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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. What subject does Olivia's mother teach?

2. What could Ken always do for Miriam?

3. What activity does Helen want her and Lynley to do?

4. Which Rod Stewart song does Lynley think of as he climbs the stairs of his girlfriend's apartment building?

5. What did Miriam used to say Kenneth wrote like?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Jimmy and his sibling do at Island Gardens Station?

2. How did Mrs. Whitelaw rekindle her relationship with Kenneth after the death of her her husband?

3. How do the girls at the cafe decide who fetches a repair man?

4. How does Miriam react to Olivia's pregnancy?

5. What information about her does Olivia say her mother wouldn't want people to know?

6. What kind of relationship did Hugh have with his wife Gabriella?

7. Why does Olivia say that on the outside her mother had an admirable social conscience?

8. What details do the police have about Kenneth's private life?

9. What does Olivia remember about her mother's relationship with Kenneth?

10. What does Flo say in her phone message to Havers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine Lynley's character across the whole series.

1. How does the author develop Lynley's character across the whole series?

2. What new elements does Playing for the Ashes add to Lynley's character?

Essay Topic 2

Why is Olivia's past so important to the story? In what way does it soften how the reader feels about the murderer?

Essay Topic 3

Why are Havers' differences and similarities as people? How do their differences and similarities help form an effective partnership?

(see the answer keys)

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