Do Not Disturb Quiz: How Well Do You Know the Baxter Motel's Secrets?

Think you caught every twist inside the Baxter Motel? This 20-question quiz covers the entire novel Do Not Disturb by Freida McFadden, from Quinn's desperate flight to the shocking revelations in the epilogue. You will find questions about plot sequence, character motivation, themes, and a few synthesis challenges that ask you to connect ideas across the story. Choose the best answer for the multiple-choice items and write a short response for the open-ended ones. The complete answer key with explanations follows after the last question. For a deeper look at the story before you start, visit the full book guide.

Plot and Sequence Questions (1–8)

1. Why does Quinn decide to flee after killing her husband Derek rather than call the police?

A) She plans to meet a secret contact in Canada.
B) She fears Derek's wealthy family will ensure she is convicted.
C) Deputy Scott Dwyer arrives and threatens to arrest her.
D) She wants to dispose of the body where it will never be found.

2. What evidence does Claudia discover inside the dresser of Room 203 that confirms Quinn stayed at the Baxter Motel?

A) A pair of eyeball socks
B) Quinn's passport
C) Quinn's wedding band engraved with "DEREK + QUINN"
D) A key to Room 201

3. Which action does Quinn take to mislead anyone tracking her phone?

A) She throws it into a river.
B) She hides it inside the Baxter Motel ice machine.
C) She discards it in a pickup truck belonging to Billy Walsh.
D) She mails it to her sister Claudia.

4. How does Claudia ultimately dispose of Quinn's cell phone to protect her sister?

A) She buries it in the cemetery near their parents' headstone.
B) She drops it into a storm drain.
C) She slides it inside a stranger's car with Vermont plates.
D) She gives it to Billy Walsh and tells him to destroy it.

5. Who attacks Quinn in the dark outside the Baxter Motel, and where is Quinn subsequently hidden?

A) Nick attacks her and hides her in the dumpster.
B) Rosalie attacks her and hides her in the basement of the Baxter house.
C) Claudia attacks her and hides her in the trunk of a car.
D) Greta attacks her and hides her inside Rosalie's Diner.

6. What does Nick do when police officers arrive at the motel looking for Quinn?

A) He tells them exactly which room she is in.
B) He claims his wife is sick and denies ever seeing her.
C) He shows them her hidden car behind the restaurant.
D) He refuses to speak without a lawyer present.

7. What is the exact cause of Christina Marsh's death, and who is ultimately responsible?

A) A fall during an argument with Nick
B) A stab wound inflicted by Greta
C) Poison slipped into her food by Rosalie
D) A broken neck during a struggle with Claudia

8. What happens to Rosalie immediately after Greta makes her final confession in the epilogue?

A) She calls the police while Greta flees.
B) She suffers a panic attack and faints.
C) Her water breaks and she goes into labor.
D) She orders Greta to leave and never return.

Character Motivation Questions (9–13)

9. Provide a short answer: Why does Quinn refuse Deputy Scott Dwyer's invitation for a drink after she returns to town post-college, and how does she later view that decision?

10. What motivates Nick to lie to the police about Quinn's presence at the motel?

A) Quinn pays him a large bribe to keep quiet.
B) He plans to frame Quinn for Christina Marsh's murder.
C) He feels protective of her after learning she is in trouble.
D) Rosalie orders him to hide the guest from the authorities.

11. Provide a short answer: Claudia sacrifices a great deal to raise Quinn after their parents' death. How does this sacrifice later feed into Claudia's decision to have an affair with Derek?

12. What drives Rosalie to spy on the motel guests through her binoculars, particularly the blonde woman in Room 203?

A) She is secretly working with the police as an informant.
B) She suspects Nick is being unfaithful again and wants to catch him.
C) She hopes to blackmail guests for extra money.
D) She is simply bored and starved for entertainment.

13. Provide a short answer: Greta tells Rosalie she killed Christina “to save your marriage.” What does Greta personally gain from eliminating Christina, beyond helping Rosalie?

Theme and Symbol Questions (14–17)

14. The "Do Not Disturb" sign appears on the door of Room 201 throughout the novel. What does this sign mainly symbolize in the story?

A) Rosalie's desire to be left alone by her husband
B) The secrets and past violence the characters try to keep hidden
C) Quinn's need for a peaceful night of sleep
D) Nick's policy of respecting guest privacy at all costs

15. Provide a short answer: Throughout the novel, characters observe a reddish tinge in the water dripping from the motel ceiling. What does this recurring image represent?

16. What does Quinn's act of cutting off her long blond hair symbolize within the broader arc of the novel?

A) A simple disguise to evade police recognition
B) Her rejection of Derek's control and an attempt to reclaim her own identity
C) A signal to Claudia that she is in trouble
D) Her desire to mimic the appearance of Christina Marsh

17. How does the novel use the idea of marriage as a thematic element across multiple characters?

A) It presents marriage as an unbreakable bond that always brings safety.
B) It explores marriage only through the happy recollections of Quinn's past.
C) It portrays marriage as a flawed institution often linked to control, betrayal, and sacrifice.
D) It suggests that marriage is an outdated custom the characters uniformly reject.

Synthesis Questions (18–20)

18. Connect the decision made by Claudia in Chapter 19 (withholding Quinn's phone) with the revelation about her affair in Chapter 39. How do these two actions work together to redefine her pursuit of Quinn?

A) Both actions prove Claudia was an undercover police officer testing Quinn's loyalty.
B) Both actions are mistakes she immediately regrets and tries to undo.
C) The first appears to be loyal protection, but the second reveals her pursuit was actually driven by a desire to silence Quinn and eliminate a witness to her own crimes.
D) The first action shows her love for Quinn, while the second shows she was trying to frame Derek for the affair.

19. Compare the attacks on Quinn and Rosalie inside the Baxter house. How does the outcome of Rosalie's encounter with Claudia serve as a narrative contrast to Quinn's stabbing?

A) Both women die from their wounds, making the outcomes tragically similar.
B) Quinn is rescued by Nick, while Rosalie is left to fend for herself.
C) Claudia succeeds in seriously wounding Quinn, but the physically limited Rosalie fights back and incapacitates her attacker with a weapon of opportunity.
D) Both attacks are stopped by Greta's sudden intervention.

20. What final moral dilemma does the novel leave open through Rosalie's decision to name her daughter Greta and not report the murder of Christina Marsh?

A) Whether Nick will eventually discover the truth and leave Rosalie
B) Whether happiness built on a concealed murder can ever be truly guilt-free
C) Whether Greta will return from her trip to stand trial voluntarily
D) Whether Quinn will recover from her injuries and forgive Rosalie

Answer Key

1. B) She fears Derek's wealthy family will ensure she is convicted. Quinn explicitly weighs confession against flight and concludes that Derek’s politically connected family would prevent a fair self-defense case, leaving her no option but to run.

2. C) Quinn's wedding band engraved with "DEREK + QUINN." In Chapter 23, Claudia opens the dresser drawer in Room 203, moves a Bible aside, and discovers the gold wedding band with that exact engraving, confirming her sister was in the room.

3. C) She discards it in a pickup truck belonging to Billy Walsh. At Rocco's gas station, Quinn deliberately places her phone in a pickup truck, not realizing it belongs to Billy Walsh, a man she once babysat who can now lead police to her.

4. C) She slides it inside a stranger's car with Vermont plates. In Chapter 20, Claudia visits the cemetery, finds a funeral attendee's car with Vermont plates and a cracked window, and slips the phone inside to mislead Scott into thinking Quinn is headed northeast.

5. C) Claudia attacks her and hides her in the trunk of a car. Chapter 39 reveals Claudia stabbed Quinn outside the motel and stored her body in the trunk, where police later find her bleeding but alive.

6. B) He claims his wife is sick and denies ever seeing her. Chapter 14 shows Nick lying to the officers, telling them his wife Greta is bedridden and that he has not seen Quinn, an act of protection that later causes tension with Rosalie.

7. B) A stab wound inflicted by Greta. In the epilogue, Greta admits she entered Christina's room with a stolen key and stabbed her while she slept, saying she did it to save Nick and Rosalie's marriage.

8. C) Her water breaks and she goes into labor. Greta's shocking confession triggers a popping sensation, and Rosalie's water breaks; the chapter ends with her in labor, cementing the connection between the murder and her family's future.

9. Short answer. Quinn was intensely focused on making a good impression at her new bank job and thought she could postpone the drink to another time. After marrying Derek and experiencing his abuse, she views that missed date as the critical, life-altering error that set her on a path toward a violent and controlling marriage.

10. C) He feels protective of her after learning she is in trouble. After the police leave, Nick admits he knew she was in trouble, comforts her during an emotional breakdown, and promises not to turn her in, showing genuine care despite the risks to himself.

11. Short answer. Claudia gave up college and her own future to raise fourteen-year-old Quinn after their parents died, a sacrifice she feels Quinn never acknowledged or repaid. This deep resentment festers and erupts when she begins an affair with Derek, seeing it as taking something for herself that she believes she is owed.

12. B) She suspects Nick is being unfaithful again and wants to catch him. Having previously witnessed Nick kissing Christina Marsh through her window, Rosalie is terrified of another betrayal and uses the binoculars to monitor his interactions with the new blonde guest.

13. Short answer. Greta also admits to having killed before, mentioning a woman at the carnival who "wanted my Bernie." By eliminating Christina, she not only secures Nick and Rosalie's bond but also acts on her own history of violently removing perceived romantic threats to herself and those she cares about.

14. B) The secrets and past violence the characters try to keep hidden. The sign has hung on Room 201's door ever since Christina's murder, serving as a literal and figurative barrier that locks away the truth about a violent death that multiple characters work to conceal throughout the story.

15. Short answer. The reddish water symbolizes the lingering presence of violence and guilt within the motel. It visually suggests that the past murder has seeped into the very structure of the place, a constant, unsettling reminder that something is deeply wrong and cannot be fully washed away.

16. B) Her rejection of Derek's control and an attempt to reclaim her own identity. Derek insisted Quinn keep her hair long and blond; cutting it off is a physical repudiation of his ownership and a symbolic act of reclaiming the self he tried to erase through abuse.

17. C) It portrays marriage as a flawed institution often linked to control, betrayal, and sacrifice. Derek's marriage to Quinn is defined by control, Claudia's marriage to Rob is loveless and strained, and Rosalie and Nick's marriage is tested by chronic illness, infidelity, and deception, showing a spectrum of marital dysfunction.

18. C) The first appears to be loyal protection, but the second reveals her pursuit was actually driven by a desire to silence Quinn and eliminate a witness to her own crimes. Withholding the phone from the police looks like sisterly solidarity, but the later revelation of Claudia's affair with Derek and her attack on Quinn reframes that act as part of a calculated plan to find and kill Quinn before her own guilt is exposed.

19. C) Claudia succeeds in seriously wounding Quinn, but the physically limited Rosalie fights back and incapacitates her attacker with a weapon of opportunity. Quinn is stabbed and left for dead, shown as vulnerable; Rosalie, however, uses her own cough to create fear of contagion, lunges at Claudia, and scratches her face for DNA evidence, proving that her knowledge of her own frailty can be weaponized for self-rescue.

20. B) Whether happiness built on a concealed murder can ever be truly guilt-free. Rosalie decides not to call the police and even plans to name her child after the murderer, directly asking the reader to sit with the uncomfortable reality that her restored marriage and future family would not exist without Greta's violent act.

Ready to unpack the ending? Read our Do Not Disturb ending explained analysis, or ask your own questions on the Q&A page.