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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Janice Hallett

Pub quiz cheating may not be a matter of life and death - but it can feel that way

Group Of Friends Watching A Sports Game In A Bar And Rooting For Their TeamGroup of friends rooting for their team while watching the game in a bar. Scoring in the game. Drinking beer and eating.
‘Quizzing is one of the more inclusive ways to climb the social ladder.’ Photograph: Posed by models; urbazon/Getty Images

You probably saw the recent story about a publican who grew suspicious of a team that won his pub quiz every week. He and his staff set about trying to discover exactly how they were cheating. Do you fancy testing your knowledge and recall of topical news? Before you read the next paragraph, for one point name the pub, and for two points name the suburb of Manchester where it’s located.

Although I have never set foot in The Barking Dog, or Urmston, as soon as this story broke, my inbox was full of friends and strangers forwarding the link and expressing their amazement – not only because it’s a classic hero’s quest in which good wins against evil, but also because it’s a strange case of life imitating art. This autumn, I published The Killer Question, a crime fiction novel with a plot almost identical to this, albeit with a murder mystery woven in, which admittedly the Urmston case lacks.

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