Murder by Numbers: Agatha Christie Novels 2 Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In 'Three Act Tragedy' three people die from nicotine poisoning. The first is Stephen Babbington, the second is Dr Bartholomew Strange...but who is the third?

Answer: Mrs de Rushbridger

In one of my favourite Christie novels, Mrs de Rushbridger is the third and final murder. The poor woman dies from eating poisoned chocolates to hide the fact that she knows absolutely nothing at all about Dr Bartholomew Strange's death. Mrs Mugg is actually the name of Charles Cartwright's wife; we never see her in the story as she is in an insane asylum and the reason why Cartwright believes he has to murder his best friend Bartholomew Strange. Egg is the woman Cartwright wants to marry, and Alexis Restarick appears in a completely different novel!

2. In 'A Caribbean Mystery', three murders occur. The first is Major Palgrave. But who are the second and third murder victims?

Answer: Victoria Johnson and Lucky Dyson

Victoria Johnson is a maid working at the hotel where Major Palgrave is killed and works out that the blood pressure tablets in his room were planted there after his death to give a rational explanation for his death. She is stabbed late one night and found by the unfortunate Molly Kendal. Lucky Dyson turns out not to be so lucky after all - she is drowned in the creek after being mistaken for Molly Kendal.

It's only her badly dyed roots that give her away to Miss Marple's eagle eyes!

3. 'Cards on the Table' - four sleuths, four apparently successful murderers. What is the name of the man that Major Despard is meant to have killed to earn himself a place at the macabre party?

Answer: Professor Luxmore

Mr Shaitana believes that Major Despard deliberately shoots and kills Professor Luxmore because of a guilty passion for the Professor's wife. Major Despard is actually the only innocent one of the four apparent murderers; he tries to shoot Luxmore to stop him from staggering into a river, but Mrs Luxmore catches hold of his arm and so Despard's shot ends up being fatal. Major Despard later appears in the novel 'The Pale Horse' married to Rhoda Dawes who we also meet in 'Cards on the Table'.

4. 'And Then There Were None' features ten deaths, eight murders, two suicides and ten murderers. Who is the seventh person to die on the island (although we believe at the time that he is the eighth)? He dies from a head injury from a falling bear clock.

Answer: Mr Blore

Mr Blore is the seventh person to die on the island, leaving only Vera Claythorne, Philip Lombard and the ultimate murderer alive. He is killed as vengeance for his perjury against an innocent man, Landor. Blore first lands on the island to ostensibly guard Mrs Owen's jewels but winds up dead like everybody else.

5. In 'Five Little Pigs', who is the 'pig who ate roast beef'? She ends up wealthy and with apparently everything you could ever want - except happiness. Her murder of Amyas Crale is also responsible for her ongoing misery.

Answer: Elsa Greer

Poor sad little Elsa is just the latest in a long line of Amyas Crale's conquests. She truly believes that he will leave his wife and marry her only to find out that she has been duped. Whilst sitting for a painting, she watches him die from the poison she has administered. What she doesn't realise until later is that she killed her inner self as well. So while she becomes Lady Dittisham - rich, beautiful, desirable - her heart is cold within her.

6. 'Murder is Easy' (AKA 'Easy to Kill'). Rather surprisingly, one of Christie's most prolific killers is apparently a sweet, somewhat dithery elderly lady, Miss Waynflete. In total she kills seven people: Tommy Pierce, Amy Gibbs, Mr Carter, Dr Humbleby, Miss Pinkerton, Rivers the chauffeur and...who? They were the first victim.

Answer: Mrs Horton

Miss Waynflete is a serial killer with a kindly face. Only Miss Pinkerton sees the 'look' that her friend gives people shortly before they die. Miss Waynflete kills in order to exact revenge on her one-time fiance, Lord Whitfield, who rejected her many years before.

She poisons Mrs Horton and Amy Gibbs, pushes Mr Carter into a river, pushes Tommy Pierce out of a window, shoves Miss Pinkerton in front of a car, sandbags Rivers and infects Dr Humbleby's cut finger. Quite a cunning old woman!

7. In what year was Christie's first novel, 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles', originally published?

Answer: 1920

In a career spanning the best part of six decades, from 1920 to 1979, Christie published almost 70 novels, beginning with 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' and ending with 'Curtain'. She also wrote six romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.

8. In 'The Big Four', Poirot and Hastings discover the identities of all four of the key figures in the organisation: Abe Ryland, Madame Olivier and Li Chang Yen are the first three but what is the real name of Number Four?

Answer: Claud Darrell

Miss Flossie Monro informs Poirot of the real identity of Number Four - the one time actor Claud Darrell. She shares vital information with Poirot about Darrell's habit of dabbing up crumbs with a piece of bread, which helps to bring about the end of the Big Four. Darrell's body is unrecognisable after the explosion that rips through the mountain so whether he is really dead or not is left to the reader to decide.

9. The murderers in 'Halloween Party' manage to kill an awful lot of people between them. Who is the last victim in the novel?

Answer: Leopold Reynolds

Rowena Drake and Michael Garfield are responsible for several deaths - Olga Seminoff is stabbed and hidden in a well, Lesley Ferrier is stabbed to death in an apparent crime of passion, Joyce Reynolds is drowned in an apple bobbing bucket - but Leopold is the final victim. He tries to blackmail Rowena Drake and ends up being drowned for his trouble.

10. And finally an odd one out question! Christie uses poison in a fair few of her novels. Out of these four victims, three are poisoned and one is not. Which is the odd one out? (I've put the poison that affects them after the name to help point the way.)

Answer: Carrie Louise Serrocold, arsenic

In 'They Do It With Mirrors', Lewis Serrocold pretends that his wife Carrie Louise is being targeted by a poisoner. In fact he is hiding his own embezzlement of a financial trust so that he can buy an island to rehabilitate young criminals and juvenile delinquents. Carrie Louise cannot accept that anyone would poison her - and she is right! Emily Inglethorp is poisoned with a strychnine tonic in 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' by her husband and his mistress. Molly Kendal is poisoned with belladonna in her cosmetics by her husband Tim (and although this drives her mad, she doesn't die) in 'A Caribbean Mystery', and Mrs Boynton is poisoned with an injection of digitoxin in 'Appointment with Death'.

She is the only one to arguably deserve her fate.

Source: Author secretsiren

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The second of my quizzes on the amazing Agatha Christie and her novels, this one has a number theme.

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