The Wife of a Detective Trivia Quiz

Answer: Harriet Vane

Lord Peter Wimsey, the hero of Dorothy Sayers' mystery novels, was the younger brother of the Duke of Denver. After graduation from Oxford and heroic service during World War I, Wimsey began a career as a private detective with his valet, Mervyn Bunter. One of his cases brought him to the defense of the mystery writer Harriet Vane, who was accused of murdering her former lover in "Strong Poison". After rescuing her from the charge, Wimsey proposed marriage; but Harriet turned him down stating that "gratitude is not a good basis for marriage".

Wimsey and Vane collaborated in four books by Sayers. Her initial reluctance to accept his proposal eventually weakened and they married in "Busman's Holiday", which was Sayers' last full novel.

Answer: Nora Landis

Nick and Nora Charles were the married detectives in Dashiel Hammet's "The Thin Man". Their relationship was light-hearted with Nick's flippancy and Nora's sassy bantering. The exchanges between the Charles is now a standard present in many modern books and television shows. "The Thin Man" was adapted for a very popular film and five sequels.

In one of the movie sequels (not the book), Nora Charles name before marrying Nick was revealed.

Answer: Charlotte Ellison

Thomas Pitt, the hero of a series by Anne Perry, was an ungainly and somewhat awkward son of a gamekeeper in Northern England, who became a policeman after his father was unjustly convicted of poaching. He was assigned a case of serial murders in London, one of which was the servant of the upper class Ellison household, in "The Cater Street Hangman". There he met an unconventional and determined daughter of the house, Charlotte Ellison. He solved the case and fell in love with Charlotte. She then defied her father and tradition to marry the lower class Pitt.

Charlotte, her sister Emily, and great aunt Vespesia Cumming-Gould, assisted Pitt in further investigations in crimes affecting the upper class, where Pitt would be denied access by class rules. Eventually Pitt rose to the head of the Special Branch, which restricted the amount of help Charlotte could provide.

Answer: Hester Latterly

William Monk, the hero of another series by Anne Perry, was a fast rising policeman in northern England, who had made numerous enemies due to his ruthless ambition. He suffered what seemed to be permanent amnesia as a result of an accident in the first book of the series "The Face of A Stranger". He faced the constant threat that others he met may know about events in his life that he has no memory of.

He met Hester Latterly, a strong-willed and determined Crimean War nurse in the first book, and they fell in love. She chose to marry Monk rather than the more socially acceptable barrister Oliver Rathbone.

After initial problems as a London policeman, Monk joined the Thames River Police. Meanwhile Hester worked in a hospital, where she tries to improve its dreadful condition. She and Monk worked closely to solve cases that involve many of the poor residents living near the river.

Answer: Prudence (Tuppence) Cowley

Tommy and Tuppence are featured in four novels by Agatha Christie. Tuppence is charismatic, impulsive and intuitive; whereas Tommy is less clever, but resolute in his pursuit. Their methods differ from the analytic brilliance of Hercule Poirot and the insight into human character shown by Miss Marple.

Tommy and Tuppence were lifelong friends while growing up. Reunited after WWI in "The Secret Adversary", their friendship turned into love. Unlike Christie's other characters, Tommy and Tuppence aged over their appearance in books from their twenties to their seventies in "Postern of Fate", Dame Christie's final book written.

Answer: Rina Lazarus

At the start of the series of books written by Faye Kellerman, Rina Lazarus was a young widow teaching at a Jewish yeshiva school in Los Angeles in "The Ritual Bath". While teaching there, a rape investigation brought her in contact with Peter Lazarus, a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. They eventually married and Peter converted to Orthodox Judaism.

Jewish themes and characters are present in most of the Kellerman novels, and Rina was able to assist Peter in his understanding of the customs and traditions of the case.

Answer: Helen Clyde

Elizabeth George's mystery novels feature Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, who is a titled (Earl of Atherton) member of the British nobility. Lynley has chosen to abandon a life of leisure to work for the people as a policeman. He relied heavily on Sergeant Barbara Havers, Simon St James, and his wife Deborah. Lynley and Simon were classmates and ironically dated each others' wife before their marriages.

Helen Clyde was Lynley's girlfriend and then wife. She was the victim of a senseless murder at the end of "With No One as a Witness". Many of the subsequent books concern Lynley's recovery from the grief and depression of dealing with her death.

Answer: Eleanor Wish

Harry Bosch is the protagonist in a series of novels by Michael Connelly. He was named for the famous Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch by his prostitute mother, who was murdered when he was 13. Raised in orphanages, Bosch enlisted in the army and served as "tunnel rat" in the Vietnam War.

He joined the Los Angeles Police Department after returning from Vietnam, in part to investigate his mother's unsolved murder. His career with the police department was marked by frequent conflict with those in authority and a disdain for bureaucratic rules. Generally his success in resolving cases saved him from punishment within the department.

Bosch met a kindred spirit in Eleanor Wish, a former FBI agent turned into a con artist and professional gambler. She appeared in several of the Bosch books, first as a criminal found by Bosch and later assisting him in his battles with LAPD authorities. Their marriage was relatively short due to Eleanor's restlessness and desire to gamble. Unknown to Bosch at the time, she was pregnant with their daughter Madeline before divorcing. She was a well known gambler in Hong Kong and was lured back to Los Angeles when their daughter was kidnapped. She was murdered afterwards in the "9 Dragons".

Answer: Janis (Pete) Peterson

Temperance Brennan is a forensic anthropologist created by Kathy Reichs. Ms. Brennan works for the Charlotte, North Carolina police department and is also a consultant for the Surete in Montreal. She reconstructs physical characteristics and analyzes evidence from remains discovered long after the crime.

When the series begins, Tempe and her husband Pete have separated and she had overcome alcoholism. They had a frustrating and tempestuous relationship as they try to raise their daughter Katy. Both have other relationships during the series, hers being an on and off relationship with Andrew Ryan from Montreal.

The books have many significant differences from the American television show "Bones". These includes the location Brennan works at, the absence of supporting people from the books, and the presence of a priggish and pretentious character of Brennan in the early television episodes.

Answer: Bree Stone

Alex Cross was a detective in the Washington D.C. police force. At the start of the series Alex was a widower with two young children, after his wife (Maria Simpson Cross) was murdered during an assassination attempt on Cross. Later on, the flashback book "Cross" covered their marriage and life before the murder and ended with the resolution of that incident.

Later Alex worked with another Detective Brianna (Bree) Stone in "Double Cross". They eventually married in "Cross Fire" and continued to work together.