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Quiz about Fictional Detectives  Part 2
Quiz about Fictional Detectives  Part 2

Fictional Detectives - Part 2 Trivia Quiz


This is the second of two quizzes on 20th century detective fiction; this part covers the more recent detectives. This is also a collaboration between austinnene and mnbates - Part 1 can be found under austinnene's name.

A multiple-choice quiz by mnbates. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
mnbates
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
278,723
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
1068
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Robert Crais created his LA New Age detective, Elvis Cole, in the mid-80s. What is the name of Elvis' sometime partner in crime detection? (This guy makes the semi-solitary Elvis look like a social butterfly!) Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. In the "Inspector Morse" series by Colin Dexter Mores's first name is a bit of an enigma. He was, however, given a nickname, which is referred to several times; what is the nickname?
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Patricia Cornwell has had great success with her novels featuring Kay Scarpetta. Kay was the chief medical examiner of the State of Virginia, until she left that position in "The Last Precinct". Several years later, Cornwell resumed chronicling Scarpetta's life in what book? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Cadfael, created by Ellis Peters, is one of the earliest of the new generation of historical detectives; he is a monk and an expert on herbs and potions. To which order does Cadfael belong? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Michael Connelly's police detective, Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch, works out of LAPD. In the 2006 release, "Echo Park", Harry is put back on a missing persons case that he failed to solve 13 years earlier. He soon realizes something that horrifies him. What is it? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. The wonderful creation of Jill Staynes and Margaret Storey, Inspector Robert Bone, first appeared in which novel? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Stephen White's investigative character Alan Gregory is not a cop or a private eye. He holds the same credentials that White himself earned. What's his line of work? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Mike Ripley's "Angel" series featuring the itinerant musician, cab driver and ne'er-do-well Fitzroy Maclean Angel and his vicious cat Springsteen is a humorous look at the world of the "hard-boiled" detective. Angel has given his cab a name; what is it? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. One of the most elegantly-drawn of all hard cases is Robert B. Parker's Spenser, the Bostonian ex-cop with a Harvard-educated shrink for a lady love. Parker has been writing Spenser since 1973 and has more than 30 Spenser novels to his credit. Parker in recent years has begun to develop two other crime solving protagonists, Jesse Stone, a cop, and Sunny Randall, a female private eye. What was unusual about the creation of Sunny Randall? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. One of the most intriguing detectives is Sam Vimes, who inhabits Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series and runs the City Watch. Which of these characters is NOT currently a member of the Watch? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Robert Crais created his LA New Age detective, Elvis Cole, in the mid-80s. What is the name of Elvis' sometime partner in crime detection? (This guy makes the semi-solitary Elvis look like a social butterfly!)

Answer: Joe Pike

Pike is a man of few words, great stealth and agility and cool shades. He's a Viet Nam vet with skill in the martial arts. He became so popular that Crais gave him his own book, "The Watchman", in 2007.
2. In the "Inspector Morse" series by Colin Dexter Mores's first name is a bit of an enigma. He was, however, given a nickname, which is referred to several times; what is the nickname?

Answer: Pagan

He is referred to as Pagan several times by old colleagues and teachers from Oxford University, because he would not reveal his Christian name, not revealed until the 12th (of 13) novel. One of the few detective series which has a definitive ending, partially because of the death of the personification of Morse' the late, great John Thaw.

The 33 2-hour tv shows differ from the novels which Colin Dexter created as a reflection of himself in 1972.
3. Patricia Cornwell has had great success with her novels featuring Kay Scarpetta. Kay was the chief medical examiner of the State of Virginia, until she left that position in "The Last Precinct". Several years later, Cornwell resumed chronicling Scarpetta's life in what book?

Answer: Blow Fly

"Blow Fly" finds Scarpetta in Florida, no longer an ME, working as a private forensic consultant. The plot was highly touted as containing "the shock of her life", but not all devoted readers agreed with that blurb. The book received mixed reviews, with a number of reviewers expressing the opinion that Cornwell had gone stale where Scarpetta was concerned.
4. Cadfael, created by Ellis Peters, is one of the earliest of the new generation of historical detectives; he is a monk and an expert on herbs and potions. To which order does Cadfael belong?

Answer: Benedictine

The abbey at Shrewsbury was established by the Benedictines in 1083. Cadfael's appearance in the historically accurate abbey occurs about 1135 in "A Morbid Taste for Bones" during the civil war between the forces of King Stephen and the invading army of the Empress Maud.

The abbots that Cadfael served, Herbert and Ranulf, were the abbots of the time period. The original abbey church still stands.
5. Michael Connelly's police detective, Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch, works out of LAPD. In the 2006 release, "Echo Park", Harry is put back on a missing persons case that he failed to solve 13 years earlier. He soon realizes something that horrifies him. What is it?

Answer: In the original investigation, he and his partner missed a clue that would have proved that the missing person had been murdered-and led to the murderer.

The book opens with the murderer in jail for other killings. He admits to the killing of Marie Gesto, whose disappearance 13 years ago was a case Harry could not solve. Harry realizes he overlooked a clue in Marie's disappearance that would have confirmed her murder and led to the culprit, and that nine subsequent murder victims might have escaped their fate if he'd found that clue.
6. The wonderful creation of Jill Staynes and Margaret Storey, Inspector Robert Bone, first appeared in which novel?

Answer: Goodbye Nanny Gray

The series of eight novels contain some of the best realized characters of any fiction, some of them recurring: Bone's daughter Charlotte (Cha) and best friend Prue, her teacher Grizelda Shaw, etc. All of the characters have stories attached to them; even the cats have fully rounded parts to play.
7. Stephen White's investigative character Alan Gregory is not a cop or a private eye. He holds the same credentials that White himself earned. What's his line of work?

Answer: Psychologist

Gregory is a clinical psychologist, as is White, who worked in pediatric oncology at The Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado. His Alan Gregory books center on nearby Boulder. While at The Children's Hospital, White worked with Jonathan Kellerman, also a psychologist working in pediatric oncology (and well-known author, as is his wife Faye Kellerman and their son Jesse). White later maintained a private practice as a psychologist for a number of years; he has said that the years he spent listening to his patients talk was excellent training for writing dialogue. Alan Gregory is married to a woman with multiple sclerosis, and White receives a great deal of fan mail from people with this condition.
8. Mike Ripley's "Angel" series featuring the itinerant musician, cab driver and ne'er-do-well Fitzroy Maclean Angel and his vicious cat Springsteen is a humorous look at the world of the "hard-boiled" detective. Angel has given his cab a name; what is it?

Answer: Armstrong

Angel's cab is the distinctive Daimler F1 black cab, which defined London almost as closely as the Routemaster red bus. Technically, the cab he now drives is Armstrong II as the original suffered a severe explosion."Angel's unusual background and friends place the books in the area of the early Saint novels where the hero is not above "a bit of ducking and diving" in the manner of Del-boy Trotter of "Only Fools and Horses".
9. One of the most elegantly-drawn of all hard cases is Robert B. Parker's Spenser, the Bostonian ex-cop with a Harvard-educated shrink for a lady love. Parker has been writing Spenser since 1973 and has more than 30 Spenser novels to his credit. Parker in recent years has begun to develop two other crime solving protagonists, Jesse Stone, a cop, and Sunny Randall, a female private eye. What was unusual about the creation of Sunny Randall?

Answer: She was created to be developed into a movie character.

Sunny Randall was created specifically to be played by the American actress Helen Hunt, a friend of Parker's, on the big screen. However, for undisclosed reasons, the project has not come to fruition at this writing in late 2007. Jesse Stone, another Parker creation, is currently filming a fourth tv movie in the person of Tom Selleck. Stone has appeared in 6 books, Sunny Randall in 5 books and Spenser in 33 books.
10. One of the most intriguing detectives is Sam Vimes, who inhabits Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series and runs the City Watch. Which of these characters is NOT currently a member of the Watch?

Answer: John Keel

John Keel was the sergeant-at-arms who became a mentor to the young Sam Vimes; the full story on this is not revealed until "Night Watch" where Sam Vimes travels back in time and replaces the slain Keel, thus becoming his own mentor. Delphine Angua is the werewolf officer, Fred Colon is the quintessential fat sergeant and Nobby Nobbs the comic relief who carries a note to prove he is human.

The character of Sam Vimes first appeared in "Guards, Guards" but now seems to appear in almost every "Discworld" novel; you can't keep a good man down. Hope you enjoyed this and "Fictional Detectives - Part 1"; thanks for all your help, Linda.
Source: Author mnbates

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