P. D James' Mysteries Trivia Quiz

Answer: Innocent Blood

"Innocent Blood" is one of several P.D. James books that do not feature either Adam Dalgliesh or Cordelia Gray. Philippa Palfrey was brought up by her adoptive parents and given every advantage: security, nice things, education, a start in life. But Philippa wants more, she wants to discover who her real parents are.

A visit to the neighborhood where her parents used to live reveals the shocking truth, shattering Philippa's romantic imaginings. She nevertheless decides to contact her mother, her only surviving parent, and to spend a summer with her before going up to Cambridge. P.D. James masterfully sets up a series of events, each leading inevitably and inexorably to the next, that culminates in an explosion of violence.

Answer: Death in the Clouds

"Death in the Clouds" was written by Agatha Christie.
In "Death of an Expert Witness", Adam Dalgliesh investigates the murder of a forensic biologist. There is no shortage of suspects, as the victim seems to have quarreled or otherwise inspired hate in more than a few of his colleagues and acquaintances. Which of them had, in addition to motive, the means and the opportunity? And, perhaps more importantly, which of them had the personality to kill?
In "Death in Holy Orders", we find Adam Dalgliesh at a small theological college which appears to have more than its share of mysteries in a short space of time. A student is found buried in the sand, the victim of an apparent accident, and an old lady employed at the college is found dead of an apparent heart attack. Then a man determined to close this small college arrives for a visit and finds himself murdered. Dalgliesh has a small group of suspects to choose from and as he pieces together their stories, their pasts and hopes for the future, he uncovers a trail of events reaching far back into the past that brought about this savage murder.
In "A Taste for Death", the body of a Junior Minister who recently resigned is found in a church vestry next to that of a neighborhood derelict. What happened to bring these two such different men to their deaths? What role did an anonymous letter, alleging that women in the Minister's household have a slightly higher than average chance of dying from unnatural causes, play in their deaths? The motives abound, but the suspects seem to have unbreakable alibis.

Answer: Cover Her Face

"Cover Her Face" was published in 1962 and is P.D. James' first novel. Everybody thought of Sally Jupp as an unmarried mother who was lucky to have been given an opportunity to serve at Martingale. But shortly after her arrival, she is proposed to by the house owner's son, a match that many in the household, including his mother, his sister, and the woman who hoped to marry him herself, deem extremely unsuitable and upsetting.

Then she is found dead, strangled, with her child sleeping only a few feet away in his crib. Mr. Dalgliesh is called in to investigate and he must decide whether the drugged cocoa, the locked and bolted door, and especially the personality of the victim, are all that they appear to be.

Answer: The Maul and the Pear Tree

P.D. James teamed up with a historian, T. A. Critchley, to write "The Maul and the Pear Tree," an account of the Ratcliff Highway murders committed in London in 1811.

Answer: Colonel Protheroe

Colonel Protheroe was murdered in Agatha Christie's "Murder at the Vicarage".
Archdeacon Crampton wanted to close a small theological college in "Death in Holy Orders". Dalgliesh must decide whether the threat of the closure or some other far more personal reason is behind his savage murder, for Archdeacon Crampton could be said to have ruined more than one life in the past.
Sir Paul Berowne is a Junior Minister who recently resigned and is found dead in a church vestry next to a neighborhood derelict in "A Taste for Death". He has been receiving anonymous letters suggesting that women in his household have a slightly higher than average chance of dying from unnatural causes. Do these previous deaths have anything to do with the reason why Sir Paul was in the church, and with his own death? In order to arrive at the truth, Dalgliesh must clear up other people's indiscretions and shady dealings and break a lonely and vulnerable woman.
Dr Edwin Lorrimer was a forensic scientist found murdered in his laboratory in "Death of an Expert Witness". Almost every character we meet seems to have a motive for wishing Dr Lorrimer dead. But who had the means and the opportunity and, most importantly, the personality to commit such a vicious murder?

Answer: Steen

Steen is the site of murder in "A Mind to Murder." Dupayne was the museum which was the site of murder in "The Murder Room." Toynton was a small community dedicated to the care of permanently disabled in "The Black Tower." Peverell Press was the name of the publishing house in "Original Sin."

Answer: Julia Pardoe

Heather Pearce and Jo Fallon, two trainee nurses at Nightingale House, were murdered by Sister Ethel Brumfett, Matron Taylor's best friend and confidante, because they discovered Matron's secret. Matron Taylor killed Ethel Brumfett to stop any more murders. Julia Pardoe wasn't murdered; she was another trainee nurse at Nightingale House.

Answer: Neville

There were three Dupayne siblings: Neville, Marcus, and Caroline. The Dupayne Museum on the edge of Hampstead Heath is devoted to the interwar years and houses a collection of murder artifacts from that period in what is known as the Murder Room. But Neville Dupayne, one of the three remaining trustees, cannot see the point of the museum and of living in the past and refuses to co-sign the lease that would ensure the museum's existence and continued employment for its staff. So when he is found burned to death on the grounds of the museum, there is no shortage of suspects.

A second death, this body found in the murder room itself, suggests that there is more to the story than meets the eye.

Answer: Windmill

In "Devices and Desires," Adam Dalgliesh is left a converted windmill by his aunt Jane and travels to Norfolk to take possession of it. At the same time, a serial killer nicknamed the Whistler stalks women on a lonely stretch of Norfolk coastline. Hilary Robarts, an administrator at a nearby power station, had a habit of swimming late at night along the same stretch of the coastline.

When she is found killed by the same MO as that used by the Whistler, everybody assumes that the he has claimed another victim.

But the Whistler had an alibi - the best kind. He had killed himself earlier that same day. Once again, Adam Dalgliesh is not short of suspects, people who disliked or hated Hilary for some reason. But which of those reasons was strong enough to lead to murder? In what turns out to be a side storyline, P.D. James demonstrates in chilling detail the way personal choices that each one of us makes can affect the lives of people we will never even meet.

Answer: Combe

Combe Island, off the Cornish coast of England, serves as a private retreat for wealthy men and women with highly stressful and demanding careers who are looking for a respite. Nathan Oliver is not only a distinguished novelist, he is also one of the few people who were born on the island and considers it his right to visit as often as possible, an event not looked forward to by the small group of the island's inhabitants. So when Nathan Oliver is found hanging in the lighthouse, very few people shed genuine tears, including his daughter. Adam Dalgliesh and his team are sent to investigate and even though the circle of suspects is conveniently small, the plethora of motives, the lack of cooperation, and finally an outbreak of a serious illness all conspire to make Dalgliesh's team's task more difficult.

When Dalgliesh himself becomes ill, it's up to Kate Miskin and Benton-Smith to prevent another murder.