MYSTERY SCENE'S RELIEVE STRESS QUIZ
by Louis Phillips
THIS IS IN NO WAY A TEST OF REAL KNOWLEDGE. IT IS SIMPLY A FUN (I HOPE) WAY TO SHARE
SOME MYSTERY THEME TRIVIA AND A FEW LITTLE KNOWN FACTS. YES, IT'S DIFFICULT, BUT GO FOR IT.
WE CAN'T ALL BE VERY STABLE GENIUSES.
Many mystery writers fantasize about going on a quiz show and winning thousands of dollars demonstrating their knowledge of writings about crime. Well, here is
Your chance to prove your mettle. We offer you so many points per question . See how you fare.
______6,500 points or more and you can you open
your own Detective Agency
______5,000 points and you are a Prince or Princess among Mystery Scene readers
______ 3,500 points and you are an honorary gumshoe or shamus in Mystery Scene’s kingdom
______2,500 points or less and you have one more reason to subscribe or to renew your subscription to this Magazine:
(Sorry. We offer few clues.)
l. Dick Francis, as most mystery readers know, was a jockey for the Queen Mother and, for the 1953-54 season, he was named England’s Top Jockey. During
His lifetime, Dick Francis rode in 2,305 races. Can you
Guess how many of those races he won? (1,000 points)
_
___A. 345
____B. 402
____C. 475
____D. 503
____E. 545
2. Fans of Walt Disney’s feature length animated film –BAMBI – are certainly familiar with a rabbit named Thumper, but in what James Bond film are two SPECTRE martial arts experts named Bambi and Thumper? (300 points)
3. The Garden of Earthly Delights and The Concert in the Egg should bring to mind what popular novelist?
(200 points)
4. In 1956, the St. Louis Globe Democrat dropped this comic strip for showing too many “muggings, switchblade knives, and language that we think does not fit into this type of Newspaper.” What comic strip?
(better know decades later in its film and musical versions) was being described? (500 points)
5. In what l976 comedy/murder film (written by Neil Simon) does the American author Truman Capote
play a character named Lionel Twain (is that word play on the phrase Lionel Train?) (700 points)
6. The American Detective Travis McGee, created by John D. MacDonald, lives on a houseboat moored at Bahia Mar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. What is the name of the houseboat? (300 points)
7. Who is the only mystery writer to win the very prestigious Agatha Christie Award four years in a row?
(1,200 points)
8. Characters with strange names certainly populate many novels. In what novel does a character named
Orfamay Quest appear? (800 points)
9. On what street in Manhattan does Nero Wolfe reside? (200 points)
10. Who was the first mystery writer to receive the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America? (400 points)
11. Peter James once wrote“I was hooked by the first line, surely one of the most attention-grabbing opening sentences ever, ‘Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him.’ I defy anyone, having read that, to put the book down! It made me realize just how important the first sentence of a book is.”
What novel was he discussing? Who is the author?
(400 points)
12. This mystery novel, dedicated to the great 20th century poet Philip Larkin, has a table of contents
consisting of 14 episodes. Among the episodes are:
l. The episode of the Prowling Poet
2. The episode of the Dubious Don
3. The episode of the Candid Solicitor
Can you identify the novel and its author? (800 points)
13. This noted mystery created the detective Piet Van des Valk and published an autobiography titled The Kitchen: A Delicious Account of the Author’s Year as a Grand Hotel Cook? Can you identify him? (400 points)
A. Nicolas Freeling
B. Edmund Crispin
C. Dorothy Sayers
D. S.S. Van Dine
14. Gina MacDonald of New Orleans’ Loyola University, writing about this spy novelist, said “In fact, Assignment in Brittany so brilliantly evokes the difficulties of undercover work that the military used it to train allied personnel to help the French Resistance. Who wrote Assignment in Brittany? (350 points)
15. Every true mystery fan knows the name P.D. James.
But the initials P.D. do not stand for Police Department.
What do they stand for? (300 points)
16. What contemporary mystery writer (and a CWA
Silver Dagger Award Winner) sets her mysteries in Italy
But does not allow her books to be translated into Italian? (400 points)
17. If you are trying to solve the mystey –Who murdered Mr. Boddy (sometimes known as Dr. Black)
what most likely are you doing? (150 points)?
18. There have been a number of writing teams that
have made their mark upon the mystery field (the creators of Ellery Queen instantly spring to mind), but
mothers and sons who collaborate on books might be
a bit more rare. Charles and Caroline Todd are son and mother who write mysteries under the name Charles Todd. What is the name of their well-known Inspector? (800 points)
19. Charles Higham and Roy Moseley, in a
biography about a movie star, discuss a noted Hollywood film,. They write: “ In one scene, Roger
Thornnhill produces a matchbox bearing the initials
R.O.T.” Asked by Miss Saint’s Eve Kendall what the “O”
Stands for, Thornhill replies, “Nothing.” This was a dig
At David O. Selznick.” What is the film? (300 points)
20. Craig Sisterton, in the pages of Mystery Scene, started his article with his very own pop quiz:
“Who wrote the bestselling novel of the l9th century?”
The author was Fergus Hume. O.K. but without going
back to the Mr. Sisterton’s article – What was the name
of that bestselling novel? (600 points)
extra credit: (400 bonus points)
What well-known British-American actor
who starred as Robin Hood The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952 for the Disney Corporation was Ian Fleming’s first
choice to play James Bond in Dr. No?
ANSWERS:
1. A (345 races)
2. Diamonds Are Forever
3. Michael Connolly
4. Little Orphan Annie
5. Murder by Death
6. The Busted Flush
7. Louise Penny
8. The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler
9. West 35th Street
10. Agatha Christie
11. Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
12. The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin
13. Nicolas Freelin
14. Helen MacInnes
15. Phyllis Dorothy
16. Donna Leon
17. You are most likely playing the board game CLUE. In
l985, Jonathan Lynn directed a film version of CLUE. The
film starred Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn, and Christopher Lloyd.
18. Inspector Rutledge
19. North by Northwest. The biography in which the anecdote is recorded is “ Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart.”
In fact, the O in David O. Selznick’s name did not stand
for any middle name at all. Mr. Selznick thought the added initial added a touch of class.
20. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (l886). The horse-drawn carriage was named for Joseph Hansom who designed and patented he cab in 1834.
21. Richard Todd, who appeared in a number of mystery
films and was also true World War II hero.
