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Quiz about Agatha Christies Opening Lines
Quiz about Agatha Christies Opening Lines

Agatha Christie's Opening Lines Quiz


Can you select the correct title to go with each of the first lines? Each question gives the opening lines to a novel as well as other clues to help you.

A multiple-choice quiz by MotherGoose. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
MotherGoose
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
193,995
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
2005
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 45 (8/10), Guest 84 (9/10), DeepHistory (8/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed". Raymond and Carol Boynton are referring to their step-mother. In which novel is Mrs Boynton murdered by injection of digitoxin? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. "Mrs McGillicuddy panted along the platform in the wake of the porter carrying her suitcase". In America, this novel is entitled "What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw". What was the original English title? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. "Elinor Katharine Carlisle. You stand charged upon this indictment with the murder of Mary Gerrard upon the 27th July last. Are you guilty or not guilty?" In which novel did Poirot prove Elinor Carlisle's innocence? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. "It was the opening day of the summer term at Meadowbank School". Who could be murdering school-mistresses in a prestigious girls' school? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. "The intense interest aroused in the public by what was known at the time as 'The Styles Case' has now somewhat subsided." Do you recall the name of this story which was Agatha Christie's debut novel? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. "Who is there who has not felt a sudden startled pang at reliving an old experience, or feeling an old emotion? I have done this before..." Captain Hastings is on his way to Styles and reminisces about this country house where he first met Hercule Poirot. In which novel does Hastings return to Styles? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. "In the corner of a first-class smoking carriage, Mr Justice Wargrave, lately retired from the bench, puffed at a cigar and ran an interested eye through the political news in the Times." Agatha Christie considered this novel as probably her best work. Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. "The Espresso machine behind my shoulder hissed like an angry snake." Thus begins Mark Easterbrook's narrative. Agatha Christie used the working title "The Thallium Mystery" for this novel. Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. "Miss Arundell died on May 1st. Though her illness was short, her death did not occasion much surprise in the little country town of Market Basing where she had lived since she was a girl of sixteen." Agatha Christie dedicated this book to her dog. Miss Arundell's dog is a significant character in this novel. Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. "England! England after many years! How was he going to like it?" Luke Fitzwilliam, a retired policeman, asks himself this question at the beginning of which novel? Hint



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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed". Raymond and Carol Boynton are referring to their step-mother. In which novel is Mrs Boynton murdered by injection of digitoxin?

Answer: Appointment with Death

Mrs Boynton is a former prison wardress with a sadistic streak who terrorises her unfortunate family. The character of Mrs Boynton was originally written for the novel "Death on the Nile".
2. "Mrs McGillicuddy panted along the platform in the wake of the porter carrying her suitcase". In America, this novel is entitled "What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw". What was the original English title?

Answer: 4:50 from Paddington

Elspeth McGillicuddy witnessed a murder when she took the train home after Christmas shopping. This novel underwent a series of title changes before it was published in 1957. First it was the "The 4:15 from Paddington", then 4:30, then 4:50, then 4:54. Eventually the title "4:50 from Paddington" was chosen.

The American publishers changed the title to "What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw" as they thought American readers would not recognise the name of the station. In 1961, "Murder She Said", a film adaptation of the novel, was released by MGM.
3. "Elinor Katharine Carlisle. You stand charged upon this indictment with the murder of Mary Gerrard upon the 27th July last. Are you guilty or not guilty?" In which novel did Poirot prove Elinor Carlisle's innocence?

Answer: Sad Cypress

The title "Sad Cypress" came from a song in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night". Christie's American publishers did not like the title, feeling that readers might confuse the Cypress tree with the island of Cyprus. Christie suggested the alternative title, "I am Slain", a phrase which comes from the same song in "Twelfth Night".

In the end, the American publishers decided to keep the original title.
4. "It was the opening day of the summer term at Meadowbank School". Who could be murdering school-mistresses in a prestigious girls' school?

Answer: Cat Among the Pigeons

Meadowbank School was loosely based on two schools Agatha Christie's daughter, Rosalind, attended - Caledonia and Benenden.
5. "The intense interest aroused in the public by what was known at the time as 'The Styles Case' has now somewhat subsided." Do you recall the name of this story which was Agatha Christie's debut novel?

Answer: The Mysterious Affair at Styles

"The Mysterious Affair at Styles" was published in 1920. Her first victim, Emily Inglethorpe, died of strychnine poisoning. In her autobiography, Agatha Christie wrote "since I was surrounded by poisons, perhaps it was natural that death by poisoning should be the method I selected". Christie had learned a lot about poisons from her work as a dispenser in a hospital pharmacy during the First World War and it was to become her favourite method of murder.
6. "Who is there who has not felt a sudden startled pang at reliving an old experience, or feeling an old emotion? I have done this before..." Captain Hastings is on his way to Styles and reminisces about this country house where he first met Hercule Poirot. In which novel does Hastings return to Styles?

Answer: Curtain: Poirot's Last Case

Agatha Christie began writing "Curtain" in 1940 but it would not be published for another 35 years. She intended it to be released after her death. However, in 1975, her daughter, Rosalind, decided it should be published. Agatha Christie died the following year.
7. "In the corner of a first-class smoking carriage, Mr Justice Wargrave, lately retired from the bench, puffed at a cigar and ran an interested eye through the political news in the Times." Agatha Christie considered this novel as probably her best work.

Answer: All of these titles are correct

In her autobiography, Agatha Christie said "I had written the book "Ten Little Niggers" because it was so difficult to do that the idea had fascinated me. Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious. ... I do think in some ways that it is a better piece of craftsmanship than anything else I have written". "Ten Little Niggers" has been republished as "And Then There Were None" and "Ten Little Indians" because the original title was considered offensive in America, although it was not viewed this way in England in 1939 when Christie first wrote it. "Ten Little Indians" is an American rhyme, but the two rhymes are not the same, which has caused considerable confusion for readers. "And Then There Were None" is the last line of the rhyme.
8. "The Espresso machine behind my shoulder hissed like an angry snake." Thus begins Mark Easterbrook's narrative. Agatha Christie used the working title "The Thallium Mystery" for this novel.

Answer: The Pale Horse

Agatha Christie based this book on a real incident which occurred when she worked as a dispenser in a hospital pharmacy during the First World War. In her autobiography, Christie said "I often wondered about Mr P. afterwards. He struck me, in spite of his cherubic appearance, as possibly rather a dangerous man.

His memory remained with me so long that it was still there waiting when I first conceived the idea of writing my book "The Pale Horse" - and that must have been, I suppose, nearly fifty years later."
9. "Miss Arundell died on May 1st. Though her illness was short, her death did not occasion much surprise in the little country town of Market Basing where she had lived since she was a girl of sixteen." Agatha Christie dedicated this book to her dog. Miss Arundell's dog is a significant character in this novel.

Answer: All of these titles are correct

Christie dedicated this book "To dear Peter, most faithful of friends and dearest of companions. A dog in a thousand". Peter appears in "Dumb Witness" as Bob, Miss Emily Arundell's wire-haired terrier. This book is known by all three titles given in the question, as well as "Mystery at Littlegreen House".
10. "England! England after many years! How was he going to like it?" Luke Fitzwilliam, a retired policeman, asks himself this question at the beginning of which novel?

Answer: Murder is Easy

In the course of this novel, there are at least seven suspicious deaths - one death by gastroenteritis (actually poisoning), a drowning, a fatal fall, an "accidental" poisoning, one death by septicaemia (deliberate infection), a hit-and-run "accident" and one fatal blow to the head. "Murder is Easy" is also known as "Easy to Kill".
Source: Author MotherGoose

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