The October Man Trivia Quiz

Answer: Trier

According to Tobias Winter, the narrator of this tale, Trier was voted Germany's quaintest town 5 years running. He also claims that the main public order issue in the town is at the local wine fair.

In the mundane world Trier is on the German-Luxemburg border and sits in the wine making region of Moselle. The town has a less attractive place in history. It was the site of one of the largest witch trials in history in the late sixteenth century. Approximately 1,000 people are believed to have been put to death. Trier is also the birthplace of Karl Marx.

Mannheim is where the story opens, with Tobias on leave and enjoying socialising at his parent's house.

Answer: Kyll

The local river goddess goes by the name Kelly. Her river is the Kyll, a tributary of the Moselle, which is the principal river through Trier. In keeping with the logic within the Rivers of London series, the genius loci of a river is the parent of the genius loci of tributaries, or at least for the section that they control.

Kelly's mother, goddess of the Moselle, was killed by the German state during World War II, which makes her rather negative towards the police, an organ of the German state. But a new child goddess has now arrived and is being brought up by Kelly; in effect, she is bringing up her own mother.

Answer: Ferdinand Tietz

According to the curator of the museum, Methe was the daughter of Dionysus and Staphylus was the husband of Methe, Methe being the goddess of drunkenness. Within the book the plot relates to the models for these statues. The local river goddess appears to have been the model for the statue of Methe.

In reality Ferdinand Tietz was a prolific eighteenth-century sculptor. Two of his pieces are "Allegorie des Sommers" and "Allegorie des Winters". It may be a coincidence that the two main police characters in the book are Vanessa Sommer and Tobias Winter.

Finally, to quote the author's technical notes: "There is no statue of Methe or Staphylus at the Stadmuseum in Trier, although given how many statues Ferdinand Tietz knocked out during his career and his obsession with Greek mythology there's bound to be at least one of them somewhere."b

Answer: Harp

The living room of Vanessa's flat is filled with a concert harp. She tells Tobias that she is accomplished enough to "make it do what I want", but claims she doesn't enjoy it. Her mother paid for her to have private lessons from an early age, so she feels obliged not to let the learning go to waste.

It also explains the unusual callouses on Vanessa's fingers that Tobias notices when he first meets her.

Answer: Ice Queen

The Abteilung Komplexe und diffuse Angelegenheiten is the department of the German federal police responsible for "complex and diffuse matters", according to the flyleaf in this book. In the short stories "Tales from the Folly", it is given as "Complex and Unspecific Matters". At this point it has two practitioners: the director whose name is not given and Tobias Winter. It does have a large support staff, though.

The local river goddess, Kelly, refers to the director as the "Ice Queen". This is a new description as far as Tobias is concerned. Most of the demi-monde he has met refer to the director as the "Witch from the East", or in German, "Die Hexe aus dem Osten".

In the "Tales from the Folly", Tobias refers to her as the chief. Nachtigall is the German word for nightingale and Thomas Nightingale is in charge of The Folly in London.

Answer: Baroque Cathedral

The one-way system is described as obtuse. Though this does benefit Tobias, as it means he can get to the autopsy at the best time. That is described as being after all the cutting and sewing back up is complete and the pathologist is about to give the report.

There is a cathedral in Mainz, which is over 1,000 years old and built in Romanesque style with some Baroque additions. It is not mentioned in the book, though.

Answer: Goethe

Both in the book and elsewhere "Das Leben ist viel zu kurz, um schlechten Wein zu trinken" is attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The German version quoted is as it appears on the book's flyleaf. The group of friends became an informal organisation, the Good Wine Drinkers Club. It is around them and their activities that the first supernatural incidents occur.

Answer: Farmers

The reasoning Tobias applies here is that "they have totally legitimate access to everything from plastic sheeting to industrial strength chemicals and heavy digging equipment. And of course, stretches of land out of the prying eyes of strangers."

This is an issue in regard to the disappearance of an alleged attempted rapist. But with no body, the gun possibly used to kill the person not around, the possible murderer long since dead and no witness, it is unlikely that there will be anything to investigate. It does provide some background into the possible practitioner, though.

Answer: Oscar Wilde

While our intrepid police investigators are interviewing Kurt, a member of the association, he tells them about its various activities. One of them was going to see a play "Something by that famous English guy", who turns out to have been Oscar Wilde. The actual play is not identified.

The association of wine drinkers was more of an informal collection of friends than any formal organisation. They started just drinking good wine and socialising. One night they encountered students were handing out free tickets. Having enjoyed the play the decided that they should expand their aims to trying new experiences.

The connection of the association with the rest of the story is that the first victim was one of their members.

Answer: Sculpture

Although sculpture features in this story, it does not relate to the activities of the Good Wine Drinking Club. Other courses they did take included Home Brewing and Pottery. This was all part of the idea of trying out new things. At various times they also went litter picking, LARPing (live action role playing, I am not sure how the acronym works in German) and also visited a strip club.

By the time of the story the drinking association was drifting apart, the members had all improved their lives to some degree or other.