The Killing Stones Quiz

About This Quiz

This 20‑question quiz spans the full arc of The Killing Stones, from the stormy prologue on Westray to Lawrie’s chilling confession. Questions cover plot sequence, character motivation, theme and symbol, and higher‑order synthesis. Each answer is explained below, with all facts traceable to the story outline. Use the book summary, questions and answers, or the ending explained if you need a refresher.

Questions

Plot / Sequence (8 questions)

Where does Archie Stout’s body lie when Jimmy Perez finds it?
- A) The Pierowall Hotel car park
- B) The Links of Noltland near Grobust beach
- C) Inside the Westray heritage centre
- D) On the ferry to Kirkwall
What object is used to kill Archie Stout?
- (Short answer) ________________________________________
At which ancient site does Perez discover George Riley’s body?
- A) Ring of Brodgar
- B) Stones of Stenness
- C) Maeshowe burial chamber
- D) Skara Brae
How does the second victim, George Riley, die?
- A) Stabbed with a knife
- B) Beaten with the same type of story stone
- C) Pushed from a cliff
- D) Poisoned with whisky
What is the third murder scene and the third victim in the series?
- A) Grobust beach – Nat Wilkinson
- B) The Stones of Stenness – Tony Johnson
- C) Nistaben farm – Vaila Stout
- D) The heritage centre – Bill MacBride
Who confesses to all three murders near the novel’s end?
- (Short answer) ________________________________________
What does Lawrie use to travel to Maeshowe without being noticed?
- A) His mother’s car
- B) A quad bike left at Noltland
- C) The public bus that stops near the car park
- D) A lift from his brother Iain
Which traditional Orkney event is taking place when Perez arrests Lawrie?
- A) The Ba’ game in Kirkwall
- B) The winter solstice sunrise at Maeshowe
- C) The Pierowall Hotel’s Christmas ceilidh
- D) The ferry departure to North Ronaldsay

Character Motivation (5 questions)

Why does Vaila Stout tolerate Archie’s infatuation with Rosalie Greeman?
- A) She is having an affair herself
- B) Archie never lied about his previous flings
- C) She hopes to inherit Rosalie’s jewellery
- D) She is planning to divorce Archie anyway
What drives Lawrie Stout to kill his father Archie?
- A) Archie threatened to disinherit him over his grooming of schoolgirls
- B) Lawrie wanted the farm money to buy a new computer
- C) Archie planned to send Lawrie to boarding school
- D) Lawrie discovered Archie was not his biological father
Why does George Riley travel to Westray on the day Archie dies?
- A) To deliver Magnus Stout’s notebooks and expose Tony Johnson’s plagiarism
- B) To attend a history conference at the heritage centre
- C) To meet Rosalie Greeman about a jewellery commission
- D) To take photographs of storm waves for a book
Why does Tony Johnson want Magnus Stout’s notebooks?
- A) To return them as a favor to Vaila
- B) To destroy evidence of his academic fraud
- C) To publish them under his own name in a TV series
- D) To give them to the Kirkwall museum
Why does Lawrie kill George Riley and Tony Johnson after murdering his father?
- A) They knew about his grooming activities and threatened to tell the police
- B) He wanted to steal their money and valuables
- C) He believed they had cursed his family using the story stones
- D) He needed to eliminate any witnesses who could link him to Archie’s death

Theme / Symbol (4 questions)

What do the paired story stones – inscribed “I am Olaf, teller of tales” and “Hear my stories and know death” – primarily represent in the novel?
- A) The power of storytelling and the inevitability of death
- B) The rivalry between Neolithic and Viking cultures
- C) The importance of archaeological tourism
- D) The connection between Orkney and Shetland
The winter solstice sunset at Maeshowe is described as a “golden stream” of light. What does this moment symbolize for Perez?
- A) The triumph of science over superstition
- B) The beauty and mystery of Orkney’s ancient past
- C) The need to hurry before the killer escapes
- D) The betrayal of friendship
The Ba’ game – especially Lawrie’s victory in the Boys’ Ba’ – can be interpreted as:
- A) A harmless community tradition bringing everyone together
- B) A symbol of masculine aggression and tribal violence that the killer exploits
- C) A religious ritual that foreshadows the murders
- D) A distraction that allows Perez to solve the case
How does the theme of “insider vs. outsider” appear in the novel?
- A) Only the island residents are suspects; tourists are never considered
- B) Both Archie (an islander) and George (a mainlander) are killed, and the killer is a Westray native who resents outsiders
- C) The police from Kirkwall cannot understand the case because they are not from Westray
- D) Every character born outside Orkney is revealed to be the killer

Synthesis (3 questions – short answer)

Ann Cleeves uses the story stones as both a literal murder weapon and a metaphor. What larger idea does this duality reinforce about the relationship between history and violence in the novel?
- (Write your answer in 1–3 sentences)
Consider the roles of Vaila Stout and Willow Reeves. How does each woman’s response to male violence (Archie’s infidelity and harassment, Lawrie’s grooming) illuminate the novel’s critique of complicity?
- (Write your answer in 1–3 sentences)
The novel ends with Perez deciding not to resign despite the case hitting close to home. What does this decision say about the role of community policing in a place where everyone is connected?
- (Write your answer in 1–3 sentences)

Answer Key

1. B – The outline states Perez found Archie’s body on the Links of Noltland near Grobust beach.

2. A Neolithic story stone from the heritage centre – Dr Grieve confirms the murder weapon is one of the Westray story stones.

3. C – Perez finds George Riley’s body stuffed into a side chamber at Maeshowe.

4. B – George is killed with the second story stone – the matching pair used as a weapon.

5. B – Tony Johnson is found stabbed at the Stones of Stenness.

6. Lawrie Stout – In Chapters 39–41, Lawrie confesses to killing Archie, George, and Tony.

7. C – Belinda Thorne saw a bus passenger get off opposite Maeshowe; Lawrie confirms he took the bus.

8. A – Lawrie wins the Boys’ Ba’ just before Perez arrests him.

9. B – Vaila tells Perez that Archie never lied about his past flings, so she tolerated the infatuation.

10. A – Archie discovered Lawrie was grooming schoolgirls and threatened to send him away, which Lawrie resented.

11. A – George had Magnus Stout’s notebooks and planned to expose Tony Johnson’s plagiarism; he delivered them to the heritage centre.

12. B – Outline chapter 33: Tony stole the notebooks to hide his plagiarism; he and Barbara split up to avoid detection.

13. D – George knew Lawrie’s secret grooming, and Tony was present at the scene; both had to be eliminated.

14. A – The inscriptions directly connect storytelling to mortality, and the stones are used to kill.

15. B – The golden light fills the chamber, and Perez feels awe at the ancient builders’ knowledge.

16. B – Lawrie’s violent triumph in a rough game mirrors his aggression; the manosphere rhetoric he spouts reinforces this.

17. B – The killer is Lawrie, a native Westray boy, who kills both an islander (his father) and an outsider (George), motivated by resentment of “fancy” outsiders.

18–20 (Sample model answers – accept reasonable paraphrases)

18. The story stones embody how ancient narratives of power and death are re‑enacted in the present: the killer weaponises a Neolithic artefact to assert control, showing that violence is a timeless story written in blood.

19. Vaila ignores Archie’s problematic behavior, while Willow suppresses her own memory of Archie’s groping – both women’s silence enables the cycle of abuse that culminates in murder.

20. Perez stays because a detective who shares the community’s roots can see beneath its surface; his intimate knowledge of people like the Stouts is essential to finding justice, even when it hurts.

For deeper discussion, see our ending explained and questions and answers pages.