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Quiz about A World of Fictional Detectives
Quiz about A World of Fictional Detectives

A World of Fictional Detectives Quiz


Fictional detective stories have at least three rewards: figuring out the solution, discovering the traits of the detective, and learning about the story's culture. Meet 10 detectives in 10 cultures on six continents. Good luck! [No spoilers.]

A multiple-choice quiz by lowtechmaster. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
384,499
Updated
Nov 23 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
557
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. In "Bury Your Dead", Canadian author Louise Penny presents which fictional detective? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza has authored over a dozen novels between 1996 and 2016, including "A Window In Copacabana", that present the range of cultures in and around Rio de Janeiro. What is the name of his fictional detective? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Detectives Harry Mason and Jacob Tsahbalala made their first appearance in "Bloody Harvests". Who authored that novel and subsequent ones featuring those two law officers? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The various sub-cultures of Algiers are depicted in a series of novels by Yasmina Khadra, including "Double Blank". Which of these detectives did Khadra create? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. A creation of the writing team of Per Wahloo and Maj Stowall, Martin Beck is the subject of ten novels between 1965 and 1975 during which he rises high in the ranks of Stockholm's police. Which of these works is one of those ten? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Over a dozen novels feature the Russian detective Erast Fandorin, including "The Decorator". Which author created him? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Qiu Xiaolong has written nine novels between 2000 and 2015 featuring Chief Inspector Chen Cao and Detective Yu. The scene is always Shanghai, but the politics and culture of which historical era are depicted in minute detail? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Tarquin Hall writes mystery stories, such as "The Case of the Missing Servant", that explore the cultures of which Asian country? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Which novel, written by Arthur Upfield and featuring Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte, provides a detailed view of the Australian Outback and Aborigine culture? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Tony Hillerman wrote 18 mystery novels, including "Coyote Waits", centered on modern Navajo culture and its mythology. Which two men are the Navajo Tribal Police officers at the center of the novels? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In "Bury Your Dead", Canadian author Louise Penny presents which fictional detective?

Answer: Armand Gamache

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache appears in over a dozen novels by Louise Penny. "Bury Your Dead" is the sixth novel in the series. In it, during Winter Carnival in Quebec City, Gamache finds himself involved in three crimes: a terrorist plot he earlier averted (ending in his current leave); discovering the murderer in a crime committed in the Literary and Historical Society, possibly involving the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain; and dealing with a murder in the village of Three Pines.

The society of Quebec and its environs are highlighted.
2. Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza has authored over a dozen novels between 1996 and 2016, including "A Window In Copacabana", that present the range of cultures in and around Rio de Janeiro. What is the name of his fictional detective?

Answer: Inspector Espinoza

Espinoza is the Chief of Rio's 12th Precinct. In "A Window In Copacabana", three police officers are murdered within a few days. When Espinoza discovers that all three kept separate apartments with mistresses, he knows that the officers had been accepting bribes.

When two of the mistresses are killed, along with a woman mistaken for the third, he has a real mystery to solve, one in which not everything is as it first appears to be.
3. Detectives Harry Mason and Jacob Tsahbalala made their first appearance in "Bloody Harvests". Who authored that novel and subsequent ones featuring those two law officers?

Answer: Richard Kunzmann

Kunzmann sets his novels in and around Johannesburg, South Africa, where several cultures and religions strive to co-exist. Because Mason is a white Christian Englishman and Tsahbalala is a black Christian tribesman, they bring a blend of European and African experiences to their cases.

In "Bloody Harvests", they confront an enemy known as The Albino who has built up an extensive criminal empire of heroin and human smuggling based on traditional African magic. He has many people murdered, mostly children, to obtain human organs to use in his controlling spells.

This exploration of the clash of backgrounds and values provides incite into the factions that make up Johannesburg.
4. The various sub-cultures of Algiers are depicted in a series of novels by Yasmina Khadra, including "Double Blank". Which of these detectives did Khadra create?

Answer: Brahim Llob

In "Double Blank", the second Superintendent Llob novel, a series of gruesome killings by, it is thought, a gang of Islamic fundamentalists has Llob considering gang members among other suspects. However, when members of the gang start showing up dead, Llob and his cohorts have to descend through the sights, sounds, and aromas of several layers of Algerian society and politics to seek the solution. [The author, Mohammed Moulessehoul, adopted the pen name Yasmina Khadra, the name of his wife.]
5. A creation of the writing team of Per Wahloo and Maj Stowall, Martin Beck is the subject of ten novels between 1965 and 1975 during which he rises high in the ranks of Stockholm's police. Which of these works is one of those ten?

Answer: The Laughing Policeman

In their books, Wahloo and Stowall explore the strengths and the shortcomings of Sweden's socialist society, as well as present Beck's complicated personal life. "The Laughing Policeman", the fourth Beck novel, won the Edgar Award for Best Novel and was made into a motion picture with Walter Matthau.

In the novel, an assassin murders nine bus riders, including a police detective, leaving Beck to head a major manhunt to find the mass-murderer. The case becomes extremely complicated and points toward an old unsolved mystery.
6. Over a dozen novels feature the Russian detective Erast Fandorin, including "The Decorator". Which author created him?

Answer: Boris Akunin

Erast Fandorin is a late 19th century detective involved in the Russian historical and social events of that era. Together, the novels offer a perspective on Russia, and Moscow, from 1876 to 1912 and after. "The Decorator" is set in Moscow during Holy Week of 1889.

It has Fandorin, as Deputy for Special Assignments for the Moscow Governor-General, investigating a serial killer who murders and mutilates women (a Moscow version of London's Jack the Ripper). Suspects are numerous, but pinpointing the killer is a very long and complicated matter.
7. Qiu Xiaolong has written nine novels between 2000 and 2015 featuring Chief Inspector Chen Cao and Detective Yu. The scene is always Shanghai, but the politics and culture of which historical era are depicted in minute detail?

Answer: The 1990s

The novels not only present an in-depth view of 1990s Shanghai when China was increasing its influence and altering the people's lives, it also provides diverse views of Chinese culture in general--history, philosophy, and cuisine, for example. In the first novel, "Death of a Red Heroine", Cao confronts the murder of a young 'National Worker Model' (a Chinese heroine who embraced and preached China's political positions). Cao must tread very carefully because he must not only solve the murder but also seek justice. [Qiu Xiaolong, born in Shanghai, was on a trip to the US when the Tiananmen Square protests occurred.

He was forced to remain in the US to avoid persecution because of his earlier efforts to raise funds for the Chinese student movement.]
8. Tarquin Hall writes mystery stories, such as "The Case of the Missing Servant", that explore the cultures of which Asian country?

Answer: India

Between 2009 and 2013, Tarquin Hall wrote four novels featuring the Punjab Private Detective Vish Puri that explore nuances of the modern India of Delhi and beyond. Puri enjoys boasting of his achievements and consuming deep fried cuisine. "The Case of the Missing Servant", the first of Puri's cases, involves him taking on a client accused of murdering his maidservant.

His search for the actual killer takes him to a desert oasis, remote mines, exclusive clubs, and the slums, presenting much of modern India's complexity.
9. Which novel, written by Arthur Upfield and featuring Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte, provides a detailed view of the Australian Outback and Aborigine culture?

Answer: The Bone is Pointed

Upfield wrote 29 novels about "Bony" whose mother was Aborigine and whose father was white. All the works portray the Aboriginal culture in great detail and with dignity and sympathy, and all present a realistic look at Australian itself. In "The Bone is Pointed", Inspector Bonaparte goes to the bush country in western Queensland to investigate the disappearance of Jack Anderson some five months after Anderson's horse returned riderless. No one there seems to care about what happened to Anderson, a drunken bully. "Bony" must deal with two large, competing stations, owned by the Gordons and the Laceys, and with the Kalchut tribe of Aborigines, to determine what happened to Jack Anderson.
10. Tony Hillerman wrote 18 mystery novels, including "Coyote Waits", centered on modern Navajo culture and its mythology. Which two men are the Navajo Tribal Police officers at the center of the novels?

Answer: Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee

Some of Hillerman's novels feature either Leaphorn or Chee, and some feature both. In "Coyote Waits", Delbert Nez, a tribal police officer, is murdered and an old Navajo Shaman, Ashie Pinto, is charged with the crime because he has the murder weapon. To both Leaphorn and Chee, something does not add up. Approaching the case from opposite ends, they explore the Navajo reservation and its members, Navajo customs, and Navajo mythology. Complicating the investigation are the presence of the niece of Ashie Pinto and her colleague who are writing a book, a history professor named Tagert who is studying Butch Cassidy, and the FBI and CIA who are protecting an informant.
Source: Author lowtechmaster

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor LadyCaitriona before going online.
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This quiz is part of series Fictional Fest:

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  2. Introduction To Nero Wolfe, Part I Average
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  4. The Erudite Nero Wolfe Average
  5. "Moby Dick": Melville's Masterpiece Average

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