This year for Mystery Month, we’re testing your knowledge of the mystery series.
Can you match the best-selling mystery author to the reoccurring sleuth (amateur or professional) in their book series?
We’ve included some of your favorite children’s mystery series and authors, because, for many of us, these books started our love of reading mysteries. We’re running the gamut from children’s mysteries and cozy mysteries with amateur sleuths to hard-boiled detectives/private investigators in your favorite action/thrillers and everything in between.
The hardest part of creating this quiz was selecting only 35 authors, so I drew the line at 42. Many outstanding mystery writers and their exceptional sleuths are missing but have no fear our Mystery Issue comes out every May. Your favorites might have graced our pages in a past issue, or you’ll see them in the future. If you aren’t familiar with some of the authors or series, you should be, because they are terrific! Some authors have a crime-solving duo/team and many of these authors have written multiple series. The names listed for a series will be separated by commas and the names for each series will be separated by a /. Good Luck!
Match the author to the name(s) of the sleuth in their mystery series. Answers to the May 2022 quiz can be found on the final page of this issue or you can follow this link, https://www.thisawfulawesomelife.com/home/2022/5/3/next-month-in-this-awful-awesome-life-june-2022
M.C. Beaton Tony Hillerman
Lilian Jackson Braun P.D. James
Rita Mae Brown Craig Johnson
Raymond Chandler Carolyn Keene
G.K. Chesterton Nancy Martin
Lee Child Val McDermid
Agatha Christie Luke Murphy
Ann Cleeves Sara Paretsky
Harlan Coben Robert B. Parker
Michael Connelly James Patterson
Patricia Cornwell Louise Penny
Annette Dashofy Ian Rankin
Diane Mott Davidson Ruth Rendell
Franklin W. Dixon Dorothy L. Sayers
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Karin Slaughter
Janet Evanovich Martin Cruz Smith
Erle Stanley Gardner Donald J. Sobol
Tess Gerritsen Julia Spencer-Fleming
Sue Grafton Mickey Spillane
Dashiell Hammett Susie Steiner
J.J. Hensley Wendy Tyson
1. Miss Marple/Hercules Poirot ___________________________
2. Kinsey Milhone ___________________________
3. Trevor Galloway/Jackson Channing _________________________
4. Sherlock Holmes _________________
5. Stephanie Plum ___________________________
6. Zoe Chambers/Dr. Jessie Cameron ___________________________
7. Adam Dalgliesh ___________________________
8. Alex Cross __________________________
9. Walt Longmire ___________________________
10. Calvin Watters/Charlene Taylor __________________________
11. Inspector Rebus __________________________
12. Blackbird Sisters (Nora, Libby, & Emma) ___________________________
13. Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez ___________________________
14. Joe and Frank Hardy ___________________________
15. Inspector Wexford _________________________
16. Myron Bolitar __________________________
17. Jack Reacher ________________________
18. Harry Bosch _________________________
19. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache ___________________________
20. Jim Qwilleran, Koko, Yum Yum ___________________________
21. Encyclopedia Brown __________________________
22. Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden _________________________
23. Mrs. Murphy, Tee Tucker, Pewter, Pirate, Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen __________________
24. Megan Sawyer ___________________________
25. Mike Hammer _________________________
26. Perry Mason, Della Street, Paul Drake _____________________
27. Jane Rizzoli, Dr. Maura Isles ___________________________
28. Spenser, Hawk/ Jesse Stone/ Sunny Randall/Virgil Cole, Everett Hitch ___________________
29. Lord Peter Wimsey __________________________
30. Will Trent __________________________
31. Dr. Kay Scarpetta ___________________________
32. Arkady Renko ___________________________
33. V.I. Warshawski ___________________________
34. Manon Bradshaw __________________________
35. Clare Ferguson, Russ VanAlstyne ___________________________
36. Goldy Schulz __________________________
37. Agatha Raisin/Hamish Macbeth ___________________________
38. Father Brown __________________________
39. Philip Marlowe __________________________
40. Dr. Tony Hill __________________________
41. Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee __________________________
42. Sam Spade/Nick and Nora Charles ____________