“I don’t often need rescuing, but it’s nice when it goes well and doesn’t involve great heights.”

“Complicated” is my middle name.’ Actually, it’s not my middle name – any more than Malone is my last name. Whether Melody is really my first name is, well, complicated.”

“It was the sort of day when deciding what to wear is like planning a military operation. Believe me – I have considerable experience of both.”

“I sat with my feet up on my desk and started to make a mental list of the people who’d want me dead. Once I got to fifty, I decided this wasn’t helping.”

“I raised an alluring eyebrow. Alluringly.”

“Let me through – I’m a doctor.’ My heart beat a little faster, and I lingered just long enough to be sure he’d used the indefinite article. But the man was short and bald and rather ugly – not at all like any Doctor I’d consult. I hope. If ‘consult’ is the right word.”

“Everything about me is pretty and a lot of it is shrewd. So I had a pretty shrewd idea what was going on.”