Where Can I Find A Detective? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fort Lauderdale

The "Busted Flush" ties up at Slip F-18, at Bahia Mar, Ft. Lauderdale. This is just down a ways from the "'Bama Gal" where the Alabama Tiger hosts "the world's longest continuous floating house-party", and the "John Maynard Keynes", the cruiser where Travis' economist friend, Meyer, lives.

Answer: Piccadilly

After Lord Peter and Harriet Vane marry, they buy a place in the country, Talboys, near to where Harriet grew up.

Answer: Chicago

Sara Paretsky's Vic Warshawski was one of the first of the tough, intelligent female PIs that appeared in the early eighties. Her first book, "Indemnity Only" came out in 1982.

Answer: Mrs Hudson

Dr Watson describes their rooms: "They consisted of a couple of comfortable bedrooms and a single large airy sitting-room, cheerfully furnished, and illuminated by two broad windows. So desirable in every way were the apartments, and so moderate did the terms seem when divided between us, that the bargain was concluded upon the spot, and we at once entered into possession." ("A Study in Scarlet" A Conan Doyle)

Answer: Nero Wolfe

Rex Stout's fat detective never (well, almost never) leaves the four storey brownstone on business; instead he sends his assistant, Archie Goodwin, to be his eyes and ears. If you have never read any of these short books, you really ought to give them a try. The breezy style is remarkably modern, and Archie is one of the most appealing characters in mystery fiction.

Answer: New Iberia

Dave, a sober alcoholic, was originally a New Orleans police officer. He ran a bait shop for years in New Iberia with Batiste, and eventually got back into police work with the New Iberia Sheriff's Department. He was created by writer James Lee Burke.

Answer: Spenser

Anyone who has only read the novels that Robert B Parker has published in the last few years could be forgiven for wondering why this guy is famous. However, the first half dozen or so "Spenser" novels were very good, funny and fast, with a fresh feel to them.

It was only later, when Spenser began to spend more time talking about his "code" than detecting, and sinking deeper into that creepy relationship with Susan Silverman, that the books really went downhill.

Answer: New York

Bernie lives in an apartment building on West End Avenue, while Matt Scudder lived for years in a hotel in Hell's Kitchen. Leo Haig, the detective in the Chip Harrison series, lives in the top two floors of a carriage house in Chelsea, "the bottom two floors of which are occupied by Madam Juana's Puerto Rican cathouse."

Answer: Kinsey Milhone

Kinsey's original apartment, in a converted one car garage, was blown up in "E is for Evidence". Since then Henry built a lovely little compact apartment for her in his back yard. You can read about Kinsey in the "Alphabet" series - "A is for Alibi", "B is for Burglar"... by Sue Grafton.

Answer: Boston

Angie and Patrick have their office in the top of a belfry in South Boston. These tense, atmospheric novels are maybe a little violent for the "cosy" mystery reader, and the personal lives of the characters are sometimes a little hard to take. That said, I'd recommend these books to anyone who likes their mysteries on the darker side.

Answer: New York

"The city" is composed of five boroughs, one of which, Isola, is a completely urbanized island, surrounded by the rivers Dix and Harb. It has a large central park, a Black district far uptown, and a financial district downtown. Sound familiar?

Answer: Navajo reservation

Both Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee work for the Navajo Tribal Police, though Joe has retired in the later books. Jim Chee lives in a trailer just outside of Shiprock, while Joe Leaphorn lives in Window Rock.

Answer: Miss Marple

When her nephew, writer Raymond West, compares St Mary Mead to a "stagnant pool", Miss Marple replies: "'That is really not a very good simile, dear Raymond,' said Miss Marple briskly. 'Nothing, I believe, is so full of life under the microscope as a drop of water from a stagnant pool.'" ("The Murder at the Vicarage") Miss Marple has indeed gained a vast knowledge of human nature from her observations of the teeming waters of St Mary Mead!

Miss Marple was of course created by Agatha Christie.

Answer: Inspector Maigret

Inspector Maigret, a man who enjoys the pleasures of life, appears in eighty-four mysteries by Georges Simenon. Madame Maigret is a good cook, and the books are full of descriptions of excellent meals - not to mention the glasses of beer, wine and calvados taken by the Inspector in little cafes around Paris.

Answer: False

The Hardy Boys live in Bayport; it is Nancy Drew, of course, who lives in River Heights. You may also remember that the Dana Girls live in Oak Falls, and the Rover Boys spend much of the year at Putnam Hall, a military academy.

All of these series were created by Edward Stratemeyer's Syndicate, and published by a stable of authors under pen names.