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Quiz about Its a Mystery to MeAuthors  Their Crimefighte
Quiz about Its a Mystery to MeAuthors  Their Crimefighte

It's a Mystery to Me-Authors & Their Crimefighte Quiz


Part of the enjoyment of reading is familiarity with the characters. The following have appeared in numerous novels by the same author...can you name the creator or creations of these crime-fighters and crime writers?

A multiple-choice quiz by paulmallon. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
paulmallon
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
343,726
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
10 / 15
Plays
712
- -
Question 1 of 15
1. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks has solved many a mystery throughout the English countryside with the assistance of Detective Annie Cabot in such books as "Gallows View", "In a Dry Season", and "Playing with Fire".

Who is the acclaimed British novelist who spins his tales?
Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. Author Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon is a Mossad assassin who has an unusual job which enables him to travel from Israel and around the world without raising great suspicion. Among his marvelous mystery novels are "The Unlikely Spy", "The English Assassin" and "Moscow Rules."

What is his cover occupation?
Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. Over 20 times John Sandford has featured Detective Lieutenant Lucas Davenport as the protagonist in his "Prey" series. Davenport is definitely not your run-of-the-mill gumshoe as, among other things, his mode of transportation will attest. Not many law enforcement officers have a killer wardrobe and drive a luxury car, but he does, since he is independently wealthy.
How did he come into his money?
Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. Prolific and terrific, Michael Connelly has penned over 20 mystery novels.
Most of them have featured Det. Harry Bosch, and are usually centered in and around Los Angeles. While Harry Bosch is one of the more popular names in fictional crime fighting, Harry is not Bosch's actual first name. Do you know what is the character's actual birth name?
Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. Arkady Renko appears in several espionage stories written by Martin Cruz Smith. In the first book of the series, he is a brooding chief investigator working in Moscow for the Soviet Militia as head of homicide investigations. In 1983 this novel was made into a "dark" movie of the same name.

Which of these fine works was it?
Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. Mitch Rapp is a "no questions asked" counter-terrorism expert in more than ten books in a strong series which debuted in 1997 with "Term Limits".

Who is the scrivener who brings Mitch Rapp to life?
Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. Rizzoli and Isles are a dynamic female duo, one a Boston homicide detective (Jane Rizzoli) and her cohort, a medical examiner (Maura Isles) who is sometimes referred to as "The Queen of the Dead", in a very popular series of novels that began with "The Surgeon" in 2001.

Do you know who wrote this series of books?
Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. James Lee Burke has penned over thirty novels, including almost twenty featuring a sheriff's deputy in New Iberia, LA. He once was a police officer in New Orleans, and is a recovering alcoholic who still has nightmares dating back to his time in the service during the Vietnam War. When he was a young child his father was killed in an oil rig fire and his mother deserted the family (and later was murdered). To make matters worse, as an adult his wife has also been murdered.
Who is this depressed defender of decorum?
Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. Walter Mosley created Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, who was the focal point of many stories set mostly in the period of the 1940s-1960s.

In and around which major American city did they take place?
Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. An astounding 75 novels featuring the Police Commissaire of Paris, Jules Maigret were published between 1931 and 1972. He was known to be a man who enjoyed a glass (or two) of beer, having a good smoke on his pipe and wearing his trademark raincoat despite the weather (which sometimes gave him away as a policeman). His exploits were first seen in "Pietr-le Letton" in 1931, and the curtain closer in 1972 was entitled "Maigret and M. Charles".
Who was the master of mayhem who made Monsieur Maigret materialize?
Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. Washington D.C. and environs are the setting for this author's stories of ex-cop and present P.I. Derek Strange. Together he and his partner Terry Quinn form their agency, "Strange Investigations", in 2001's "Right as Rain" and the subsequent novels "Hell to Pay" and "Soul Circus".

Who is this award winning "noir" novelist?
Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. Beginning with "Open Season" (2001), and now in over ten novels, we have come to meet and know Joe Pickett, an unlikely hero if ever there was one. He's happily married with a growing family of daughters. Although he is a law enforcer, he is admittedly a poor shot, but makes up for that with dogged determination that helps him, along with his sidekick, Nate Romanowski to keep the peace in and around the Rocky Mountains.

In what capacity is Joe employed?
Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. Ed McBain is the name of the author that appears on the popular "87th Precinct" police ensemble series of sharp witted novels set in the city of "Isola", which is widely believed to be based on the N.Y. borough of Manhattan. But Ed McBain is actually the non de plume of the author who wrote another famous book under his legal name.

What is the title of that book and what is his legal name?
Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. "Hawk" is the sidekick and ally of one of crime fictions' most popular crime fighters and a creation of one of the genre's best writers (at least in my opinion).

Who is his more famous partner, and who is the author who spun his tales?
Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. "The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency" is an interesting series of mysteries written by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith. The founder of the African crime fighting agency, and its lead detective, is Mma Precious Ramotswe who later marries Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, a local mechanic and owner of Tlokweng Speedy Motors. In order to be fully enjoyed, the series books should be read in sequence from the first one, which (not surprisingly) is titled "The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency". Love doesn't take long to bloom between Mma Ramotswe and Mr. Matekoni since "Tears of the Giraffe" is just the second book in the series.

Do you know in which capital city the ladies do most of their crime fighting?
Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks has solved many a mystery throughout the English countryside with the assistance of Detective Annie Cabot in such books as "Gallows View", "In a Dry Season", and "Playing with Fire". Who is the acclaimed British novelist who spins his tales?

Answer: Peter Robinson

In the first book of the series, "Gallows View", Banks is married but later, after his divorce, he meets and has an affair with Cabot, who first appears in the 1987 work "In a Dry Season".

Ngaio Marsh is the author of the Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn series. Val McDermitt tells of the exploits of Dr. Tony Hill. Dorothy Sayers writes the popular "Lord Peter Wimsey" novels.
2. Author Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon is a Mossad assassin who has an unusual job which enables him to travel from Israel and around the world without raising great suspicion. Among his marvelous mystery novels are "The Unlikely Spy", "The English Assassin" and "Moscow Rules." What is his cover occupation?

Answer: art restorer

He actually excels as a master art restorer and his "cutout" is an art dealer named Julian Isherwood.

Daniel Silva was appointed as a member of The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2009.

Interesting note: Former President Bill Clinton revealed to Ann Curry on the "Today" show on October 11, 2011 that Gabriel Allon is his favorite character in fiction.
3. Over 20 times John Sandford has featured Detective Lieutenant Lucas Davenport as the protagonist in his "Prey" series. Davenport is definitely not your run-of-the-mill gumshoe as, among other things, his mode of transportation will attest. Not many law enforcement officers have a killer wardrobe and drive a luxury car, but he does, since he is independently wealthy. How did he come into his money?

Answer: by designing role-playing games

"John Sandford" is a pseudonym of best selling author and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist John Camp. He was born February 23,1944 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sandford also writes the "Virgil Flowers" series of crime novels.
4. Prolific and terrific, Michael Connelly has penned over 20 mystery novels. Most of them have featured Det. Harry Bosch, and are usually centered in and around Los Angeles. While Harry Bosch is one of the more popular names in fictional crime fighting, Harry is not Bosch's actual first name. Do you know what is the character's actual birth name?

Answer: Hieronymus

In 2002 Connelly's seventh novel, "Bloodwork", was turned into an excellent film staring Clint Eastwood as Bosch and co-starring Jeff Daniels and Angelica Houston.
It has an unexpected ending that you'll have see for yourself because I'm not "spilling the beans".

Michael Connelly was born July 21,1956 and is a native of Philadelphia,PA.
5. Arkady Renko appears in several espionage stories written by Martin Cruz Smith. In the first book of the series, he is a brooding chief investigator working in Moscow for the Soviet Militia as head of homicide investigations. In 1983 this novel was made into a "dark" movie of the same name. Which of these fine works was it?

Answer: Gorky Park

The movie "Gorky Park" starred William Hurt as Renko along with a fine supporting cast including Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy and Joanna Pacula. Since the crew was denied access to Moscow, the film was shot in Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland.
6. Mitch Rapp is a "no questions asked" counter-terrorism expert in more than ten books in a strong series which debuted in 1997 with "Term Limits". Who is the scrivener who brings Mitch Rapp to life?

Answer: Vince Flynn

Rapp attended Syracuse University along with his wife, who was killed in the 1988 explosion of Pan Am flight #103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. A year later he was recruited to work for the CIA by director Irene Kennedy. In the series, Rapp is a counter terrorism expert who does not hesitate to make use of "enhanced interrogation" methods.
7. Rizzoli and Isles are a dynamic female duo, one a Boston homicide detective (Jane Rizzoli) and her cohort, a medical examiner (Maura Isles) who is sometimes referred to as "The Queen of the Dead", in a very popular series of novels that began with "The Surgeon" in 2001. Do you know who wrote this series of books?

Answer: Tess Gerritsen

Tess Gerritson, who is a retired Chinese-American internist, was born June 12, 1953 in San Diego, CA.

In 2010 "Rizzoli and Isles" became a TV series starring Angie Harmon as Det. Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as M.E. Isles.
8. James Lee Burke has penned over thirty novels, including almost twenty featuring a sheriff's deputy in New Iberia, LA. He once was a police officer in New Orleans, and is a recovering alcoholic who still has nightmares dating back to his time in the service during the Vietnam War. When he was a young child his father was killed in an oil rig fire and his mother deserted the family (and later was murdered). To make matters worse, as an adult his wife has also been murdered. Who is this depressed defender of decorum?

Answer: Dave Robicheaux

His sidekick is also a violent, ex-cop boozer by the name of Cletus Purcel.
Robicheaux has been portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones in the movie "In the Electric Mist with the Confederate Dead", and by Alec Baldwin in "Heaven's Prisoners".

James Lee Burke was born December 5, 1936 in Houston, TX and has won two Edgar Awards for best mystery of the year with "Black Cherry Blues" in 1990 and "Cimarron Rose" in 1998. His daughter, Alafair, is also a prolific mystery writer.
9. Walter Mosley created Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, who was the focal point of many stories set mostly in the period of the 1940s-1960s. In and around which major American city did they take place?

Answer: Los Angeles

For most of the series Rawlins was an unlicensed private investigator, but in
the later novels in the series he did finally become a legit gumshoe.
10. An astounding 75 novels featuring the Police Commissaire of Paris, Jules Maigret were published between 1931 and 1972. He was known to be a man who enjoyed a glass (or two) of beer, having a good smoke on his pipe and wearing his trademark raincoat despite the weather (which sometimes gave him away as a policeman). His exploits were first seen in "Pietr-le Letton" in 1931, and the curtain closer in 1972 was entitled "Maigret and M. Charles". Who was the master of mayhem who made Monsieur Maigret materialize?

Answer: Georges Simenon

George Joseph Simenon was born February 13,1903 in Liege, Belgium.
Although Maigret is his best known character, he wrote over 200 novels and had over 170 works adapted to television and movies, some under the name "G. Sim".
He spent over twenty years in France from 1922-1945, drinking heavily and carousing with "ladies of the evening" and was friends with anarchists and bohemian artists. He met his future wife Regine Renchon while frequenting a group of artists known as "La Caque". He then spent the next ten years in Canada (briefly) and New York before returning to Europe for the rest of his life. He died September 4, 1989 in Switzerland.

Lawrence Sanders writes the "Archie McNally" crime series. Ellery Queen was a fictional TV detective in the mid 1970s who was created by cousins Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee. Rick Daulbaugh is one of my golfing buddies.
11. Washington D.C. and environs are the setting for this author's stories of ex-cop and present P.I. Derek Strange. Together he and his partner Terry Quinn form their agency, "Strange Investigations", in 2001's "Right as Rain" and the subsequent novels "Hell to Pay" and "Soul Circus". Who is this award winning "noir" novelist?

Answer: George Pelecanos

George Pelecanos was born February 18, 1957 in Washington,D.C. His first novel, "The Big Blowdown", won "The International Crime Novel of the Year" in Germany and Japan in 1992. He is also the writer of the "Nick Stefanos" series.
12. Beginning with "Open Season" (2001), and now in over ten novels, we have come to meet and know Joe Pickett, an unlikely hero if ever there was one. He's happily married with a growing family of daughters. Although he is a law enforcer, he is admittedly a poor shot, but makes up for that with dogged determination that helps him, along with his sidekick, Nate Romanowski to keep the peace in and around the Rocky Mountains. In what capacity is Joe employed?

Answer: Game Warden

A native of Casper, WY., Charles James Box, Jr (a.k.a. C.J. Box) won the "Gumshoe Award" for "Open Season" in the best first novel category. He also won the coveted "Edgar Award" for "Blue Heaven", which was judged to be the best mystery novel of 2008.
13. Ed McBain is the name of the author that appears on the popular "87th Precinct" police ensemble series of sharp witted novels set in the city of "Isola", which is widely believed to be based on the N.Y. borough of Manhattan. But Ed McBain is actually the non de plume of the author who wrote another famous book under his legal name. What is the title of that book and what is his legal name?

Answer: Blackboard Jungle by Evan Hunter

He was actually born Salvatore Lombino, but later legally adopted the name Evan Hunter (he said he picked the name Ed McBain out of a phone book). Between 1956 and 2005 he penned fifty-four "87th Precinct" novels featuring, among others, Det. Second Grade Steve Carella, detectives Cotton Hawes, Bert Kling and Meyer Meyer. He is also the credited author of the "Matthew Hope" series.
Sadly, this prolific, entertaining author passed away July 6, 2005.
14. "Hawk" is the sidekick and ally of one of crime fictions' most popular crime fighters and a creation of one of the genre's best writers (at least in my opinion). Who is his more famous partner, and who is the author who spun his tales?

Answer: Spenser, created by Robert B. Parker

Robert B. Parker wrote over 60 novels,of which about 40 featured the wise-cracking Spenser, his girlfriend, Harvard-educated psychologist Susan Silverman, and their dog "Pearl". Mostly all are set in and around Boston, MA.

We lost a national treasure when he passed away January 18, 2010.
15. "The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency" is an interesting series of mysteries written by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith. The founder of the African crime fighting agency, and its lead detective, is Mma Precious Ramotswe who later marries Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, a local mechanic and owner of Tlokweng Speedy Motors. In order to be fully enjoyed, the series books should be read in sequence from the first one, which (not surprisingly) is titled "The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency". Love doesn't take long to bloom between Mma Ramotswe and Mr. Matekoni since "Tears of the Giraffe" is just the second book in the series. Do you know in which capital city the ladies do most of their crime fighting?

Answer: Gaborone,Botswana

Both HBO and the BBC filmed a series on location, that followed the ladies as they kept the heat on crime and criminals in sub-Saharan Africa. A cookbook called "Mma Ramotswe's Cookbook" (2009) and a radio series have also been produced.

Alexander McCall Smith was born August 24, 1948 in Rhodesia (at the time it was called Southern Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe). He subsequently moved to study law in Scotland at the University of Edinburgh and later taught in Belfast, before returning to teach law at the University of Botswana. In 1984 he finally returned to Edinburgh, where he lives with his wife and two daughters and is Emeritus Professor at its School of Law. In 1992 he co-wrote "The Criminal Law of Botswana".
Source: Author paulmallon

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