A Sudden, Fearful Death Trivia Quiz

Answer: She wanted to discover who assaulted her sister, Marianne.

Marianne Gillespie, Julia Penrose's seventeen-year old sister, had said that a strange man had molested her while she was painting alone in the summerhouse. Mrs. Penrose wanted Monk to make discreet inquires and find out the man's identity. When Monk discovered it wasn't a stranger that attacked Marianne, Julia's safe world was shattered.

Answer: Laundry chute

Nurse Prudence Barrymore had been strangled and then her body was shoved down into the laundry chute.

Answer: Dr. Kristian Beck

A young girl that worked at the hospital was sent sliding down the laundry chute to dislodge whatever was blocking it. The body of Prudence Barrymore shot out of the chute, landed in a pile of dirty linens, with the now shrieking girl right behind her. Dr. Kristian Beck was standing beside Lady Callandra when the body came down.

Answer: All of these are correct.

Lady Callandra was one of the Governors of the Royal Free Hospital and wanted the murder solved, but she felt the official police would not take a hard look at the upper society members of the hospital staff. She thought they would take the convenient route and hang the murder on someone like her friend, Dr. Kristian Beck, an Austrian.

She also had a great deal of respect for Prudence Barrymore and felt she was a fine nurse, so Lady Callandra asked Monk to find out who really murdered her.

Answer: They both had been nurses with Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War.

Until Miss Florence Nightingale took her nurses to the Crimea, nursing was not considered an occupation for respectable women. Even after the Crimean War, it was still a struggle for these dedicated women, when they returned home, to find meaningful employment. Medicine was considered a lofty profession that only men were thought to be suited for and a hospital nurse's life was an endless round of menial tasks.

Hester, like Prudence Barrymore, was raised a gentlewoman, and they met during the Crimean War.

Hester agreed to take a nursing post at the Royal Free Hospital and help Monk investigate Prudence's murder.

Answer: Geoffrey Taunton

Prudence had shocked the very eligible Mr. Tauton when she chose to go with Florence Nightingale to the Crimea, instead of marrying him. Taunton felt he had waited long enough for Prudence to forget all this nursing foolishness, and he confronted her at the hospital on the morning of her murder. Monk discovered that Taunton had a violent temper and had once flew into a violent rage and almost beaten a man to death for cheating at billiards. Taunton seemed like the type who could strangle someone in a fit of temper.

Answer: Letters from Prudence that gave Stanhope a motive for murder

At first, in her letters, Prudence spoke of Sir Herbert in glowing terms, telling Faith that only he could give her the happiness she had always wanted. In the letter Faith received a week before Prudence's murder, Prudence told her that Sir Herbert had made a fool of her, and that he had never intented to keep his promise to her. Prudence added that she had the means of forcing him to keep his word. Sir Herbert Stanhope was not only the chief medical officer at the Royal Free Hospital, he was a very respected member of society with a wife of twenty years and seven children.

A scandal would have ruined him. It appeared to everyone that read the letters that Stanhope murdered Prudence to keep her from revealing that they had an illicit affair.

Answer: Dr. Kristian Beck

When William Monk began his career as a private investigator, he struck an interesting deal with Lady Callandra, a wealthy widow. He would share all his interesting cases with her, and she would support Monk until he could get his career established. Monk had told Lady Callandra all about the assault on Marianne Gillespie.

When she walked into Dr. Kristain Beck's office, she recognized Marianne from Monk's description. What she saw forced Lady Callandra to begin questioning Dr. Beck's morals, and she wondered if perhaps Beck had a motive for silencing Prudenence Barrymore.

Answer: True

Oliver Rathbone, one of London's most brillant attorneys, was retained by Sir Herbert Stanhope to defend him for the murder of Prudence Barrymore. To successfully defend Stanhope, Rathbone must prove that someone else had a strong motive for her murder, so he hired William Monk to help him.

Answer: Sir Herbert Stanhope

Oliver Rathbone put on such an excellent defense that Sir Herbert was certain to be acquitted. Then Rathbone realized that Sir Herbert was actually guilty. Sir Herbert was not having an affair with Prudence Barrymore, but he had promised to help get her into medical school.

When he did not keep his promise, she threatened to reveal his dark secret. He caught Prudence in a deserted hospital corridor, strangled her, then hid her body in the laundry chute. What could Rathbone do? He would be disbarred if he quit the case at this late date. With a lot of help from Hester Latterly and William Monk, Rathbone brought this clever criminal to justice. English author Anne Perry also writes the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mystery series. Thank you for taking my quiz on "A Sudden, Fearful Death".