt he needed to know. “He was kind and more experienced. Oh,” she laughed, “you know what he’s like with women. Back then, he was only just beginning to hone his considerable charm.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Like Cuthbert, she had come back to her home after a period of unrest.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Anna smiled as she watched him enthral the next generation of young minds. She remembered when she had come here as a child, wanting to know more about her heritage.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“And we’re exercising our right to put the willies up you, lad,”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“I’ve chased killers who claimed they killed and battered women and men alike because the voices told them to; I’ve seen some who said it was because they had a crappy childhood. It’s all bullshit, Anna,” he turned to her and, for a moment, he thought of another dark-haired woman. “Some people kill and there isn’t any reason for it other than for the pure fucking enjoyment of it.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Do you want coffee?” He always wanted coffee.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“For a holy island, there was little that was sacred on it.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Not especially religious, Anna surprised herself by walking through the quiet village to the little island church.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“She hadn’t worried for her safety; in fact, nobody had worried because nothing sinister ever happened on Lindisfarne. Until now.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“The cars moved like ants across the shadowed water, or rats deserting a sinking ship.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Lindisfarne was a law unto itself.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Fucking tourists.” Phillips slanted him a look. “You’re a tourist here yourself, boyo.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“The older population tends to be Christian but since most of them own the B&Bs and the gift shops, they just smile politely and turn a decent trade. The rest of us don’t really give a shit,” he shrugged eloquently”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Sure, but Lindisfarne—it’s holy.” Alex shook his head sadly. “It’s like killing someone in church.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Here within these hills, in this space of ground, is all the world. All anger and vanity and covetousness and lust, yes, and all charity, goodness and sweetness of soul. God and the devil both walk in these fields.’ —Hugo Walpole”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Of course, I immediately referred him to the words of the Bible. ‘You shall not lie with a man as a woman, that is an abomination.’ Leviticus, chapter 18, verse 22.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Anna”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“He stopped dead and looked in the window where, nestled”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“I say he hurled himself into the sea because he couldn’t live with what he’d done.” Anger burned briefly in his friendly face but was quickly snuffed out when another patron called out to him. He snapped the beard back into place. “Turned out he’d mortgaged the pub to the hilt. There were massive debts to clear, so they sold the old cottage to Mark Bowers. He rents it out to holiday-makers now. The girls were happy to sell the pub on to me with the”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Lindisfarne Priory is the site of the earliest known Anglo-Saxon Christian monastery. Irish monks settled here in 635 AD following an invitation from Oswald, the Northumbrian king who has been the inspiration for characters such as Aragorn in Lord of the Rings,” Bowers’ voice rang out clearly as he brought history to life for a group of children from the local school on the island. “Northumbria was the largest kingdom in Britain at that time, so it was very powerful.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“about”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“Winter was an unforgiving time on Holy Island. Harsh winds from the North Sea whipped through the cobbled streets between the squat, stone cottages which huddled together as if for warmth. Above the village the Priory loomed, crippled but still standing after a thousand years.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island

“He turned and left Helen Mathieson in MacKenzie’s capable hands.”
― L.J. Ross, Holy Island