Appointment with Death (1938) Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mrs Boynton

Dr Theodore Gerard, a French psychologist and fellow member of the expedition to Petra, finds the Boynton family to be an interesting study in psychology. His impression of Mrs Boynton is that she is "a horror of a woman...old, swollen, bloated...a distorted old spider in the center of a web". Mrs Boynton is a former prison wardress who treats her children as if they too were her prisoners.

Answer: Raymond Boynton

The novel opens with the words "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" Hercule Poirot overheard these words but assumed it was likely to be two people collaborating over a play or a book. But he makes a note of the nature of the male voice uttering the words and later realises they were spoken by Raymond Boynton.

Answer: Carol Boynton

Carol engages Sarah King in conversation and Sarah invites Carol to her room for a chat after everyone has gone to bed. Her intention is to encourage Carol to break free. Unfortunately Mrs Boynton catches Carol returning to her own room after her rendezvous and forbids her to have any further contact with Sarah.

Answer: Ginevra Boynton

Ginevra (Ginny) is Mrs Boynton's biological child, whereas the other Boynton children - Lennox, Raymond and Carol - are step-children. Ginny has escaped into a world of fantasy. She claims that she is not really a Boynton but that she is royalty, the heiress to a throne, and that "they" were trying to kill her. Ginny tells Poirot that Dr Gerard is in love with her. Dr Gerard tells Poirot that "mentally she is in an extremely dangerous condition.

She has already begun to display symptoms of schizophrenia".

Answer: Nadine Boynton

When Nadine is interviewed by Poirot, she entreats him to have pity and conclude that Mrs Boynton died a natural death. She mentions the famous case of "Murder on the Orient Express", stating "I have heard, M. Poirot, that once, in that affair of the Orient Express, you accepted an official verdict of what had happened?"

Poirot replies that "The moral character of the victim has nothing to do with it! A human being who has exercised the right of private judgment and taken the life of another human being is not safe to exist amongst the community...I will not condone murder! That is the final word of Hercule Poirot."

In my opinion, Nadine has a valid point and Poirot's stance could be viewed as a little hypocritical, given that he did not have definitive proof in either of the two cases.

Answer: Lennox Boynton

Lennox is the oldest of the Boynton children. He is approximately 30 years of age and married to Nadine. Lennox rebelled in his younger days but has now reached the stage of apathy and resignation. Before Mrs Boynton died, Nadine tried to get Lennox to leave but she was unable to persuade him to do so.

Answer: Jefferson Cope

Jefferson Cope was a friend of Nadine's prior to her marriage and subsequently a friend of the Boynton family. He is in love with Nadine and, although their relationship is quite platonic, Nadine tells Poirot that Jefferson has managed to persuade her to leave Lennox and throw in her lot with him.

Answer: Sarah King

Sarah King is a newly qualified young doctor who is fascinated by the Boynton family and is particularly attracted to Raymond Boynton. When the senior Mrs Boynton is discovered dead, Sarah is called upon to estimate the time of death. Her evidence contradicts Raymond's declaration that he spoke to his mother shortly before her body was discovered.

Answer: Lady Westholme

Lady Westholme is American by birth but, by virtue of her marriage to Lord Westholme, a British peer, she is also a member of the British Parliament. They met on board a ship and "the match was often cited as one of the examples of the danger of ocean voyages". On the expedition she is quite loud and over-bearing.

Answer: Hercule Poirot

Colonel Carbury asks for Hercule Poirot's professional opinion in determining whether Mrs Boynton's death was murder or not. Poirot agrees to investigate and promises Colonel Carbury a solution within 24 hours but warns him that "even when we have got the truth, there may be no proof. That is to say, no proof that would be accepted in a court of law".