Mysteries Around the World Trivia Quiz

"The Maltese Falcon" is a classic 1930 hardboiled detective novel by Dashiell Hammett. It is the debut appearance of Sam Spade who became one of the most famous private eyes in literature. The story is set in San Francisco where Spade's detective agency is based.

The novel also introduced a number of tropes commonly found in hardboiled detective fiction such as an attractive young woman as a client and a gritty atmosphere.

"Death of a Dude" is a 1969 Nero Wolfe novel by Rex Stout. Highly unusual for the series, the novel takes place far from Wolfe's home in Manhattan. Wolfe is known for rarely leaving his house never mind New York City. The novel takes place in Montana where Wolfe's sidekick, Archie Goodwin, and his girlfriend Lily Rowan get caught up in the murder on a dude ranch.

"The Cat of Many Tails" is an Ellery Queen novel that features a serial killer committing seemingly random murders during a New York City heat wave. The fear combined with the intense heat cause New York City to become an emotional bomb that Ellery and his father work to prevent an explosion before it is too late.

"The Five Red Herrings" is a 1931 mystery novel starring Dorothy Sayers's gentleman sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. Wimsey investigates the murder of a hated painter in a fishing village in Galloway, Scotland. The titular five red herrings refer to other painters in the same village who are suspects in the murder.

"The Tiger in the Smoke" is a 1952 novel by Margery Allingham starring her sleuth Albert Campion. It is often considered her best novel and is set in the aftermath of WWII. Campion helps a young war widow who has been receiving odd photographs hinting that her husband might still be alive. It is set in London which Allingham calls the titular Tiger in the Smoke.

"The Strange Case of Peter the Lett" is a 1930 novel by Georges Simenon and features the debut of his detective, Inspector Jules Maigret. The novel takes place in Paris and in the French port town of Fecamp. In this novel, Maigret hunts down an international criminal known as Peitr the Latvian.

"Murder on the Orient Express" is an iconic 1934 novel by Agatha Christie featuring Hercule Poirot. The novel primarily takes place on the snow-trapped Orient Express which is stuck between Vinkovci and Brod in what was then called Yugoslavia and is now part of Croatia. Poirot must solve the murder of an unpleasant passenger who is murdered in his cabin.

"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" is a 1998 novel by Alexander McCall Smith. It introduced Precious Ramotswe who opens a detective agency in her native Botswana after moving to the capital, Gaborone. She solves a series of cases for her various clients, mostly finding missing persons.

"The Decagon House Murders" is a 1987 mystery novel by Japanese writer Yukito Ayatsuji. It is a tribute to Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" and involves a two separate series of murders in an isolated house on an island off the coast of Japan.

'Died in the Wool" is a 1945 mystery novel by Ngaio Marsh. It is set in her native New Zealand, specifically on South Island near Aoraki or Mount Cook. It involves the murder of a female member of parliament who goes missing and then later turns up in a wool bale.