History of the Detective-novel

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1. Everybody seems to agree that Edgar Allan Poe is the first to have published a detective story in the English language. Which story exactly was that ? The Purloined Letter The Murders in the Rue Morgue The Mystery of Marie Roget The Cask of Amontillado

2. European historians of literature, however, point out that in the Old World some stories had already been written in which the hero solves problems of detection with a combination of observation and logic. To which story in particular do they point? Victor Hugo's 'Les Miserables' Diderot's 'Rameau's Nephew' Voltaire's 'Zadig' Dr Johnson's 'Rasselas'

3. Who was the French author who created a story in which the hero is a police-officer who stubbornly pursues 'his' criminal. However,when he ultimately has managed to lay hands on him, he lets him go and ...jumps into the Seine. Who is that author? Victor Hugo Arsene Lupin Maurice Leblanc Gaston Leroux

4. What was, in British English literature, the first 'detective story'? 'A Study in Scarlet' A..C.Doyle 'The Brotherhood of the Seven kings ', by L.T.Meade and Robert Eustace 'Martin Hewitt, Investigator' by Arthur Morrison 'The Moonstone 'by Wilkie Collins

5. Some of Dostoyevsky's novels can be viewed as (among other things) good detective stories. Especially 'Crime and Punishment' in which one of the characters acts as an amateur psychologist in trying to force Raskolnikov to admit his crime. Who is that character with a special interest for the murderer's motivations ? Porfiry Petrovich, the chief of police Ilya Petrovich, assistant to the police-chief Razumikhin, R.'s fellow student Zametow, a clerk at the police station

6. One of the great promoters of the detective-story was undoubtedly Arthur Conan Doyle. He even got tired of his own success and wanted to kill off his hero Sherlock Holmes. Later Holmes however made his re-appearance.Who was Holmes' secretive arch enemy who is mentioned in the story of 'The Final Problem' as apparently having eliminated Holmes (though not without getting killed himself in the act) ? Professor Moriarty Holmes's brother Mycroft Dr Watson Col. Sebastian Moran

7. G.K. Chesterton also tried his hand at creating a good sleuth. What was the unusual choice he made for that role? a bishop a young nun an Old-Age-Pensioner a simple priest

8. The detective story got popular in unexpected circles. Even an English Monsignor (Ronald Knox) started to write detective stories and also compiled an excellent anthology the 'Best Detective Stories of 1928-9'. It was especially the participation of women authors such as Agatha Christie that was remarkable. Which of these 'sleuths' appeared in her first detective novel 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' in 1920? Superintendant Alleyn of the Yard Miss Marple Hercule Poirot Lord Peter Wimsey

9. There were more successful women detective story-writers than just A.Christie. Which of the next four is the only one who did not belong to the so-called 'Big Four'? Margery Allingham Dorothy L.Sayers Ellery Queen Ngaio Marsh

10. Some detective stories were made into very successful films. E.g.Dashiell Hammett's Maltese Falcon (of course with Humphrey Bogart). A very big television success was 'Inspector Morse'. Who was his creator? Nicholas Blake Raymond Chandler Colin Dexter Michael Innes