Detectives In Fiction Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

Sherlock Holmes was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and first appeared in 'The Strand Magazine' in 1887. He was famous for his deductive powers and apparently Conan Doyle based the character on his tutor at Edinburgh University, surgeon and forensic detective Joseph Bell.

Many believe Sherlock Holmes gave rise to the genre of detective fiction, however, the Holmes stories were inspired by Auguste Dupin, a fictional character created by Edgar Allan Poe. Although not the first detective stories the Poe books inspired many that followed. As with Sherlock Holmes stories 40 years later, they were written in the first person narrative by a companion about an eccentric but brillant detective helping the bumbling police. Dupin appeared in: 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' (1841), 'The Mystery of Marie Roget' (1842) and 'The Purloined Letter' (1844).

Answer: Arkady Vasilevich Renko

Arkady Renko was the tragic hero of a series of novels by Martin Cruz Smith including: 'Gorky Park', 'Polar Star', 'Red Square', 'Havana Bay' and 'Dogs Eat Wolves'. The stories were set against a backdrop of the communist and post communist systems in Russia (and Cuba). A gripping detective novel involving, KGB, murder, smuggling, love and betrayal, 'Gorky Park' was critically acclaimed in both the novel and film versions.

The 1983 movie was adapted by Dennis Potter and starred William Hurt as Renko, Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy, Ian Bannon and Joanna Pacula.

Pasha Pavlovich was Renko's assistant investigator, Sergei Pribluda was a KGB Major who hindered Renko's investigation and eventually arrested and interogated him. In the later novels Renko and Prublida became friends. Feodor Golodkin, played by Alexi Sale was a KGB informant.

Answer: Sam Spade

Sam Spade was the hero of Hammett's book, 'The Maltese Falcon'. The 1941 movie version was John Huston's debut directorial role and starred Humphrey Bogart as Spade, Mary Astor as Brigid O'Shaughnessy, the femme fatale, Sydney Greenstreet in his film debut as Kasper Gutman, the villain and Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo, his associate.

The role of Sam Spade was offered to George Raft who turned it down because he thought it was an unimportant picture. Bogart's character became the archetype film noir private detective and the movie was deemed culturally significant by the US Library of Congress and preserved in the National Film Registry.

Answer: George Bulman

George Bulman first appeared in the serialised TV film, 'The XYY Man' as a police officer. The film was spun off into a TV detective series, 'The Strangers', with Detective Sergeant Bulman rising through the ranks to Detective Chief Inspector. The character returned in 'Bulman', having retired from the police and working as a private detective and clock repair shop owner. His trade marks where his fingerless gloves, Edwardian glasses and perpetual cold.

'Shoestring' was an early 1980's UK TV series set in Bristol. It starred Trevor Eve as Eddie Shoestring, a private detective with his own radio show on the local station, Radio West.

'Bergerac' was a 1980's UK TV series set on the Channel Island of Jersey. It starred John Nettles as Sergeant Jim Bergerac, a detective in the Jersey Police.

Nicholas Ball played private detective, 'Hazell' in the 1970's UK TV series. The character was a Cockney Phillip Marlowe (complete with voice over) and the stories were based on books co-authored by footballer and England coach, Terry Venables and writer, Gordon Williams.

Answer: Dirk Gently

Dirk Gently was created by Douglas Adams, of 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' fame. He featured in 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' and 'The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul'. Adams died before completing the third novel, 'The Salmon of Doubt'.

Dirk made use of the 'fundamental interconnectedness' of all things to solve the crime thus running up large expense accounts claiming that every item was due to this interconnectedness. He claimed that he had never actually conned anybody because none of his clients had ever paid him.

Answer: Ellery Queen

Ellery Queen was both a fictional character and a pseudonym used by the authors, cousins, Frederick Dannay and Manfred Lee. Their trade mark was a single page near the end of the book stating that the reader had seen the same clues as Ellery and asking if they could solve the crime. The TV show used a similar device where Ellery would talk directly to the audience.

Rex Carver was a literary British private eye come secret agent created by Victor Canning in the 1960's.

Travis McGee was a character created by John D. MacDonald in the 1960's. Perhaps more of a bounty hunter than a private detective.

Lew Archer was created by Ross Macdonald in the 1940's. He was a literary private eye working in Southern California.

Answer: Simon Templar

Simon Templar was a character in a series of 45 books by Leslie Charteris published from the 1920's to the 1960's. He is known as 'The Saint' because of his initials and his Robin Hood like good deeds. The Saint has appeared in various movie and TV versions and the character has been played by George Sanders, Roger Moore, Ian Ogilvy, Simon Dutton and Val Kilmer.

Answer: Dangermouse

'Dangermouse' was a UK animated series about a British secret agent who was a mouse wearing an eye patch. The cartoon parodied 'James Bond' and the 'Danger Man' series. Dangermouse was the first British cartoon to appear on US TV, first aired on 'Nickelodeon' in the 1980's.

'Inspector Gadget' first appeared in a 1980's animated series about a bumbling detective who was part robot with various gadgets built into his body. He has since appeared in various cartoons and a 1999 movie starring Matthew Broderick.

'Hong Kong Phooey' was a Hanna-Barbera animated series from the 1970's about a dog who was the bungling superhero alter ego of Penrod Pooch, a mild mannered police station janitor. He relied on his 'Hong Kong Book of Kung-Fu' but it was actually his side kick stripped cat called 'Spot' who would save the day.

'Superted' was created by Siriol Productions of Cardiff in 1982 and was the company's first production, commissioned by fledgling Welsh-language broadcaster, S4C. The animated series won domestic acclaim and was later licensed by Disney, won a Bafta award in 1987 and was re-made by Hanna-Barbera.

Answer: Philip Marlowe

Philip Marlowe appeared in a series of books from the 1930's to the 1950's, two of which, 'The Big Sleep' and 'The Long Goodbye' were made into movies. 'The Big Sleep' directed by Howard Hawkes in 1946 starred Humphrey Bogart as Marlowe and his wife, Lauren Bacall as the femme fatale.

The film was famous for its complex plot. Apparently during filming Hawkes could not work out who had killed the character of Owen Taylor. He asked Chandler who replied, 'I'm damned if I know!'

Answer: Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy was a police detective created by Chester Gould in 1931 for a comic strip in the 'Chicago Tribune'. Gould drew the strip until 1977. The character became part of American pop culture and has appeared in various animated, TV and movie versions. Warren Beatty directed and starred in the 1990 movie version co-starring, Madonna, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman and Dick van Dyke.

Sexton Blake was a detective who featured in numerous British comic strips and novels. He first appeared in 1893 in 'The Missing Millionaire' by Harry Blyth and has since featured in stories written by almost 200 authors.

'Dick Barton, Special Agent' was the BBC's first daily radio serial which ran from 1946 to 1951. Captain Richard Barton played by Noel Johnson and his side kicks, Jock and Snowey saved the country from evil plots without sex, alcohol, violence or swearing. At its peak it had an audience of 15 million.

Charlie Chan was a Chinese-Hawaiian detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in the 1920's featuring in a number of books and movies. The character was based on real life 'Chang Apana', an ex-cowboy who joined the Honolulu Police in 1898. Instead of a gun, Apana carried a horsewhip. He became famous for his whip, Panama hat and cigars. Possibly an inspiration for Indiana Jones?