Mystery Authors and Titles (2) Quiz

Answer: P. D. James

Best known for her character Adam Dalgleish, "A Taste for Death" (1990) by British writer P. D. James is the tenth of fourteen novels in which Dalgleish, now a Commander in the Metropolitan Police, does his detective work. This case starts with two murder victims at opposite ends of the social spectrum, found together and both with their throats cut.

The book was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1987.

Answer: P. D. James

In the novel "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman" (1972) by P. D. James, Cordelia Gray steps into the role of private detective following the suicide of her business partner Bernard Pryce. She goes on to solve her first solo case, with Adam Dalgleish also making an appearance in this the first of the Cordelia Gray mystery novels.

The novel is notable for the portrayal of a female private detective and the challenges she faces as a woman.

Answer: P. D. James

P. D. James was an admirer of Jane Austen's writing, including the complex character development and her keen observational eye. She paid homage to this in her 2011 historical mystery novel "Death Comes to Pemberley", which could be seen as a sequel to Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" (1813). James imitates Austen's style of writing and uses characters from Austen's novel to write a murder mystery.

The tale is told from Darcy's viewpoint.

Answer: Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell's debut novel was actually the third she wrote, namely "From Doon with Death" (1964). The other two were published in 1965 and 1966. This 1964 novel was the first involving Inspector Wexford in a series that ran to twenty-four police procedurals. This one starts with the reporting by her husband of the disappearance of an ordinary-seeming woman, later found dead. The question is: who is Doon?

Answer: Ruth Rendell

A standalone prize-winning psychological crime novel by Ruth Rendell, "A Demon in My View" (1976) looks at a London tenement full of different characters including an apparently respectable clerk and bookkeeper. The balance is disturbed when a well-meaning young man writing a thesis on criminal psychology moves into the building and its complex web of social situations.

Answer: Ruth Rendell

The psychological thriller "A Judgement in Stone" (1977) by Ruth Rendell is unusual in that the first lines in the book tells the reader who the murderer is, who the victims were and the basic motive for the crime. The book explores the circumstances leading to why the housekeeper came to carry out this St Valentine's Day massacre. The novel is not part of the Inspector Wexford series.

Answer: Robert B. Parker

Drawing inspiration from the novels of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald, Robert B. Parker was to launch the Spenser series of hard-boiled detectives with "The Godwulf Manuscript" (1973), the first of around 40 such novels. The characters Spenser and Marlowe (in Chandler's case) share an Elizabethan poetry heritage. In the novel, the titular manuscript was stolen from a university and offered back for ransom. Spenser is hired to track it down and then makes it his business to clear the name of student in a possibly-connected murder.

Answer: Robert B. Parker

Another series started relatively late in Robert B. Parker's career is the Jesse Stone series of nine novels. In the first of the series, "Night Passage" (1997), and with his marriage failing, Jesse Stone turns to the bottle which costs him his job. To escape he moves to the quiet town of Paradise as chief of police where he soon encounters the criminal element.

The series was continued after Parker's death, more than doubling the number of novels.

Answer: Robert B. Parker

The Sunny Randall series is another part of Robert B. Parker's legacy. This time the reader is following the exploits of Boston-based female private investigator Sunny Randall. In the first of the series, "Family Honor" (1999), Sunny is hired to locate the teenage daughter of a wealthy family.

The plot sees her babysitting the teenager, some serious gangster issues and a criminal conspiracy. Parker wrote six in this series with the publishers contracting writers to continue the series following his death.

Answer: James Patterson

"Along Came a Spider" (1993) is the first of the Alex Cross series. Written by James Patterson, there are over 20 novels in the series which features the forensic psychologist and police detective Alex Cross. The novel starts with Cross and his partner called to a triple-murder crime scene, only to be called away and reluctantly attached to a high-profile kidnapping case. Twists and turns follow with hypnotism, split personalities and rogue agents all involved.

Answer: James Patterson

Like father, like son. "Ali Cross" (2019) is the first novel in a young adult detective series by James Patterson, a spin-off from the Alex Cross series. His father, Alex Cross, is on trial for a crime he did not commit, so it is down to Ali to find what happened to his friend Gabe Qualls who has gone missing, despite being told by his father not to get involved.

Answer: James Patterson

First in the "Women's Murder Club" series, the crime novel "1st to Die" was published in 2001. The sequels, numbering over 20, mostly contain their sequel number in the novel title and are all co-written with another writer (or two). In the first novel, a series of double homicides sees Inspector Lindsay Boxer and three female friends (a medical examiner, an assistant DA and a reporter) pool their skills to solve the murders.