Who Solved It? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hercule Poirot

Agatha Christie's first novel introduced a Belgian refugee named Hercule Poirot to the world, as he investigated the death by strychnine poisoning of Emily Cavendish, the owner of Styles Court. His friend Hastings was recuperating there, and called on Poirot to help make sure that the police (led by Inspector Japp) did not arrest an innocent person.

Answer: Tommy and Tuppence

Tommy Beresford and Prudence 'Tuppence' Crowley were both at a loose end, so formed a partnership to take on adventurous tasks. When Tuppence used the alias Jane Finn, she got a shocked reaction, and the two plunged into the task of unraveling the mystery of Jane Finn.

In the process, a missing treaty is recovered, and the criminal known ass Mr. Brown is taken out of action. Tommy and Tuppence marry at the end of the novel, as does the real Jane Finn.

Answer: Hercule Poirot

For most people, it will no longer be much of a surprise to find that the narrator of the story turns out to be the murderer, but it was quite controversial at the time! The narrative is carefully worded so that the fact is not revealed, but when the reader goes back to see, there are no actual falsehoods, just wording that encourages false assumptions.

Hercule Poirot comes out of retirement to investigate the death of his neighbour, asked for assistance by Flora Ackroyd, the dead man's daughter who is engaged to the chief suspect.

Answer: Miss Marple

This was the first novel to feature Miss Jane Marple, the spinster whose keen observations of the small village of St Mary Mead have given her insight into the depths of evil that can motivate those around her. Whodunnit? They both did. Read the book to find out who 'they' are.

Answer: Hercule Poirot

Actually, the murder in this 1934 novel was solved while the train was stalled by a snowfall. In another of Christie's most famous twists, there turn out to be twelve murderers, all seeking justice for the kidnapping and murder of young Daisy Armstrong.

The official conclusion, however, was that the evidence clearly indicated that someone had entered the train while it was stuck, and left again after committing the murder. Poirot accepts the publication of this report, in the interests of true justice.

Answer: Hercule Poirot

Mr Shaitana invites four detectives (Hercule Poirot, Ariadne Oliver, Superintendent Battle and Colonel Race) and four murder suspects (Dr Roberts, Mrs Lorrimer, Major Despard and Anne Meredith) to an evening of bridge, during the course of which he is killed. Poirot's "little grey cells" help him identify the psychology of the murderer, based both on the earlier (possible) crime of each suspect and on the way they played their bridge during the evening.

Answer: Tommy and Tuppence

Much older now than when we first met them (because, unlike most of Christie's characters, the Beresfords seem to age in real time), Tommy is asked to go undercover to find and expose a spy ring. Tuppence joins him in an unofficial capacity, and between them they locate the mysterious characters referred to in the cryptic message left by a dying agent: "N or M. Song Susie".

Answer: Miss Marple

The UK title of this 1957 book was '4.50 from Paddington', but it was released in the US as 'What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw!'. What Elspeth McGillicuddy saw, on her way to visit her friend Jane Marple, was a murder being committed, although she had trouble convincing anyone of it. Fortunately, Miss Marple, ably assisted by a young friend named Lucy Eyelesbarrow, is able to identify both the victim and the murderer, and arrange a situation in which Elspeth can recognise the man she had seen.

Answer: Miss Marple

On a holiday paid for by her nephew Raymond, Jane Marple became convinced that the death, apparently from natural causes, was in fact a murder instigated by the fact that the Major had started telling people he had a photo of someone who had killed more than once before. More deaths followed before she could reveal the identity of the murderer in this story originally published in 1964.

Answer: Tommy and Tuppence

Although 'Curtain' (the final Hercule Poirot novel) and 'Sleeping Murder' (the final Miss Marple book) were both published after 'Postern of Fate', both of them were written in the 1940s, well before this 1973 story in which Tommy and Tuppence discover that the quiet village to which they have retired is not as peaceful as it seemed.

In fact, their own house contains clues to murder and a spy ring dating from World War One. This novel received a poor critical response, and is one of the few Christie novels that has not (as of 2015) been adapted into another medium - radio, television or film.