Noir II – Advanced Investigation MB-302  Cain Building  T-Th 9 a.m.

Answers for Quiz #2

Here are the answers to the second quiz of this course. Okay, these last two questions were tough, but this is the advanced noir class. Remember your instructor has your best interests at heart.

For your next assignment, write a 300-page noir novel and include the line, “I don’t have to show you any sticking badges” or “Release the Kraken.”

Q 1. Who are the top selling mystery writers today?

Short answer: James Patterson and John Grisham.

Longer answer Extra credit: Finding out who were/are the best selling mystery writers via an internet search is a challenge. Nearly every response to a query about best sellers returned lists of “best” authors—in many persons’ opinions—not top selling mystery writers.  I resorted to Wikipedia’s list of best selling authors, regardless of genre, and picked out the mystery/crime writers.

Agatha Christie, no matter how many billion of her books have been sold, is the undisputed champ. More books by Christie have been sold than anyone in history except Shakespeare. The French detective writer Georges Simenon is certain to be number two, beyond that it’s guesswork. What follows is the Wikipedia listing with the range of books likely sold.

Agatha Christie  2-4 billion

Georges Simenon, author of the French Inspector Maigret series, 500-700 million

Earl Stanley Gardener 100 – 325 million

James Patterson  150-275 million (the magazine Mental Floss says Patterson has sold 300 million books.)

John Grisham  100-250 million

Carter Brown 100-120 million

Mickey Spillane 100-200 million

Q 2.  Where did mystery writer Sue Grafton get the name for her fictional community?

Answer  Grafton’s make-believe community, Santa Teresa, bears the same name as the town that Ross Macdonalds’ detective, Lew Archer, haunts.  She used the name as a salute to Macdonald.

Q 3. Where is the town?

Answer  The town is generally thought to be patterned after Santa Barbara, Calif.

Question 4.   Who wrote, “The butler did it”?

Answer  The butler was the killer in Mary Roberts Rinehart’s 1930 mystery novel, The Door. According to several sources, however, the line “the butler did it” does not appear in the book. (I haven’t read it.)  She liked the idea of the murderous butler so much she used it in another book, too.

Question 5.  Who played the motel night manager in the noir classic, “Touch of Evil”?

Answer  The night manager is played by Dennis Weaver who at the time was acting in the long-running western TV series “Gunsmoke.”

Question 6.  Who played the fortune teller in the same film?

Answer The cameo role in the film as a fortune teller belonged to Marlene Dietrich. Hers were memorable scenes in a picture full of memorable scenes.