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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "A Secret Never to be Told," why did Mary not want Joy to marry Robert?

2. In "Cloverleaf Books," what does Susan drink with Charles?

3. In "A Secret Never to be Told," how did Robert injure someone he had an altercation with in Bristol?

4. In Chapter 26 of Night Comes Calling written by Conway, how does John Moriston die?

5. How many book are produced in a year at Cloverleaf Books?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Susan say about the "Whodunnit" (183) in "Detective Work"?

2. In "Starbucks, Ipswich," what does Detective Superintendent Locke have to say to Susan when they met at Starbucks?

3. What is Katie, Susan's sister like?

4. In "A Secret Never to be Told," what does Pund tell Fraser in a letter?

5. What does Charles do to Susan in "Endgame"?

6. In "After Funeral," what does Claire give Susan and why?

7. What does Susan discover when she compares Leigh's novel to Conway's in "Cloverleaf Books"?

8. In "Intensive Care," what injuries did Susan have, and how did she recuperate?

9. In "Dinner at the Crown," what does James tell Susan how his future plans?

10. What does Conway's ex-wife Melissa say about the Pund novels in "Bradford-on-Avon"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Susan refers to Magpie Murders as a whodunit. What is a whodunit? What pleasure do whodunnits provide? What is the reason for the existence of a whodunit story?

Essay Topic 2

James tells Susan that Conway borrowed character names and used unusual naming conventions. What does James tell Susan about the way that Conway named his characters? What does Susan discover about Conway’s naming conventions? What does she think about what she discovers? What is revealed about the importance of names in literature?

Essay Topic 3

Conway took elements of Magpie Murders from real life. What are some elements in Magpie Murders that Conway took from real life? What is revealed about art imitating life?

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