The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book

by Kathleen Kaska

  2. What is the odd marking on Mr. Douglas’s arm?

  3. What ironic circumstance may have prevented Douglas from defending himself?

  4. What is Holmes’s mood during the investigation?

  5. What time do the servants usually retire for the evening?

  6. According to Holmes, what happens to the sound of a gun if it is fired at a very close range?

  7. What odd question does Holmes ask Watson when Holmes returns from a late night investigation?

  8. What message, concerning the moat, does Holmes send to Mr. Barker?

  9. When does Mr. Douglas’s story begin?

  10. What happened to Mr. Douglas when the truth was revealed?

  Story Date: 1875

  Part 2: “The Scowrers”

  1. Who was the boss at the Union House?

  2. Where did McMurdo stay when he reached the valley?

  3. What job did McMurdo find after he settled in the valley?

  4. How did McGinty make his money?

  5. Why did McMurdo leave Chicago?

  6. What talent did McMurdo have that McGinty felt may be useful?

  7. What initiation ritual proclaimed McMurdo as a member of the lodge?

  8. Why did Captain Marvin arrest McMurdo?

  9. What special assignment did the bodymaster give McMurdo?

  10. What became of McGinty and Baldwin?

  TRIVIA FACTS : DID YOU KNOW THAT . . .

  1. Conan Doyle considered calling The Sign of the Four either The Sign of Six or The Problem of the Sholtos.

  2. Conan Doyle was an avid dog lover and often used his dogs for models in his Holmes stories. For instance, the sleuth-dog Toby in the book The Sign of Four was modeled after the author’s half spaniel, half lurcher.

  3. In creating his detective stories, Conan Doyle always developed the solution to his mysteries first and then wrote the stories leading up to their conclusions.

  4. In 1911 a man named Oscar Slater was convicted of murdering an elderly woman in Edinburgh and was sentenced to death. Conan Doyle was convinced of his innocence and, after conducting his own investigation, was able to gain Slater’s release from prison. The endeavor took sixteen years.

  Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes in the British Granada television series Sherlock Holmes 1984-94

  THREE

  THE FIRST COLLECTION: THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

  “You see, but you do not observe.”

  —SHERLOCK HOLMES

  IN THIS FIRST COLLECTION of stories, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are reunited after a brief separation due to Dr. Watson’s recent marriage and his return to the practice of medicine. On his way home after visiting a patient, Watson passes through his old neighborhood and drops in at Baker Street, unannounced, to find Holmes in the middle of a deductive pursuit. While they catch up on current news and domestic developments, Watson receives a benign lecture on the art of observation, fueling the fire for adventure. The following afternoon finds them hot on the trail of a dainty, but notorious, woman whose memory will forever strike a sensitive nerve for Holmes. The collection begins with “A Scandal in Bohemia,” and the subsequent adventures of “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,” and “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches” find Holmes and Watson solving cases involving fraud, deception, murder, and robbery.

  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was released in book form in 1892. It contains twelve Sherlock Holmes stories accompanied by 104 illustrations by Sidney Paget, the artist responsible for immortalizing the visual image of the Great Detective. Conan Doyle dedicated this book to his medical school teacher, Dr. Joseph Bell, whom he credited for providing the inspiration for the character of Sherlock Holmes.

  Dr. Bell reciprocated Conan Doyle’s gesture by writing perhaps one of the book’s most accurate reviews, explaining in simple terms why Sherlock Holmes became the most popular detective in literary history, which is also why, after over one hundred years, his popularity continues to soar. Bell’s review, which appeared in Bookman Magazine, compliments Conan Doyle’s ability to weave an intriguing plot in the briefest manner, using the fewest possible words. He writes that Conan Doyle “has given us stories that we can read at a sitting between dinner and coffee, and we have not a chance to forget the beginning before we reach the end.”

  Conan Doyle was writing during an era when literature, and the discussion of such, made a delightful evening of entertainment. But as entertainment has evolved over the past century into electronic media, so has the adaptation of Sherlock Holmes stories. The current generation of Holmes’s readership can enjoy his original adventures, along with new creations, on television, in theatres, and over the Internet. In 1995, young children flicked on the tube after school and watched a spunky little Jack Russell terrier entertain and teach them about the power of observation and the joys of literature as he dressed up like the Great Detective and solved the mystery of The Hound of the Baskervilles, “Wishbone” style.

  QUIZ 16 “A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA”

  Published in the Strand in July 1891

  The year was 1891, Conan Doyle’s first two Sherlock Holmes books, A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, along with his historical novel The White Company, were selling very well. His medical practice located at 23 Montague Place, however, was faltering. Conan Doyle’s heart was not in his practice, and he was becoming bored with his role as doctor. Upon the advice of his wife and his mother, he began another Sherlock Holmes story, the first in the collection The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. “A Scandal in Bohemia” was written in a few days, and he was so pleased with the results that he completed four more stories in less than three weeks. The following quiz contains ten multiple choice questions.

  Story Date: March 1888

  1. Since Watson’s marriage, Holmes and Watson had not seen each other for some time; what change does Holmes notice about his friend that causes the detective to reply, “Wedlock suits you.”

  A. Watson declines Holmes’s offer of a cigar.

  B. Watson has gained seven and a half pounds.

  C. Watson’s clothes are expertly cared for and mended.

  D. Watson has developed a light gait to his step.

  2. When the nobleman, using the name Count Von Kramm, visits Holmes, what disguise does he wear to hide his true identity?

  A. He is dressed in a harlequin costume.

  B. He wears a white hood over his head.

  C. The visitor wears a black mask over his face.

  D. He wears a cape which he holds over his face.

  3. What is the King of Bohemia, Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, trying to recover from Irene Adler in order to prevent a scandal?

  A. A photograph of the King and Miss Adler, which proves that they had an affair

  B. Love letters that he wrote Miss Adler

  C. A piece of royal jewelry that the King gave to his ex-lover

  D. His dressing gown with his monogram

  4. How many attempts are made to steal the item(s) from Miss Adler?

  A. Three

  B. Four

  C. Two

  D. Five

  5. What does Miss Adler plan to do that would cause a scandal for the King?

  A. Irene Adler plans to send the item(s) to the King’s fiancée on the day of the wedding.

  B. She plans to send the item(s) to the newspaper two days prior to the wedding.

  C. She plans to crash the wedding and personally deliver the item(s) to the bride.

  D. Irene Adler plans to send the item(s) to the fiancée’s father, the King of Scandinavia.

  6. What two disguises does Holmes use in this story?

  A. A cabby and a street beggar


  B. A constable and a drunk

  C. An ill-kept groom and a benevolent clergyman

  D. An old woman and a chimney sweep

  7. What does Holmes do that causes Miss Adler to reveal her hiding place?

  A. Holmes has Watson throw a smoke rocket into her room and shout “Fire!”

  B. Holmes tells her that he has stolen the item(s) during the night, and she rushes to the hiding place to check.

  C. Holmes bribes Miss Adler’s housekeeper to spy on her.

  D. Holmes tells her that he believes that the item(s) are not in her possession any longer and pretends to leave her apartment. He hides in the hall and watches her reflection in the glass of the door as she goes to retrieve them.

  8. Why does Irene Adler decide not to continue with her plan to ruin the King?

  A. She falls in love with another man and marries him.

  B. The King is able to discover information about Miss Adler that she does not want revealed to her new lover.

  C. The King agrees to pay her for the item(s).

  D. Holmes retrieves the item(s) that Miss Adler planned to use to ruin the King.

  9. What memento does Irene Adler give to Holmes? He proclaims to Watson that he plans to wear it on his watch chain.

  A. A button from her frock

  B. An earring of which the matching one was lost

  C. An emerald ring which the King had given her when they were lovers

  D. The sovereign that she gave Holmes for assisting her in the Church of St. Monica

  10. What payment does Holmes request for assisting the King?

  A. The King’s emerald snake ring

  B. The photograph that Irene Adler left behind

  C. The King’s gold watch

  D. An invitation to the King’s wedding

  QUIZ 17 “THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE”

  Published in the Strand in August 1891

  The plot for “The Red-Headed League” was based on a well-known bank robbery staged by Adam Worth, who ran an intricate crime network in the United States in the 1860s and 70s. He rented a house next to the Boylestone Bank in Boston and tunneled through the basement, robbing the bank of $450,000 and an enormous amount of gold coins. Many of the details of this case make their way into Conan Doyle’s story. The following quiz contains ten short-answer questions.

  Story Date: 1890

  1. How does Sherlock Holmes know that Jabez Wilson had been to China?

  2. Who is Ezekiah Hopkins?

  3. What does Jabez Wilson do for a living?

  4. What work was Mr. Wilson asked to perform as a member of the league? And what hours was he required to work?

  5. When Jabez Wilson tracked Duncan Ross to the address he gave as his home, what did Wilson find?

  6. Which Scotland Yard detective assists Holmes on this case?

  7. What are the thieves after?

  8. What does Holmes notice about the knees of Vincent Spaulding’s trousers?

  9. Who is the other man Holmes recruits to help with the capture?

  10. When reflecting upon this case, Holmes mentions to Watson that the solution “was perfectly obvious from the start.” What clue put Holmes on the right track?

  QUIZ 18 “A CASE OF IDENTITY”

  Published in the Strand in September 1891

  Conan Doyle often refused to assist people requesting help in Sherlock Holmes–type cases. He was even able to resist the temptation of a Polish nobleman who offered him a blank check if Conan Doyle would come to Poland and help clear his name in connection with a murder. However, Conan Doyle did agree to help a young girl named Joan Paynter, who wrote to him about her fiancé, who had disappeared. She could not afford to hire a detective, and Conan Doyle was her only hope. He was able to locate the man and in doing so convinced Miss Paynter that he was not worth the trouble. The story of Miss Paynter is similar to “A Case of Identity.” This quiz contains ten true/false statements about young lovers who are so easily deceived.

  Story Date: 1890

  1. Mary Sutherland met Hosmer Angel at the gasfitters’ ball.

  2. Mary’s father was a minister before he died.

  3. Mary and Hosmer plan to marry in a small chapel in Torquay.

  4. Holmes realizes that Mary’s stepfather and her boyfriend are the same man when he notices that both of their letters were typed from the same typewriter.

  5. Mary’s stepfather, James Windibank, is a travelling representative for the wine exporter Westhouse and Marbank.

  TRIVIA FACTS : DID YOU KNOW THAT . . .

  1. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based Sherlock Holmes on a real person. While in medical school at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Conan Doyle studied under Dr. Joseph Bell, a surgeon who used his phenomenal powers of deduction to diagnose his patients’ maladies with profound accuracy.

  2. Conan Doyle, along with his family and several close friends, celebrated his knighthood at the Hotel Métropole in London. Conan Doyle was apprehensive about receiving the honor and even more so about the party given in his honor. His pent-up frustration was released through a barrage of shouts when he opened a package that contained beautiful handmade shirts and an anonymous message that read, “With greeting to Sir Sherlock Holmes.”

  3. Conan Doyle’s inspiration in writing The Valley of Fear came from the true story of the Pinkerton Detective Agency and its conflict with the secret society called the Molly Maguires.

  6. Before she contacts Holmes for help Mary attempts to find Hosmer by running an ad in the London Times.

  7. Mary supplements her inheritance as a part-time governess for the children of a minister and his wife.

  8. Mary does not use her inheritance because she allows her mother and stepfather to use the interest from her money for household expenses, since she lives with them.

  9. Holmes threatens to choke Windibank with his bare hands when he finds out what Windibank has done.

  10. The solution is obvious to Holmes when he becomes aware of Mary Sutherland’s stock investments.

  QUIZ 19 “THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY”

  Published in the Strand in October 1891

  “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” is the last of a series of four stories written by Conan Doyle while in a writing frenzy. He was producing one Holmes story a week in the spring of 1891. By this time he had physically drained himself and was forced to spend several weeks in bed with a life-threatening case of the flu. After a six-week convalescence, he finished just two more stories, but it wasn’t due to lack of enthusiasm—quite the contrary, he took a few weeks away from his writing to close down his medical practice at Montague Place. Conan Doyle had made the decision to write full-time. He moved his family to a quiet suburb in south London and never looked back. “There we settled down, and there I made my first effort to live entirely by pen. It soon became evident that I had been playing the game well within my powers and that I should have no difficulty in providing a sufficient income. It seemed as if I had settled into a life which might be continuous.” The following quiz contains ten multiple choice questions.

  Story Date: June 1889

  1. What did John Turner and Charles McCarthy have in common?

  A. They were wounded while fighting in the Crimean War.

  B. Both men had served in Parliament and were raised in Scotland.

  C. Both John Turner and Charles McCarthy were widowers with one teenaged child each, a daughter and a son, respectively.

  D. Their deceased wives were sisters.

  2. Who saw James McCarthy carrying a gun and following his father on his way to Boscombe Pool?

  A. John Turner, James McCarthy’s landlord

  B. Patience Moran, the daughter of the lodgekeeper of the Boscombe Valley estate

  C. Alice Turner, John Turner’s daughter

  D. William Crowder, the gamekeeper

  3. Who saw Charles McCarthy and his son, James, quarreling?

  A. John Turner

  B. Patience Moran

  C. Alice Tur
ner

  D. William Crowder

  4. What did Charles McCarthy mumble before he died?

  A. Something about paying for what someone did

  B. Something about a rat

  C. Something about learning a lesson

  D. Something about stealing land

  5. While making his statement to the police, what did James McCarthy say that he saw on the ground near his father’s body, an item which had disappeared before he left to get help?

  A. A plaid hunting cap

  B. A brown leather smoking pouch

  C. A gold watch chain

  D. A gray coat of some sort

  6. Why were Charles McCarthy and his son, James, quarreling?

  A. James had lost another job.

  B. James refused to enlist in the service and follow in his father’s footsteps.

  C. James refused to marry Alice Turner.

  D. Mr. McCarthy had threatened to disinherit his son.

  7. How does Holmes know that the murderer was left-handed?

  A. Charles McCarthy was struck from behind on the left side of his head.

  B. Holmes finds a bloody left-handed glove near the scene of the crime.

  C. There is a bloody left thumbprint on the murder weapon.

  D. By analyzing the scene of the crime, position of footprints, location where the body fell, and the broken stems of the bushes, Holmes is able to determine that fact.

  8. How is Holmes able to identify the rock as the murder weapon?

  A. Using his lens, Holmes finds strands of hair on the rock.

  B. The large rock is unlike the other small, pebblesized rocks in the area. Holmes deduces that the murderer brought it with him in planning the murder.

  C. The rock had been moved because there is grass growing under it.