The Body in the Library

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. Christie wrote this novel while simultaneously working on another mystery featuring Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. What was the other novel? N or M? By the Pricking of my Thumbs The Secret Adversary Postern of Fate

2. The beginning of this novel is one of Christie's best, combining equal measures of the humorous and the macabre. Dolly Bantry, mistress of Gossington Hall, is informed by her maid that there is a body in the library. What was Mrs. Bantry doing when she received this bit of news? Having tea Gardening Dreaming Reading

3. Mrs. Bantry rings up her good friend, Miss Marple, in the hopes that she will be able to shed some light on the mystery. As always, Miss Marple comes up with a village parallel; the presence of the platinum blonde, rather cheaply dressed and made up girl in the Bantry's library reminds her of a schoolboy named Tommy Bond, who played a rather unpleasant prank on the new schoolmistress. What was the prank? He put a dead cat in her parlor. He put a frog in her clock. He put gravel in her shoes. He put a firecracker in her fireplace.

4. Before we go much farther, let's establish something about the body itself. The young girl found in the Bantry's library is a dancer named Ruby Keene; correct? Yes No

5. Miss Marple notices a few things about the dead girl's appearance which strike her as highly significant; as usual, she turns out to be right. Which of these is NOT something tha Miss Marple notices about the body? The dress was old and rather cheap. She had bitten her fingernails. Her teeth stuck out. She was wearing a wig.

6. Ruby Keene turns out to have been the protege of a wealthy old invalid named Conway Jefferson, who is staying at the Majestic hotel, where Ruby was a dancer. Conway had certain plans regarding Ruby which did not sit at all well with his son-in-law, Mark Gaskell (widower of Jefferson's daughter Rosamund) and his daughter-in-law Adelaide Jefferson (widow of Frank Jefferson, Conway's son). What was Jefferson's intending to do? Adopt Ruby Finance Ruby's career Marry Ruby Take Ruby as his mistress

7. Twelve year-old Peter Carmody is the son of Adelaide Jefferson from her first marriage (she has been twice-widowed). He is utterly fascinated by the murder, as most boys that age would be, especially since he knew the victim. In fact, he has a souvenir of the dead girl, which he proudly keeps in a matchbox. What is it? Her false eyelash Her fingernail A lock of her hair A sequin from her dress

8. Sir Henry Clithering discusses Miss Marple's expertise at solving murders with a skeptical Conway Jefferson. Harper remembers an earlier encounter with Miss Marple, in which she had correctly guessed the identity of the murderer in a case which featured in the short-story collection "The Thirteen Problems" (a.k.a. "The Tuesday Club Murders"). Which of these was it? The Four Suspects The Blue Geranium Death by Drowning The Herb of Death

9. Miss Marple is convinced that the deaths of Pamela Reeves and Ruby Keene are connected, and is afraid that there will be a third victim. Who is she afraid this victim will be? Conway Jefferson Hugo McLean Colonel Bantry Basil Blake

10. This novel contains a number of characters whom readers will recognize from "The Murder at the Vicarage", Christie's first novel featuring Miss Marple. These include the wealthy and dictatorial Mrs. Price-Ridley, Miss Hartnell (who is still terrorizing the poor of the village with her ministrations), Miss Wetherby, and the vicar. Leonard Clement, and his wife Griselda. What change has occurred since the first novel regarding one of these characters? Miss Wetherby has become an invalid. Clement has retired from active ministry. Griselda has had a baby. Mrs. Price-Ridley has remarried.

11. Miss Marple is invited to observe Superintendant Harper questioning Pamela Reeve's schoolmates about the day of her disappearance. When Harper is finished, Miss Marple asks to be allowed to speak to one of the girls named Florence Small. She suspects that Florence knows more than she told because of something she observed when the girl was leaving; what was it? She relaxed too soon. She mopped her brow. She started crying. She paused at the door.

12. What convinces Miss Marple that Basil Blake and Dinah Lee are, in fact, married? The way they fight. The way they talk about each other. The way they keep house. The way the dress around the house.

13. Colonel Bantry, who had earlier dismissed Basil Blake as effeminate and lacking in "stamina", is quite taken aback to learn that he had performed a quite heroic action when he was only eighteen. What was it? He pulled someone from a burning car. He tackled an armed man during a robbery. He saved someone from drowning. He saved some children from a burning building.

14. Dinah Lee's mention of Somerset House triggers an idea in Miss Marple's head. She suggests that the inspectors check the house's records, which indicate that, indeed, two of the suspect had been secretly married. Who were they? Mark Gaskell and Josephine Turner Adelaide Jefferson and Raymond Starr Adelaide Jefferson and Hugo McLean Mark Gaskell and Adelaide Jefferson

15. Christie mentions her own name in this novel. True False