It's a Mystery to Me! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rebecca

"Rebecca" (1938) by Daphne du Maurier is told in flashback, as the second Mrs. de Winter tells of the time she spent at the Manderley estate. She met Maxim (Maximilian) de Winter while vacationing in Monte Carlo, and they were married two weeks later. When she arrived at Manderley, Mrs. de Winter met the mansion's housekeeper, a sinister old woman named Mrs. Danvers, who was devoted to Maxim's first wife, Rebecca. Rebecca was said to have died in a boating accident the year before, but all was not as it seemed, and more questions arise when her body is found in the hull of a wrecked boat.

"Mary Anne" (1954) is another novel by Daphne du Maurier, and recounts the real-life story of du Maurier's great-great-grandmother, Mary Anne Clarke. "Emma" (1815) is a novel by Jane Austen set in the Regency period of England, and "Amanda" (1984) is the first novel in the 32-book Sunfire series written by Candice F. Ransom. "Amanda" is now out-of-print.

Answer: No

Separated into two parts, "A Study in Scarlet" sees Watson and Holmes' friendship form before they embark upon solving a strange murder case. The first part of the story concludes with Holmes discovering and arresting the murderer, though it is not until Part 2 that the reader can begin to understand the backstory of the murderer and what lead him to committing such acts, as well as Holmes' deduction of his identity.

Although it didn't garner much attention upon its first publication in 1887 as part of Beeton's Christmas Annual, "A Study in Scarlet" and Doyle's later Holmes works became some of the most celebrated and influential in literature.

Despite being one of Holmes' best known opponents, Professor James Moriarty only features prominently in two of the many and varied Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories. Within the series' chronology, Moriarty's first appearance was in "The Valley of Fear" (1914-15) and he met his demise (along with Holmes) in his second and final "physical" appearance in "The Final Problem" (1893).

Answer: The Mystery of a Hansom Cab

"The Mystery of a Hansom Cab" starts with the discovery of a dead man in evening dress inside a hansom cab. The cabbie can provide only a vague description of the man who accompanied the deceased into the cab, and Detective Gorby's inquiries lead him into the contrasting worlds of Melbourne's wealthy elite and the extensive working class. The final identity of the killer is not as much the focus of the book as is the revelation of the disparities between the life opportunities of the various characters.

Fergus Hume was born in New Zealand, and lived in Melbourne at the time of writing his first novel. He later moved to England, and published over 130 more books before his death in 1932.

Answer: Murder on the Orient Express

"Murder on the Orient Express" was published in 1934 under the title "Murder in the Calais Coach" in the United States to allay any confusion with the already existing Graham Greene Novel (1932) "Stamboul Train", which had been published in the U.S. as "Orient Express".

One of reedy's favorites, "Murder on the Orient Express" breaks some of the traditions of mystery novels. Without giving away details (if you haven't read the novel), the murder isn't a simple one to figure out due to the manner of the victim's death, and in the end no one is brought to justice for the killing.

Agatha Christie's works are the third-most published in the world, following the Bible and the works of Shakespeare. More than four billion copies of her books have been sold over the years.

Answer: The Secret of the Old Clock

First published in 1930, "The Secret of the Old Clock" was revamped in the late 1950s, slightly changing the plot. In the story, Nancy Drew helps the relatives of a recently deceased man by finding his will which he had hidden in the clock. The "Nancy Drew" series was written by a number of authors, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, under the pseudonym of "Carolyn Keene".

The same group also produced the "Hardy Boys" series, for which the first novel was "The Tower Treasure", and the "Dana Girls" series, for which the first story was "By the Light of the Study Lamp". "Student Nurse" was the first in the "Cherry Ames" mystery series written by Helen Wells and Julie Campbell Tatham.

Answer: "Pretty Little Liars" - Sara Shepard

The first novel in the series, aptly named "Pretty Little Liars" (released in 2006), follows the lives of four teenage girls three years after their friend and clique leader mysteriously disappeared at a sleepover. The former friends were no longer a tight group, but strange texts revealing secrets only the missing friend Alison would know brought them back together. When Alison was found dead in her own backyard, the girls assumed the odd messages from "A" would cease. At Alison's funeral, however, a final text is received by all four girls, again signed by "A". The book ends at this point, but do not fear; multiple other suspenseful young adult novels follow.

Salami is kept on the edge of his seat through the entire series. He feels the same way when watching the television show of the same name (beginning in 2010).

Answer: Robert Barnard

Before he died in 2013, Barnard had written over 40 mystery books. His characters were always very sharply drawn with little to redeem themselves. Since they were all suspected of murder he did not think they had to be likable. His first book, "Death of an Old Goat", took sharp aim at the world of academia, a world that Barnard knew well as an academic himself.

Answer: Night Film

"Night Film" follows a trio of unlikely companions - former investigative journalist Scott McGrath, a young ingenue, and a former lover of the deceased Ashley Cordova - as they try to figure out the mystery behind the unfortunate tragedy. All the while, however, McGrath must delve back into the life of the man who cost him his reporting job, the deceased's father, Stanislas Cordova, who also happens to be the world's most acclaimed cult film director, known for his synaesthetic, enigmatic, and almost-homicidal approach to filmmaking. Of course, the rabbit hole goes deeper than any of them can imagine, and they find that they themselves are the very setpieces found in a Cordova film.

Kyleisalive's pick should more-than-work for the Llama Book Club.

Answer: Double Indemnity

The 1943 crime novel "Double Indemnity", by James M. Cain, was based on the true story of Ruth Snyder, who conned her lover into killing her husband. The murder occurred after Snyder took out a large insurance policy which had a double indemnity clause.

This type of clause usually states that the policy owner receives twice the amount in case of accidental death, which includes being murdered. Snyder was executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing prison. A photograph taken at the time of execution graced the front of the New York Daily News the next day.

This novel of lust and greed was made into the film noir classic of the same name in 1944.

Answer: Henning Mankell

Inspector Wallander can be a bit grumpy at times but that shouldn't be surprising - his father is an artist who didn't approve of Kurt joining the police, his wife is now his ex-wife, and his daughter either doesn't speak to him, or, when she does, he'd often rather she didn't. Plus, the women who populate his social life, such as it is, don't seem to last long either. It might help if he didn't drink so much or eat so much junk food, and when he develops diabetes the only person who seems surprised is Wallander himself. All of these factors, combined with some rather gruesome deaths under a looming Swedish sky, don't sound like cheerful reading - but the writing is good, the mysteries intriguing, and the dour Swedish cop is much more empathetic than he sounds.

Henning Mankell's series of Wallander novels began in 1991 with "Mördare utan ansikte", although for English speakers they began in 1997 when that novel was published in English translation. As well as writing crime fiction, Mankell is a playwright and author of books for children; he also works with a theatre in Mozambique where he lives for part of each year. Much to flopsy's dismay, he has announced that "The Troubled Man" (Swedish: "Den orolige mannen") was the final book in the Wallander series.