Friday, June 20, 2014

Quiz: One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

As promised yesterday, we have a quiz for you.

For each of the 10 questions below, one of the provided options does not fit. Identify the odd one out and send your 10 answers to us at materialwitnesses@gmail.com, no later than 8:00 pm EDT on Sunday, June 22. The winning entrant may choose between Vikas Swarup's Six Suspects (Minotaur, 2009) and The Accidental Apprentice (Minotaur, July 8, 2014). (The copy of Six Suspects is autographed by the author.) The runner-up will receive the book not chosen by the winner. (Anyone may enter, but we are able to send books to mailing addresses in the United States and Canada only.)

In case of ties, the entry with the earliest e-mail timestamp in our inbox will win.




1. Which of these well-known authors did not write a mystery?

A. A. Milne
J. K. Rowling
William Faulkner
John Updike
Roald Dahl

2. Which of these is not a person who appears occasionally in a mystery series?

Sir Impey Biggs
Mrs. Merdle
Marko Vukcic
Lin Chung
Nigel Bathgate

3. Which of these authors does not write his or her mysteries in a Scandinavian language?

Kjell Eriksson
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Jarkko Sipilä
Anne Holt
Jo Nesbø

4. Which of these has not been used as a murder weapon in a well-known mystery?

an egg
a leg of lamb
a vacuum cleaner
a bottle of champagne
a bed

5. Which of these detectives is not age appropriate for the group?

Dr. Siri Palboun
Arthur Bryant
Hildegarde Withers
Buck Schatz
Flavia de Luce

6. Which of these sleuths does not share a profession with the others?

Philip Trent
Jim Qwilleran
Jack Parlabane
Jack McMorrow
Jack Swyteck

7. Which of these mystery authors was not married to one of the other authors listed?

Ross Macdonald
Margery Allingham
Philip Youngman Carter
Ngaio Marsh
Margaret Millar

8. Which one of these is a murder mystery?

The Cradle Will Fall
Gaudy Night
The Man Who Was Thursday
The Franchise Affair
The Belting Inheritance

9. Which of these is not one of Ronald Knox's commandments for detective novelists?
  • Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable
  • The detective must not himself commit the crime
  • Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.
  • No lady, especially a lady of high birth, may take on the role of detective.
  • The stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader.

10. Which of these mystery characters performs a different type of role from the others?

Casper Gutman
Magersfontein Lugg
Carl Peterson
Arnold Zeck
Tom Ripley


Good luck!

No comments:

Post a Comment