1. This knight of the British Empire was goalie for Portsmouth FC, played cricket with James Barrie, the author of Peter Pan , and loved skiing. He started an ophthalmology practice but because he had no patients, he started writing. Due to him being too fat, he was not taken by the army for the Boer War but he wrote a pamphlet defending British actions in South Africa (for which he was knighted). Who was this failed doctor whose birthday falls on May 22?
2. The most translated individual author (103 languages) is also the world’s bestselling fiction writer with an estimated 3 billion copies sold. The author also wrote the world’s longest running play (more than 25,000 performances). Who is this author of 66 detective novels?
3. The Murders in the Rue Morgue is recognised as the first modern detective story, published in 1841. The author was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone. The Mystery Writers of America present an annual award in his name. Who is this author who is better known for his more macabre work?
4. Feluda or Pradosh C. Mitra, the fictional Bengali private investigator, is a big fan of Sherlock Holmes, Bruce Lee and Tintin (just like Feluda’s creator). Feluda uses his superb analytical ability and powers of observation (referred to as the ‘Magajastra’ or brain-weapon) to solve cases. Although initially just books, two Feluda stories were later made into films by the author himself. Whose creation was Feluda?
5. These amateur detectives are siblings constantly involved in adventure and action. Despite frequent danger, the boys “never lose their nerve, they are luckier and more clever than anyone around them.” All the 190 novels were written by various ghost writers from 1927 to 2005. Who are these plucky brothers whose adventures can be found in just about any school library?
6. In 1934, entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications, but in 1937, because of a debt to a printing-plant owner, he started _______ Inc. This grew into one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies. The initials came from the company’s popular series which featured a character who was called the ‘World’s Greatest Detective’. What was the name of the company and what is it known as now?
7. Velma is usually portrayed as a highly intelligent young woman with highly specific interests in science that lead her to pursue a career as a NASA research scientist. She is described as being “born with a mystery book in her hand” and is usually the one to crack the mystery. Despite the fact that she is quite small, she can actually carry away the whole gang in her arms from a villain! What is her gang known as?
8. This Bengali detective identifies himself as ‘Satyanweshi’ meaning ‘truth seeker’, rather than a detective. What differentiates him from other legendary detectives like Poirot or Holmes is that he is more concerned with truth than with the law. Many times, he lets the perpetrators die by manipulating the circumstances using their own methods, as redemption and deliverance of justice for victims in the absence of evidence. Who is this different detective?
9. This TV series centres on a licensed private detective called Laura, who opens a detective agency under her own name but finds that potential clients refuse to hire a woman, no matter how qualified. To solve the problem, Laura invents a fictitious male superior whose name she coins by combining the names of the first commercial typewriter and the Pittsburgh NFL team. The series was responsible for the revival of another fictional character starring the same lead actor. What is the name of the detective after whom the series is named?
10. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a book in 1912 that popularised a term which had not been used outside scientific circles for 200 years. That book has inspired countless adaptations till today. Writer Michael Crichton was so inspired he used the same name for his book as well— The Lost World . And Steven Spielberg made a franchise based on the subject of Doyle’s book. What was the subject of Doyle’s book which was revolutionary then and is popular even today?
Answers
1. Arthur Conan Doyle
2. Agatha Christie
3. Edgar Allan Poe
4. Satyajit Ray
5. Hardy Boys
6. Detective Comics featuring Batman. Now known simply as ‘DC’
7. The Scooby Doo gang: Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy and Scooby
8. Byomkesh Bakshi
9. Remington Steele (starring Pierce Brosnan)
10. Dinosaurs
A molecular biologist from Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and music, and is working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’.
