Need some help with puzzles

I will sit for an exam whose questions are heavily inspired from GMAT. In the analytical section, there are puzzle questions which I can best describe as zebra puzzles. I will give one such question below. I would like to know how to efficiently solve questions like these without going through every possibility, and also some resources for questions like these.


There are 6 books to place on an empty bookshelf with 3 shelves. 3 of the books, X, Y and Z are fiction. The other 3, P, Q and R are non-fiction. The shelves are marked 1, 2 and 3 from top to bottom. Any of the shelves can remain empty. The placement of books must conform to the following conditions-
•P and R cannot be on the same shelf
•X must be immediately above R
•No single shelf can hold all 3 fiction books
•Q cannot be on shelf 2

1) If Y and Z are on shelf 2, which of the following must be true?
(a) Q is on shelf 1 (b) X and Q are on the same shelf (c) P is on shelf 3 (d) Y and P are on the same shelf (e) R is on shelf 2

2)If shelf 1 is empty, which of the following must be false
(a) Z and X are on the same shelf (b) There are exactly 3 books on shelf 2 (c) Y and Z are on the same shelf (d) There are exactly 2 books on shelf 3 (e) Y and Q are on the same shelf

Sorry for the long post

P.S I do not know if or where zebra puzzles are given in the GMAT examination so I've tagged this as IR.

edit - I'm trying to leave spaces between the options but I am unable to do so.