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Quiz about My Favorite Mystery Solvers
Quiz about My Favorite Mystery Solvers

My Favorite Mystery Solvers Trivia Quiz


I'm not a real big mystery buff, but there are some authors and characters I really enjoy whose stories happen to fall into the "Mystery and Detective Fiction" category (with an exception or two). And here are ten of them. Have fun.

A multiple-choice quiz by shvdotr. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
shvdotr
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
381,103
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
576
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Moscow's chief inspector of homicides, Arkady Renko first appeared in "Gorky Park". Who is the author of this character's series, which includes "Polar Star", "Havana Bay", and "Red Square"? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn figure prominently in several mysteries set on Navajo lands in Arizona. Who is the author of such novels as "The Blessing Way", "Dance Hall of the Dead", and "Coyote Waits"? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Kate Shugak is an Aleut and Alaska native who once worked for the District Attorney's office, but found a career as a private investigator who was not tied down to the city. Moving into her own cabin in the bush with Mutt, a husky that is also half-wolf, as her only roommate, she finds plenty of business solving mysteries in the 49th state. Who is the native Alaskan who is the author of 20 Kate Shugak novels, including "A Fatal Thaw" and "Bad Blood"? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Now we have a Harvard professor who solves the murders of a Swiss priest named Leonardo Vetra and the curator of the Louvre, Jacques Saunière. Later he prevents an outbreak of the Bubonic plague in Venice. Plus, he is lucky enough to be helped by beautiful women like Vittoria Vetra, Sophie Neveu, and Sienna Brooks. Name this symbologist and his creator. Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. I'm not a kid anymore, but I do admit to having read and enjoyed an entire series of children's "mysteries", so to speak. So who is the protagonist who solved the mysteries of "The Lightning Thief" and "The Titan's Curse"? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Created by Daniel Silva, this Israeli agent works throughout Europe as an art restorer when he is not occupied in the service of the State of Israel. First seen in "The Kill Artist" in 2000, I most recently enjoyed his exploits in "A Death in Vienna" (2004), and "Moscow Rules" (2008). What's the name of this agent? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Edith Pargeter, writing under the nom de plume of Ellis Peters, penned 20 excellent mysteries set in 12th Century England and featuring a monk from the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul at Shrewsbury. Who is this healer and mystery solver? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Speaking of mystery solvers, who solved the mysteries of "The Five Orange Pips" and "The Man with the Twisted Lip"? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Whenever there is a mystery in Ankh-Morpork, such as (in "Feet of Clay") who murdered the priest and baker who created the newly made golem king, in addition to who poisoned the Patrician, Lord Vetinari, to whom do all Ankh-Morporkians (not to mention the Patrician himself) look for a solution? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. The first mysteries I remember reading involved a boy whose father was a small town police chief and whose sister helped solve the mysteries and sometimes figured them out first. Among the cases he solved were "the Case of the Dead Eagles", "the Case of the Disgusting Sneakers", and "the Case of the Slippery Salamander." Who was this "Boy Detective"? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Moscow's chief inspector of homicides, Arkady Renko first appeared in "Gorky Park". Who is the author of this character's series, which includes "Polar Star", "Havana Bay", and "Red Square"?

Answer: Martin Cruz Smith

Martin Cruz Smith's eighth Renko novel, "Tatiana", appeared in 2013. The story was inspired by the 2006 murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist and human rights activist who criticized the Second Chechen War and the policies of Vladimir Putin.
2. Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn figure prominently in several mysteries set on Navajo lands in Arizona. Who is the author of such novels as "The Blessing Way", "Dance Hall of the Dead", and "Coyote Waits"?

Answer: Tony Hillerman

Winner of the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart in World War II, Hillerman wrote 18 novels featuring Chee and Leaphorn among a total of over 30 works of fiction, non-fiction, anthologies, and memoirs. His writing has gained him more than a dozen awards from mystery writing (Edgar Awards, Agatha Award, Spur Award, Macavity Award) to the 2008 Owen Wister Award for "Outstanding Contributions to the American West." Albuquerque has a library and middle school named for him.

He passed away in 2008.
3. Kate Shugak is an Aleut and Alaska native who once worked for the District Attorney's office, but found a career as a private investigator who was not tied down to the city. Moving into her own cabin in the bush with Mutt, a husky that is also half-wolf, as her only roommate, she finds plenty of business solving mysteries in the 49th state. Who is the native Alaskan who is the author of 20 Kate Shugak novels, including "A Fatal Thaw" and "Bad Blood"?

Answer: Dana Stabenow

Born in Anchorage and a holder of a BA and MFA from the University of Alaska, Dana actually got her feet wet in science fiction writing, which made up her first three published works. In 1993 her first Kate Shugak novel, "A Cold Day for Murder" won the Edgar Award for "Best Paperback Original". She has also written four mysteries featuring Liam Campbell, an Alaska State Trooper.
4. Now we have a Harvard professor who solves the murders of a Swiss priest named Leonardo Vetra and the curator of the Louvre, Jacques Saunière. Later he prevents an outbreak of the Bubonic plague in Venice. Plus, he is lucky enough to be helped by beautiful women like Vittoria Vetra, Sophie Neveu, and Sienna Brooks. Name this symbologist and his creator.

Answer: Robert Langdon and Dan Brown

Langdon has appeared in four Dan Brown novels, beginning in 2000 with "Angels & Demons". Then came "The Da Vinci Code", "The Lost Symbol", and "Inferno" in 2003, 2009, and 2013. "The Da Vinci Code" was the first of the four to be made into a film, starring Tom Hanks as Langdon in 2006. That was followed by "Angels & Demons", also with Hanks, in 2009.
5. I'm not a kid anymore, but I do admit to having read and enjoyed an entire series of children's "mysteries", so to speak. So who is the protagonist who solved the mysteries of "The Lightning Thief" and "The Titan's Curse"?

Answer: Percy Jackson

Admittedly, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, of which there are two ("Percy Jackson & the Olympians" and "The Heroes of Olypmpus") are not technically of the "mystery" genre, but Percy is still required to solve mysteries to achieve his goals. Furthermore, Wikipedia lists the genres of Riordan's work as "Fantasy, detective fiction, mythology." Riordan has had a bit of success, as his books have been translated into 37 languages.
6. Created by Daniel Silva, this Israeli agent works throughout Europe as an art restorer when he is not occupied in the service of the State of Israel. First seen in "The Kill Artist" in 2000, I most recently enjoyed his exploits in "A Death in Vienna" (2004), and "Moscow Rules" (2008). What's the name of this agent?

Answer: Gabriel Allon

While working at the Washington Bureau of the Cable News Network (CNN), Silva wrote his first novel, "The Unlikely Spy", which was on the "New York Times" bestseller list for five weeks. After two novels featuring a character named Michael Osbourne, Silva began his series of Gabriel Allon novels, the 16th of which had a publishing date in July of 2016.
7. Edith Pargeter, writing under the nom de plume of Ellis Peters, penned 20 excellent mysteries set in 12th Century England and featuring a monk from the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul at Shrewsbury. Who is this healer and mystery solver?

Answer: Brother Cadfael

Cadfael was a Welsh adventurer who had been a soldier and sailor, as well as a veteran of the Crusades. In his forties, he gave up the worldly life to become a Benedictine monk as an herbalist at the abbey in Shrewsbury. Pargeter wrote the Cadfael chronicles under the pseudonym of Ellis Peters to separate them from her other extensive writings which included "The Heaven Tree Trilogy" and "The Brothers of Gwynedd Quartet", which she had written under her real name.

She also wrote under the pseudonyms John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, and Peter Benedict.
8. Speaking of mystery solvers, who solved the mysteries of "The Five Orange Pips" and "The Man with the Twisted Lip"?

Answer: Sherlock Holmes

First appearing in print in 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes has to be the most well known detective in history, so much so that many people believe him to have been a real person. The four novels and 56 short stories featuring the famous sleuth are known as "the Canon" to his followers. Hundreds of pastiches have also been written, some with Holmes himself, some single novels and novel series about characters from the Canon, such as his brother Mycroft, Inspector Lestrade, and even Professor Moriarty.
9. Whenever there is a mystery in Ankh-Morpork, such as (in "Feet of Clay") who murdered the priest and baker who created the newly made golem king, in addition to who poisoned the Patrician, Lord Vetinari, to whom do all Ankh-Morporkians (not to mention the Patrician himself) look for a solution?

Answer: Sam Vimes

Like Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson stories, the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett are not technically mysteries, but those stories featuring Sam Vimes (such as "Guards! Guards!", "Feet of Clay", "The Truth", "Night Watch", and others) usually require him to solve crimes. In all, nine Discworld titles feature Vimes as the main character.
10. The first mysteries I remember reading involved a boy whose father was a small town police chief and whose sister helped solve the mysteries and sometimes figured them out first. Among the cases he solved were "the Case of the Dead Eagles", "the Case of the Disgusting Sneakers", and "the Case of the Slippery Salamander." Who was this "Boy Detective"?

Answer: Encyclopedia Brown

Donald Sobol's first Encyclopedia Brown book, "Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective", was published in 1963. The 29th and final story, "Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Soccer Scheme", was published posthumously in 2012. Encyclopedia's actual first name is Leroy.
Source: Author shvdotr

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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