Sorting Agatha Christie Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hercule Poirot

"The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", from 1926, is one of the early Poirot novels, and one of the most famous. Poirot, perhaps emulating Sherlock Holmes who retired to become a beekeeper, has retired to grow vegetable marrows. He seems to find this less pleasant than he had imagined it would be, but a murder in the neighbourhood soon gives him something else to think about. We really don't hear too much about vegetable marrows in subsequent books.

This novel was quite controversial at the time, and since, and that's all I'm going to say about that, because of spoilers!

Answer: Hercule Poirot

"Death in the Clouds" from 1935 was published in the US as "Death in the Air". It's set on an airplane flight from France to England, which would still have been a fairly new, exciting and trendy location, at the time. It makes for a nice twist on the "limited number of suspects" mystery type - an island, a country house in a snowstorm, a stranded train - that Christie excelled at.

A passenger on the plane ends up dead, and the murderer has contrived to make Poirot a suspect! He's not going to stand for that, of course, so needs to solve the crime.

Answer: Hercule Poirot

Poirot is not the only detective in 1936's "Cards on the Table"; Colonel Race (who first appeared in "The Man in the Brown Suit", 1924) and Superintendent Battle (who we first met in "The Secret of Chimneys", 1925) also weigh in. This book also marks the first appearance in a novel of Ariadne Oliver, the crime writer who is something of a stand-in for Christie herself.

In another "locked room" type of story, these four attempt to solve the murder of their host, the mysterious Mr Shaitana.

Answer: Hercule Poirot

"Mrs McGinty's Dead" (Detective Book Club edition title "Blood Will Tell"), from 1952, is another pairing of Poirot and Ariadne Oliver. It's a nice complex puzzle, with lots of suspects and red herrings.

Mrs McGinty's alleged murderer is safely convicted and waiting execution, but the policeman in the case is not quite sure he's guilty. Poirot goes down to the village, and opens up quite a can of worms - while staying at a very uncomfortable guest-house!

Answer: Hercule Poirot

1959's "Cat Among the Pigeons" is more of a thriller than a puzzle, with stolen jewels, and spies, and kidnappings, and revolutions in exciting faraway places. Most of the action, however, takes place in a girls school with Poirot not showing up until well into the story.

This means we have students working to solve the mystery, and this book might have turned out quite as well if Poirot had never shown up at all.

Answer: Miss Marple

Is it some kind of mystery game? Is it a burglary gone wrong? Or is it... something else? The whole village is invited to Little Paddocks with the mysterious words, "A murder is announced and will take place on..."

"A Murder is Announced", from 1950, is an excellent Miss Marple, with hidden identities, and lots of business about who was standing where and what were they holding - just right for those of us who enjoy our mysteries with diagrams of how all the rooms are laid out.

Answer: Miss Marple

"What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!" (1957) was the US title; this book was released as "4:50 from Paddington" in the UK.

Mrs. McGillicuddy saw (did she?) someone being strangled in a passing railway carriage. No one else saw anything, there's no body, the police are skeptical. Her good friend Miss Marple undertakes to find out what happened, with the help of the very efficient Lucy Eyelesbarrow.

We're left with one, small, personal mystery unsolved at the end of this one, which I quite liked.

Answer: Miss Marple

"They Do it With Mirrors" from 1952 was also published under the name of "Murder with Mirrors" in the US.

Miss Marple is visiting her old school friend Carrie Louise, at the home for delinquent boys that is run by Carrie Louise's husband. There's a large cast, and, again, the kind of plot where diagrams of the rooms come in handy. The story is weakened a bit by some rather unconvincing portrayals of certain characters - are we meant to notice that there is something "off" about some characters, or is this just Miss Christie not really writing them all that well? Anyway it all comes clear at the end, and, as often in Miss Marple books, young love wins.

Answer: Miss Marple

"Nemesis" from 1971, was the last Miss Marple novel written, though the last published was "Sleeping Murder" which was written in the early 1940s. Christie had done much the same with the last Poirot novel, "Curtain", which was published in 1975 but written decades earlier.

In "Nemesis", we hear again from Jason Rafiel, whom Miss Marple had met in 1964's "A Caribbean Mystery". He has since died, but has left a legacy for Miss Marple, if she will undertake to solve a mystery...

I see that this book is generally well regarded, but I found it confused and scattered, much my least favourite Miss Marple. The unsympathetic and unrealistic approach to the gay subtext probably didn't help. I'm generally not able to tell whodunnit, but this one I could tell right away.

Answer: Tommy & Tuppence

"The Secret Adversary" (1922) is the first Tommy and Tuppence novel, and only the second of Christie's published novels.

The war is just over, and recently demobbed soldier Tommy Beresford and equally at-loose-ends-and-broke Prudence Cowley (Tuppence) join forces as "The Young Adventurers, Ltd" to try to make a little money. A wild tale of espionage and secrets and dashing hither and yon follows, and it's quite a bit more fun than most of Christie's spy stories, mostly because of the pace, which never really lets up. At the end, of course, Tommy and Tuppence get together.

Answer: Tommy & Tuppence

By the time of "By the Pricking of my Thumbs" (1968) the Beresfords are quite a bit older, and there are several conversations about aging.

No spies this time, but a criminal gang, and stolen jewels - and an insane old woman who has done some very bad things. Not quite the breakneck pace of early T&T, this one still moves along at a pretty fast clip, and there's a lot happening.

Answer: Tommy & Tuppence

"Postern of Fate" from 1973 has Tommy and Tuppence retired, and digging into a mystery from the past. There's quite a bit of side business about home renovation, and anyone who has ever dealt with contractors will recognize the problems the Beresfords encounter there.

As for the mystery, well, Miss Christie was really getting on in years by this point, (this is the last novel she wrote) and this plot does not hold together as tightly as earlier works. If you like these characters, though, it's still pretty enjoyable.

Answer: Other

"Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" from 1934, was published in the US under the title "The Boomerang Clue" which is considerably less catchy.

This frothy tale has our hero, Bobby Jones, and his sidekick Lady Frances, rocketing around trying to solve the mystery of a dying man's last words, "Why didn't they ask Evans?". This book is really quite a lot of fun but the last thing you want to do is look at the plot too closely, as it depends to an enormous extent upon coincidence. I don't think it could have held the weight of Poirot's little grey cells investigating it.

Answer: Other

"The Sittaford Mystery" (1931) was published in the states under the title "The Murder at Hazelmoor".

During a seance at a country house during a snow storm, a spirit says that Captain Trevelyan is dead! When it turns out to be true, his heirs fall under suspicion.

Our detective in this case is the fiancée of one of the suspects, and she does a nice job. This is a densely plotted mystery, with a lot going on, red herrings all over the place.

Answer: Other

We started this quiz with one of the most famous Agatha Christie mysteries, and are ending it with another.

"And Then There Were None" (1939) has been published under a few different titles, one of which we are not going to mention here, as what was not considered offensive by some white people in the 1930s is now considered offensive by pretty much everyone. It's also been known as "Ten Little Indians".

A group of people have been assembled on an island, under false pretenses. Soon they find that they have all been judged guilty of getting away with murder, and justice is about to be meted out. One by one, they turn up dead, until... well, you'll just have to read it to find out.