Christie Encyclopedia Trivia Quiz

Answer: No

Agatha Christie's career as a mystery writer, and the long association between Hercule Poirot and Capt. Hastings, all began in 1920 with the publication of "The Mysterious Affair At Styles". Christie married Hastings off and sent him to the Argentine, but he did pay occasional visits to his old friend and appeared in several more Hercule Poirot mysteries including "The ABC Murders" (1935). Hastings did not accompany Hercule Poirot on holiday to Jerusalem in "Appointment With Death" (1938).

Answer: Library

St. Mary Mead's amateur detective was Miss Jane Marple. She might have looked completely harmless, but killers beware. Miss Marple used her understanding of human nature to solve many a murder. What would you do if the body of a platinum blonde stranger turned up strangled in the library of your country house? If you are Colonel and Mrs. Bantry, you do the only thing possible and send for Miss Marple to solve the mystery. "The Body in the Library" was first published in 1942.

Answer: Cards on the Table

What in the world was Mr. Shaitana, that socialite with the Mephistophelean features, thinking when he invited killers and sleuths to the same dinner party? Didn't he know it might turn fatal if one of his killers thought Shaitana's purpose was to expose them to the sleuths? This very clever Christie mystery marked the meeting of Mrs. Ariadne Oliver and Hercule Poirot and was first published in 1936.

Answer: Dulcie Duveen

An odder pair of opposites never attracted than stuffy, set in his ways, over thirty Hastings and the energetic, seventeen-year old Dulcie Duveen, but it must have been a match made in heaven. The couple married and lived happily ever after. Agatha Christie married Hastings off, because she was growing tired of him. Luckily for his fans, Hastings did appear in several more of the Poirot mysteries.

Answer: Elephants Can Remember

"Elpehants Can Remember" was first published in 1972 and was the final partnership between Hercule Poirot and Mrs. Oliver. It had been twenty years since Lord and Lady Ravenscroft fell from a cliff to their deaths. Was it an accident, double suicide or murder-suicide? Mrs. Oliver thought the key to solving the mystery was in finding someone who had a long memory, like an elephant, and can remember.

Answer: Finn

"The Secret Adversary" (1922) was the first of five novels to feature Tommy and Tuppence. The series begins with the two unemployed friends seeking adventuresome employment and continued with their adventures through different ages and stages of their married life. The last Tuppence and Tommy mystery was "Postern of Fate", first published in 1974.

Answer: Gladys

The murderer was following the old nursery rhyme "Sing A Song Of Sixpence", but when one of the victims is Miss Marple's Gladys, she does not hesitate to bring them to justice.

Answer: Hallowe'en Party

In "Death on the Nile" (1937), Poirot was taking a holiday in Egypt. He was on holiday in Jersalem in "Appointment With Death" (1938). "Evil Under the Sun" (1941) took place at seaside resort on the English coast. Mrs. Ariadne Oliver called on Hercule Poirot at his London flat and asked for his help in solving the murder of a child at a Halloween Party in "Hallowe'en Party" (1969)

Answer: Poisoned with strychnine

Mrs. Emily Inglethorpe held the purse strings and ran the show at Styles Court, so was anyone really surprised when she ended up a victim of strychnine poisoning?

Answer: Japp

Inspector Japp was featured in several of the Hercule Poirot mysteries including "The Big Four" (1927), and "Murder in the Mews" from "Dead Man's Mirror" (1937).

Answer: King's Abbot

Hercule Poirot had settled down to grow vegetable marrows in the quiet English village of King's Abbot. He soon found the job tedious and met his neighbor, Dr. Sheppard, when he threw a marrow over Sheppard's fence in disgust. "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" was first published in 1926, and its surprise ending made it one of Christie's finest mysteries.

Answer: Lemon

Miss Lemon was so very efficent that she hardly seemed human. The only time Miss Lemon was less than letter perfect was in "Hickory, Dickory, Death" (1955) also published as "Hickory, Dickory, Dock". In this mystery, Poirot meets Mrs. Hubbard, Miss Lemon's sister. and solves the mysterious happenings at a student hotel.

Answer: Murder at the Gallop

All of the other answers are titles of actual Christie mysteries, so "Murder at the Gallop" was the red herring. "Murder at the Gallop" was one of a series of movies made in the 1960's that starred Margaret Rutherford as Miss Jane Marple. It was based on the novel "After the Funeral".

The other movies were: "Murder She Said", "Murder Most Foul", and "Murder Ahoy". Note: Many Christie novels came out with alternate titles. "Murder with Mirrors" (1952) was also published as "They Do It with Mirrors".

Answer: Miss Marple

In "Nemesis" (1971) Miss Marple undertakes to unravel a mystery set for her by a dead man. "Nemesis" is also a sequel to "A Carribean Mystery" (1964).

Answer: Ordeal by Innocence

Agatha Christie's mysteries are still so popular today because she was such a wonderful storyteller. In "Ordeal by Innocence", she told the story of how a man can be condemned by his unsavory reputation and what happened when his innocence was finally proven.

Answer: Mary Denbenham

Mr. Parker Pyne was a former government employee and statistician, and he had figured out that unhappiness had fives causes. After listening to his clients troubles, Mr. Pyne knew which category to place them in for the right cure. Mrs. Oliver wrote the scripts, beautiful Madeline de Sara was the vamp, and Claude Luttrell played the leading man roles. Mr. Pyne, of course, did this for a price, which was based on his client's ability to pay.

His services also came with a money back guarantee. First published in 1934, this was the first appearance of writer Ariadne Oliver.

It was also published as "Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective".

Answer: Yes

"The Mysterious Mr. Quin" was first published in 1930 and is a series of short stories that feature both Mr. Harley Quin, whose name is a play off of Harlequin. and an elderly gentleman named Mr. Satterthwaite. In "An Autobiography", Agatha Christie said of the mysterious Mr. Quin that "he was a friend of lovers, and connected with death."

Answer: True

Who killed Ratchett? There was no shortage of suspects and clues. In fact, there were too many clues. Justice may be slow, but it finally caught up with Rachett in "Murder on the Orient Express", one of Christie's most entertaining mysteries. It was also published as "Murder in the Calais Coach".

Answer: The Moving Finger

Peace and quiet was just what Jerry Barton's doctor ordered, and that's what he expected to have in the small town of Lymstock. Jerry soon found out that underneath the calm surface of village life, there was a current of suspicion caused by an anonymous writer of posion pen letters. "The Moving Finger" was first published in 1942.

Answer: No

The "Prometheus" was an airplane on route from Paris to London in the Hercule Poirot mystery "Death in the Air" (1938).

Answer: No

"The Under Dog" featured Hercule Poirot. It was one of the stories that was written by Christie in the 1920's and published in 1951 as "The Under Dog and Other Stories". Some of the other stories in this collection are: "The Market Basing Mystery", and "The Cornish Mystery".

Answer: Verdict

"Verdict" was a very unusual work for Agatha Christie and although a murder does occur, it is not the focus of the play. In "An Autobiography" Christie told that this play, with the exception of "Witness for the Prosecution", was her best.

Answer: Sir Wilfred Robarts

"Witness For The Prosecution" was written in 1948, and of all her plays, this was her favorite. Some of us may never have the opportunity to see the stage play performed, but the 1957 movie "Witness For The Prosecution" was excellent.

Answer: Curtain

"Curtain" (1976) was the last Hercule Poirot mystery, and it was fitting that his career concluded back at Styles Court where it began in "Mysterious Affair At Styles" so many years before. The world had changed, but Hastings was still faithful and true. Who was X? For those of you who have never read "Curtain", I really do not want to spoil the book for you.

It would truly be a crime. I never figured out X's identity until the very end of the book.

Answer: Young Adventurers, Ltd.

The War was over, and neither Tuppence or Tommy could find a job. They decided to call themselves the Young Adventurers , Ltd. and to run an ad in the "Times" offering their services as two young adventurers willing to undertake any reasonable offer. "The Secret Adversary" was first published in 1922. I see there's no room for the letter Z. Would you like to try it anyway? Then: Z is for Zero. What Christie sleuth was featured in her 1944 novel "Towards Zero"? I bet you knew the answer was Superintendent Battle, didn't you? Thank you for taking my Christie Encyclopedia quiz.