Archive for January 25, 2013

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1]   Who are the people depicted in this print which resides in Torquay Museum? 

The clues were there in the Tom Adams print and the fact it resides in Agatha Christie’s home town. The people were Sherlock Holmes and a young Miss Marple.

2] What is the connection between a young pilchard, a Slovakian female, a small citrus fruit, and a South Slavic Viking?

This was easy for Danes as they refer to the four novels of Leif Davidsen. The Sardine Deception; The Woman from Bratislava; Lime’s Photograph; and The Serbian Dane. I can highly recommend these thrillers.

3] In what timely way is Gordon Daviot linked to Anne Neville?

This was more straightforward. Gordon Daviot was a pseudonym used by Josephine Tey, who wrote the brilliant novel The Daughter of Time [timely way]. The Daughter of Time is an investigation into the murder of the Princes in the Tower in which Tey clears Richard III of the terrible crime. Richard was married to Anne Neville. Richard III’s skeleton was recently discovered under a parking lot in Leicester.

4] Who lived or lives at: [a] Whitehaven Mansions [b] 221B Baker Street [c] The Larches [d] an old Brownstone on West 35th Street [e] 14 Farraway Street [f] a residential home in Marnas and [g] a studio apartment in Santa Teresa

These were the residences of  [a] Hercule Poirot [b] Sherlock Holmes [c] Hercule Poirot [d] Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin [e] Hercule Poirot [f] Gerlof Davidsson from the books by Johan Theorin [g] Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone

5] Who gives this valuable advice? ‘As a man gets older if he knows what is good for him, the women he likes are getting older, too.’

Lew Archer in Ross Macdonald’s The Zebra Striped Hearse, adding that “The trouble is that most of them are married.”

6] In which crime novel are the chapter headings taken from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens?

The novel is Recalled to Life by one of the greatest English crime writers Reginald Hill, who sadly passed away last year. 

7] In which novel is Kjell Eriksson murdered, and who is Holt’s best guy?

I have to admit this was difficult unless you had read the book, which was Another Time, Another Life by Leif G.W. Persson, who likes using the names of other crime writers in his novels.  Anna Holt’s best guy is her son, Niklas.

8] Make an “educated” guess as to the connection between Raymond Chandler and Dame Ngaio Marsh?

Raymond Chandler was educated at Dulwich College founded by Edward Alleyn, actor and proprietor of brothels and bear pits, and part of the same foundation was Alleyn’s School. Dame Ngaio Marsh named her detective Roderick Alleyn because her father had gone to Alleyn’s School. 

9] Which crime novel begins with a chapter one entitled November, and a quotation from La Rochefoucauld about  funerals? 

Colin Dexter’s The Secret of Annexe 3. Another great crime writer who despite only writing 13 Inspector Morse books, the last in 1999 still has a TV series running with Morse’s sidekick Lewis as the lead character.

10] What nationality are these investigators?

a] Mario Silva [b] Mario Conde [c] Hector Salgado [d] Siri Paiboun

a] Brazilian [b] Cuban [c] Tricky this one because although the book The Summer of Dead Toys is set in Barcelona Salgado is Argentinean. This was the only question the winner got wrong. [d] Laotian

11] Who created these characters?

a] Anna Marie Mella [b] Ann Lindell [c] Annika Bengtzon [d] Hanne Wilhelmsen [e] Kimmo Joentaa [f] Jakob Skarre [g] Ingrid Sjostrom 

a] Asa Larsson [b] Kjell Eriksson [c] Liza Marklund [d] Anne Holt [e] Jan Costin Wagner [f] Karin Fossum [g] Andrea Camilleri

12] Who wrote:

[a] Summon Up The Blood [b] Blood of the Wicked [c] A Question of Blood

[a] R.N. Morris [b] Leighton Gage [c] Ian Rankin

13] Philip Glenister [star of TV series Life on Mars] also played the part of DCI Danny Lloyd, co-starring with Michelle Collins who played DS Judy Hill, in a pilot TV show. Is there a shred of evidence for a latin connection with a famous Oxford sleuth?  

Lloyd and Hill are the creations of the late Jill McGown. One of her later books is titled Shred of Evidence note the clue in the question. Jill attended Corby Grammar School where she was taught Latin by classics master, Colin Dexter creator of Inspector Morse, who put Oxford on the map. 😉

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I hope you enjoyed your attempts and congratulations to the winner, who was from British Columbia. A result that our dear Maxine would have predicted.