And now to open the second box . . . 

“I’m flattered our quiz means so much to you – it means a lot to me, as you know – but perhaps enjoy it for what it is, an entertaining evening out with friends, rather than focus on winning?” 
“Winning is everything, Mal. Why take part if not to win? What else is there? I’ll tell you what . . . We have nothing. Let us have our quiz.”

After enjoying myself immensely playing The Murder Game with a Solve-It-Yourself illustrated mystery, I discovered that my second package contained yet another non-traditionally formatted crime novel. The Killer Question is the latest from Janice Hallett who, after several years of exploring outlandish conspiracies has happily taken us back to the suburbs for something approaching a conventional murder mystery. With its huge cast of characters, most of whom seem to communicate almost entirely through  e-mails, text chains and WhatsApp chats, this reminded me of The Appeal, Hallett’s debut novel and still my favorite of her books. 

That purveyor of fine beers and ales, Ye Olde Goat Brewery, Ltd., has licensed a number of local “pubs with panache” to suit the various tastes of a diverse clientele in the Hertfordshire region of England. Whether you prefer the bizarre gastropub delights of Tom’s Bar, a pint of the black stuff at the Irish-themed The Brace of Pheasants, or the LGBTQ+ vibes of The Rainbow, one thing all the pubs have in common is that they hold quizzes! And no quiz is more singular than the one at The Case Is Altered, a rather remote pub where new-ish landlords Sue and Mal Eastwood lure their customers with tasty snacks and a Monday night pub quiz for which Mal writes all the questions. 

As is often the case with one of Hallett’s novels, it’s no good my telling you too much of what happens, except to say that things go off the rails pretty quickly and then twist and turn right to the end! There are a lot of characters for the reader to get to know, beginning with the landlords of all these pubs, who may be the friendliest competitors in the bunch, always looking out for each other and commiserating over the inevitable one-star Yelp reviews. Then we have the various teams that frequent the pubs, er, frequently, in order to down a pint or three and play the quiz. The members are a varied lot, with a varied assortment of reasons for playing. 

It’s clear that Hallett understands the psychology and motivations of quiz play, and that’s because she belonged to one herself. She dedicates the book “to quizzers and quizmasters everywhere,” and she speaks movingly of the practice in which she still occasionally participates:

“ . . . quizzing is about much more than simply parading what you know. It’s about escaping the world for a few hours, spending time with old friends and making new ones, learning about the world, and being reminded of what you once knew. It’s also, increasingly, about freedom from the compulsive tyranny of the phone screen.”

I like the sound of that – although that bit about the phone screen is problematic, considering how much these people text each other about the results of each quiz and the need to take their rivals out. (Oh, yes, some of these folks play to win!!!!) On the most ordinary of weeks, there would be  plenty of drama to mine between these teams and the quizmaster/landlords who run the games, but then two extraordinary things happen. First, a new team of strangers arrives at The Case Is Altered and begins to blow the other teams out of the water. And then, just down the lane from the pub, a body is found in the water. 

Although this story mostly takes place in 2019, Hallett spans her tale across a decade. Five years earlier, we witness a dramatic police sting known as Operation Honeyguide, which I will say nothing about here, except to assure you it has a connection to what follows. And the whole story is framed by an exchange in the present day between the Eastwood’s nephew Dominic and a Netflix executive about the possibility of turning these events into a true crime mini-series. 

I can’t pretend this is a “fair play” mystery, but boy, did I have a good time anyway! I was pretty sure who was responsible for the murder, and if things didn’t turn out exactly as I figured them, last-minute revelations made actually solving the case impossible. Hallett, like most modern-day mystery authors, isn’t really playing the Golden Age game, and yet she insinuates bits of information that all come together in the end – I guess you would call these “clues.” She never invites the reader to see things the right way round, but she enjoys leading us by the nose to a denouement that makes satisfying sense of a lot of previous information. 

That’s perfectly fine with me. I read Hallett for the epistolary format, which never gets old for me, and for the characters, whose arcs take some painful (and painfully funny) turns. (The author offers a particularly snarky take on actors this time around which makes this theatre person quite happy.) At this point, I would rank The Killer Question my second favorite Janice Hallett mystery, and I encourage you to pay your one pound entrance fee and take a chance on it. 

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The Killer Question has inspired me to try my hand at my own Monday “pub” quiz (I don’t drink beer, and as it’s morning, I do have my tea mug at hand, full of “Yorkshire Gold,”  to keep me in the British spirit.) I took the general topics that Mal Eastwood incorporates into his quizzes at The Case Is Altered and gave them a classic mystery spin; thus, it’s mystery trivia through and through. The quiz is worth 90 points. The answers are below. I would advise you not to cheat: the cheaters in Hallett’s novel did not prosper.

QUESTIONS

ONE: Today’s News (7 points)

If you were to Google “New Agatha Christie adaptations”, you would find that the Queen of Crime is as popular as ever. Can you name SIX upcoming projects, that are coming to a bookstore or TV screen in the near future? (1 point per answer AND I’ll give you ONE bonus point if you can name the new project featuring Agatha Christie as a character.)

TWO: It Happened in 1934 (13 points)

When I was a lad, Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, and John Dickson Carr were my three favorite authors. Between them, ten novels or short story collections were published in 1934. How many can you name? (1 point per title AND I’ll give you THREE bonus points if you can name three prolific and successful authors who published their first mystery novel featuring their most famous series sleuth in 1934.)

THREE: Sports (4 points)

The story collection The New Adventures of Ellery Queen (1940) included four tales that were each centered around a different sport. For each title listed below, name the sport featured in the tale: (1 point per answer)

• “Man Bites Dog”
• “Long Shot”
• “Mind Over Matter”
• “Trojan Horse”

FOUR: Literature (12 points)

Arthur Conan Doyle’s immortal detective, Sherlock Holmes, appeared in four novels and five volumes of short stories. To my mind, the best of these– and the one I cut my teeth on – is the first story collection,The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892). Can you name the twelve short stories that were collected here? (1 point per title)

FIVE: Film & TV (10 points)

Agatha Christie’s novel, And Then There Were None (1939) is her most famous, and that fame was boosted by a proliferation of international adaptations that have appeared over the last eighty years on the movie screen or on television. The first was an American film, directed in 1945 by Rene Clair. Can you name the ten other nations that have produced one or more adaptations of this brilliant novel? (1 point per country)

SIX: Music and Theatre (6 points)

The following theatre composers or teams have written musical whodunnits. For each one, name the show that they wrote. (1 point per answer)

• Charles Strouse (music) and Richard Maltby (lyrics)
• Albert Hague (music) and Dorothy Fields (lyrics)
• Cy Coleman (music) and David Zippel (lyrics)
• John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics – with help from Kander and Rupert Holmes after Ebb died)
• James MacDonald, David Vos and Robert Gerlach (music & lyrics) 
• Rupert Holmes (music & lyrics)

SEVEN: Food and Drink (10 points)

Quite often in classic detective stories, the cause of death can be traced to food or drink – and it isn’t always a case of poisoning!! For each of the titles listed, name the specific food or drink used to kill the victim. (1 point per answer)

• The Bishop Murder Case (1929) by S. S. Van Dine
• The Documents in the Case (1930) by Dorothy L. Sayers and Robert Eustace
• Poison in Jest (1932) by John Dickson Carr 
• Three-Act Tragedy (1934) by Agatha Christie (NOTE: this title earns you THREE points if you can name the cause of death of each of the three murders)
• Vintage Murder (1937) by Ngaio Marsh 
• Vegetable Duck (1944) by John Rhode 
• The Birthday Murder (1945) by Lange Lewis
• Poison a la Carte (1960) by Nero Wolfe

EIGHT: Marathon Round (28 points)

Simple instructions for a tricky final round: name the twenty-eight original members of the Detection Club, including the two Associate Members. (1 point per name)

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ANSWERS

ONE: Today’s News (7 Points)

• Sarah Phelps (gulp!) is adapting Endless Night.
• A new version of The Seven Dials Mystery is about to drop on Netflix.
• The BBC has announced a new modern-day series about Tommy and Tuppence, featuring Imelda Staunton as their P.I. aunt!!
• The Beebs has also announced a new series of adaptations of Miss Marple stories.
• In print, Lucy Foley will publish a new Miss Marple novel, Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel, in 2026.
• Sophie Hannah’s latest continuation novel about Hercule Poirot, The Last Death of the Year, will come out at the end of this month!
• BONUS POINT: The Detection Club will feature Agatha Christie sleuthing along with Dorothy Sayers and G. K. Chesterton. 

TWO: It Happened in 1934 (13 points)

• Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? The Listerdale Mystery, Parker Pyne Investigates
• John Dickson Carr – The Plague Court Murders, The White Priory Murders, The Eight of Swords, The Blind Barber
• Ellery Queen – The Chinese Orange Mystery, The Adventures of Ellery Queen
• BONUS POINTS: Erle Stanley Gardner debuted Perry Mason in The Case of the Velvet Claws; Ngaio Marsh introduced us to Inspector Alleyn in A Man Lay Dead; and West 35^th Street in NYC would never be the same again with the coming of Nero Wolfe in Fer de Lance by Rex Stout. 

THREE: Sports (4 points)

• “Man Bites Dog” – baseball
• “Long Shot” – horse racing
• “Mind Over Matter” – boxing
• “Trojan Horse” – football

FOUR: Literature (12 points)

• “A Scandal in Bohemia”
• “The Red-Headed League”
• “A Case of Identity”
• “The Boscombe Valley Mystery”
• “The Five Orange Pips”
• “The Man with the Twisted Lip”
• “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle”
• “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”
• “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb”
• “The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor”
• “The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet”
• “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”

FIVE: Film and TV (10 points)

Brazil, England, France, Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Lebanon, Russia, Spain 

SIX: Music and Theatre (6 points)

• Charles Strouse (music) and Richard Maltby (lyrics) – Nick and Nora
• Albert Hague (music) and Dorothy Fields (lyrics) – Redhead
• Cy Coleman (music) and David Zippel (lyrics) – City of Angels
• John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics – with help from Kander and Rupert Holmes) – Curtains
• James MacDonald, David Vos and Robert Gerlach (music/lyrics) – Something’s Afoot
• Rupert Holmes (music & lyrics) – The Mystery of Edwin Drood

SEVEN: Food and Drink (10 points)

• The Bishop Murder Case (1929) by S. S. Van Dine – liqueur
• The Documents in the Case (1930) by Dorothy L. Sayers and Robert Eustace – poisonous mushrooms
• Poison in Jest (1932) by John Dickson Carr – brandy
• Three-Act Tragedy (1934) by Agatha Christie – 1) a cocktail; 2) a glass of port; 3) a box of poisoned chocolates
• Vintage Murder (1937) by Ngaio Marsh – a jeroboam of champagne
• Vegetable Duck (1944) by John Rhode – minced beef stuffed into a bone marrow
• The Birthday Murder (1945) by Lange Lewis – poisoned sugar dropped into coffee
• Poison a la Carte (1960) by Nero Wolfe – caviar

EIGHT: Marathon Round (28 points)

G.K. Chesterton, H.C. Bailey, E.C. Bentley, Anthony Berkeley, Agatha Christie, G.D.H. Cole, M. Cole, J.J. Connington, Freeman Wills Crofts, Clemence Dane, Robert Eustace, R. Austin Freeman, Lord Gorell, Edgar Jepson, Ianthe Jerrold, Milward Kennedy, Ronald A. Knox, A.E.W. Mason, A.A. Milne, Arthur Morrison, Baroness Orczy, Mrs. Victor Rickard, John Rhode, Dorolthy L. Sayers, Henry Wade, Victor I. Whitechurch, Helen Simpson and Hugh Walpole

How did you do?? Don’t post your answers, but let me know your scores in the comments below.