Nine Liars Quiz: 20 Questions to Test Your Truly Devious Knowledge

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Part 1: Plot & Sequence (Questions 1–8)

1. What event at the start of the book makes Stevie Bell want a new case?

A) A stranger's message about a dryer and community garden case

B) A newspaper article about a London murder

C) A text from David about a crime in London

D) A conversation with Dr. Quinn about a cold case

2. Where does Izzy first tell Stevie about the Merryweather murders?

A) At a pub in Islington

B) On the London Eye

C) At Angela's house

D) At Craven House

3. What code opens the fire safe hidden in Angela's house?

A) 1105

B) 0511

C) 1995

D) 0911

4. What does Stevie discover about the woodshed window when comparing photos?

A) It was broken by burglars

B) It was closed in the friends' arrival photo but open in the police photo

C) It was painted shut

D) It was too small for anyone to climb through

5. Who is Samantha Gravis?

A) A Cambridge professor

B) An American posing as Canadian who drowned in the River Cam

C) Angela's sister

D) A police detective on the Merryweather case

6. What does Angela's text about a “button” actually do?

A) It's a coded message about the murder weapon

B) It's a trap to provoke a response from the murderer

C) It's a clue about the fire safe code

D) It's a message about her cat

7. Where does Stevie reveal Peter as the murderer?

A) At Merryweather

B) At Angela's house

C) On the London Eye

D) At a London police station

8. What happens to Angela?

A) She flees to Greece

B) She is drugged and dumped in the river (staged suicide)

C) She dies of natural causes

D) She is killed at Merryweather

Part 2: Character Motivation (Questions 9–13)

9. (Short answer) Why does David invite Stevie and her friends to London?

10. Why does Stevie lie about Dr. Quinn's approval for the Merryweather trip?

A) She wants to prove she can solve the case alone

B) She wants to investigate Angela's disappearance

C) She wants to avoid Dr. Quinn's surveillance

D) She wants to spend more time with David

11. Why does Peter kill Rosie and Noel?

A) Rosie saw something related to Samantha Gravis's death and recognized her photo

B) Peter was jealous of Noel's relationship with Rosie

C) Rosie threatened to expose the cannabis operation

D) Peter was paid by Julian to do it

12. Why does Angela send the button text?

A) To ask for help from the Nine

B) To provoke a response from the murderer

C) To send a coded message to Izzy

D) To distract from her investigation

13. Why does David break up with Stevie?

A) He has feelings for Izzy

B) He is moving back to the US

C) He panics about the relationship

D) He is angry she lied about Quinn

Part 3: Theme & Symbol (Questions 14–17)

14. What does the lock off the woodshed door symbolize?

A) That the burglars broke in

B) That someone with access opened it

C) That the door was never locked

D) That the police mishandled evidence

15. What does the “plants” vs “planted” confusion reveal?

A) That Angela was confused on painkillers

B) That the Nine had a cannabis grow operation they were covering up

C) That the police planted evidence

D) That Rosie was a botanist

16. What does the fire safe code 0511 reference?

A) The date of the murders

B) Bonfire Night / Gunpowder Plot

C) Angela's birthday

D) The address of Merryweather

17. What does the toothbrush in Angela's purse suggest?

A) She planned to stay somewhere overnight

B) She wasn't expecting to meet a murderer

C) She was going on a trip

D) She was preparing to flee

Part 4: Synthesis (Questions 18–20)

18. (Short answer) How does the Anne Boleyn execution story connect to the case?

19. (Short answer) What does Stevie mean when she says “The window doesn't need to fit people. It's the Orient Express”?

20. (Short answer) How does the panopticon concept relate to Dr. Quinn's role in the story?

Answer Key

Part 1: Plot & Sequence

1. A — Stevie receives a message from a stranger claiming a neighbor has been killing people in an industrial dryer and burying remains in a community garden. This unsolicited tip makes her conclude she needs a real murder to work on.

2. B — On the London Eye, Izzy privately tells Stevie she needs to tell her about a murder. She then explains that her aunt Angela was present when two friends were found dead in a woodshed at Merryweather.

3. B — Stevie recalls the date associated with fireworks, the fifth of November. She tries 1105, which fails, then tries 0511 (the UK date format for November 5), and the safe opens.

4. B — In the friends' arrival photo, the window is closed; in the police photo taken after the murder, it is open. This inconsistency, combined with the inaccessible crawl space, reveals someone accessed the space after the murder.

5. B — Samantha Gravis was an American student posing as Canadian who drowned in the River Cam. Her death is connected to the Merryweather murders.

6. B — Angela's text about a button was a deliberate trap, inspired by the story of Anne Boleyn's execution and her cat's habit of stealing buttons. She sent it to provoke a response from the murderer.

7. C — On the London Eye, during a memorial tribute to Angela, Stevie reveals that Peter switched the keys and killed Rosie and Noel.

8. B — Angela was drugged and dumped in the river. Her purse contained a Nytol pack with six of seven pills missing and five rocks, staging a suicide.

Part 2: Character Motivation

9. David wants to see Stevie. He arranged rooms and an embassy contact to frame the trip as study abroad, and he calls late, slightly drunk, to propose the idea.

10. B — Stevie lies because she wants to investigate Angela's disappearance. She calls Quinn, who refuses, and then tells her friends Quinn agreed.

11. A — Rosie witnessed something the night Samantha Gravis died and later recognized Samantha's photo in the newspaper, realizing what she had seen. Peter killed Rosie and Noel to keep that secret.

12. B — Angela sent the button text to provoke a response from the murderer. Someone called her seven minutes later, and she left to meet that person.

13. C — Izzy reveals that David never had feelings for her, that he talks about Stevie constantly, and that he broke up with her out of panic.

Part 3: Theme & Symbol

14. B — The lock off the woodshed door symbolizes that someone with access opened it. Angela saw the lock off the door and knew something was wrong.

15. B — Angela was talking about plants, not planted evidence. The Nine had a cannabis grow operation in the attic, which they removed before police arrived, covering up the crime scene.

16. B — The code 0511 references Bonfire Night / Gunpowder Plot (November 5). Stevie recalls the date associated with fireworks and tries the code.

17. B — The toothbrush in Angela's purse proves she wasn't expecting to meet a murderer. She packed for a stay, not a meeting with a killer.

Part 4: Synthesis

18. The Anne Boleyn execution story connects through the “fakery” trick. Like the swordsman using fakery to get Anne to turn her head, making it easier to kill her, the murderer used deception to make the kill easier. Stevie recalls Angela's mention of fakery when considering the practicalities of the axe murder.

19. Stevie means the window was opened from inside the crawl space. Someone was already in there, so the window didn't need to be big enough for someone to climb through. The “Orient Express” reference points to the solution being about the window — it was opened from inside, not by burglars from outside.

20. Dr. Quinn uses surveillance (random video calls, conditions, a fixed schedule) to control the students, similar to the panopticon prison concept that Vi explains. This reflects themes of surveillance and control, and the tension between institutional authority and the students' rebellion.

How Did You Do?

18–20 correct: You're a true Truly Devious detective.
14–17 correct: Solid sleuthing — you know the case well.
10–13 correct: You've got the basics, but some details are still hidden.
Under 10: Time for a re-read, or check out the questions and answers page.

Want to revisit the key twists? Read the ending explained or go back to the book overview.