Quiz: How well do you know your detective novels?

Alain Fisette is an author and poet. Born in Ville LeMoyne in 1955, he lives in Montréal. Fisette studied literature at l’Université du Québec à Montréal. He has published poems and criticism in various literary journals, including Hobo-Québec. Fisette was an engaged contributor to the development of the arts and cultural industries for nearly 25 years.

1.
Edgar Allan Poe is usually credited as the inventor of detective fiction. Which work garnered him the title?

a) The Gold-Bug
b) The Fall of the House of Usher
c) The Purloined Letter
d) The Murders in the Room Morgue

2.
Which of the following detective novelists has been included in the famous “Bibliothèque de La Pléiade” of Éditions Gallimard?

a) Agatha Christie
b) Fred Vargas
c) Georges Simenon
d) Arthur Conan Doyle

3.
Of the following Agatha Christie novels, which does not feature Hercule Poirot?

a) The Big Four
b) Five Little Pigs
c) The Moving Finger
d) Death in the Clouds

4.
Black Mask magazine was started in the United States in 1923. Many famous authors who contributed to it thus contributed to the emergence of noir fiction, where the solution to the intrigue often supports a pessimistic, violent worldview. Which Dashiell Hammett novel was the first to be serialized in Black Mask?

a) The Maltese Falcon
b) Red Harvest
c) The Big Sleep
d) The Big Knockover

5.
Raymond Chandler is not only considered a great detective novelist but also a great novelist period, genre be damned. Philip Marlowe, his cynical, disabused hero, was portrayed by Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, James Garner and Dick Powell on the silver screen. During his career, Chandler adapted a number of his peers’ works for film. Which of the following detective novelists did not see their work adapted by Chandler?

a) Patricia Highsmith
b) James Cain
c) Rachel Field
d) Dashiell Hammett

6.
In the early 1950’s, Auguste Le Breton and Albert Simonin took the French detective novel by storm. Simonin was then considered the master of the crime novel. He wrote two trilogies: Max le Menteur and Le Hotu. Which of the following works is not part of the Max le Menteur trilogy?

a) Don’t Touch the Dough (Touchez pas au grisbi)
b) A bullet in the Chamber (Une balle dans le canon)
c) Dough or No Dough (Grisbi or not grisbi)
d) The Sucker Rebels (Le cave se rebiffe)

7.
Born in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, Donald E. Westlake was a writer and screenwriter renowned for his sense of humour… and his pseudonyms. Under the pen name Richard Stark, he published the adventures of Parker, a violent thief. As Tucker Coe, he wrote about Mitch Tobin, a cop dismissed for gross misconduct. Under his own name, he gave life to fatalistic thief John Dortmunder. He is also the author of The Ax, adapted for the big screen by Costa-Gavras. How many known pseudonyms did Douglas E. Westlake employ in publishing his work?

a) 7
b) 9
c) 17
e) 31

8.
Pierre Daigneault portrays Père Ovide in Les Belles Histoires des pays d’en haut, a television drama series based on the novel Un homme et son péché. Under the pseudonym Pierre Saurel, Daigneault published hundreds of stories and detective novels. Which of the heroes listed below was not a Pierre Saurel creation?

a) Max Beaumont
b) The one-armed man (Le manchot)
c) Albert Brien
d) IXE-13

9.
In 1973, publisher and printer Guérin created the “Le Cadavre Exquis” imprint, which published avant-gardist detective novels. It published, among other titles, Sexe pour sang, as well as Meurtres à blanc, Yolande Villemaire’s first novel. Which Quebec poet edited this imprint?

a) Gaston Miron
b) Gilbert Langevin
c) Louis Geoffroy
d) Renaud Longchamps

10.
Quebec seems to be a recurring inspiration for detective novelists. Of the authors listed below whose investigations have been set in Quebec, only one was born in the province. Which one?

a) Louise Penny
b) Johanne Seymour
c) Kathy Reichs
d) Florence Meney

11.
Didier Daeninckx is a French novelist born in 1949 in Saint-Denis, north-east of Paris. He is a renowned representative of the socio-political detective novel. His first novels set the scene for Inspector Cadin, who, from one investigation to next, is sent to various French cities. Which Didier Daeninckx novel is set in Paris and Toulouse?

a) Dead the First Go Round (Mort au premier tour)
b) Murders for the Record (Meurtres pour mémoire)
c) The Unfinished Giant (Le Géant inachevé)
d) The Executioner and his Double (Le bourreau et son double)

12.
How many times was Fred Vargas awarded the Trophée 813 for best francophone detective novel?

a) 1
b) 2
c) 4
d) 6

13.
Not unlike Daniel Pennac, Tonino Benacquista gave the detective genre a few masterpieces before seeking out new literary horizons. A great connoisseur of the human soul, he succeeds in moving the reader as well as making them laugh. Of the titles listed below, which is set in the visual arts world?

a) The Misdeal of the Sleeping Cars (La Maldonne des sleepings)
b) Three Squares on a Black Background (Trois carrés rouges sur fond noir)
c) The Losers’ Commedia (La Commedia des ratés)
d) The Bites of Dawn (Les Morsures de l’aube)

14.
During the 1970’s and 1980’s, a few authors breathed new life into the English detective novel. Derek Raymond, better known as Robin Cook outside of the United Kingdom, was among them. In the English-speaking world, the writer used the pseudonym Derek Raymond in light of the immense popularity of American novelist Robin Cook, a medical crime story specialist and the author of Coma. In one of the English Robin Cook’s novels, the killer chops up his victim, boils the remains, and then leaves them lined up in bags against a wall in the warehouse. Which novel is this?

a) The Crust on Its Uppers
b) He Died with his Eyes Open
c) How the Dead Live
d) The Devil’s Home on Leave

15.
Dennis Lehane is a American master of the detective novel. Among his works, Mystic River, Shutter Island and Gone Baby Gone were all runaway hits on the big screen. The heroes of his first five novels are Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. When in a tight spot, they often call on Bubba, a friend as ill-reputed as he is loyal. What is Bubba’s full name?

a) Bubba Rogowski
b) Bubba Laplante
c) Bubba Gump
d) Bubba Zemeckis

16.
Joe Pickett is a game warden in the state of Wyoming. He’s one of the best-known investigator characters of C.J. Box, whose novels’ plots foreground respect for the natural world. Of the following assertions about Joe Pickett, which is false?

a) He is a vegetarian
b) He is a bad marksman
c) He once issued a fine to the Governor of Wyoming
d) He goes through a great many state vans

17.
Nordic detective novels are all the rage with French publishers. Of the following detective novelist, which is a Swedish national?

a) Ake Edwarson
b) Arnaldur Indridason
c) Gunnar Staalesen
d) Jussi Adler Olsen

18.
A number of South-African detective novelists (Roger Smith, Mike Nicol, Wessel Ebersohn) reached new heights, popularity-wise, in the 2000’s. But none described the climate of corruption reigning over South Africa better than Deon Meyer. Of the following characters, which one was not created by Meyer?

a) Benny Griessel
b) Pylon Buso
c) Mat Joubert
d) Vaughn Cupido

19.
We know little about Australian detective novelists. Of the following authors, which one showed a particular interest in Australia’s indigenous peoples?

a) Pete Corris
b) Jane Harper
c) Emily Maguire
d) Arthur Upfield

20.
Curious fact: a certain detective novelist is also a fictional character in the works of a great author of American noir fiction. What is the name of the detective novelist in question?

a) Tana French
b) Megan Abbott
c) Alafair Burke
d) Gillian Flynn