Ever been to a murder mystery party?

Yep, I went to one. This was like a murder mystery dinner/evening party. It was kind of goofy, not your serious sort. So, basically it went like this:

1) Actors mingled with guests as they arrived and found tables to sit at. They were pretty outlandish, dropping hints about themselves and stories about their pasts, etc. One guy hit on the ladies and did card tricks.

2) Someone started screaming, someone fell down dead. One dude jumped up and said he was an undercover cop and he was now conducting an investigation and nobody could leave until he'd talked to everyone and gotten the info he wanted (or whatever).

3) The first course came out and the cop started "interrogating" guests. He had obviously been given some info on a bunch of us, because it was personal and quite funny.

4) As the first course wrapped up, something else happened... someone else was found dead, or something was missing, whatever.

5) Courses and events sort of alternated as the story played out. In one corner of the room was a "crime scene" and we were invited to look at it, take notes on the proceedings, etc.

6) Toward the end of the evening, everyone had to write out their "solution" to the murder and hand it in. We ate dessert while the main dude went over the papers and picked out the people who had solved the mystery.

7) There was a concluding scene where he read the solution from the winning paper and the murderer was pinpointed and led away.

Ours was more silly than anything - it was my husband's company christmas party and everyone was drunk. I was actually the only one paying attention, so I won.

Wow, Jo! Your party sounds like fun.

I went to one where only the participants were invited. There were 10 of us I think. In our invitations we were given a brief bio of our character. Our mystery was set in 1930's England and since our hostess was British, our food and drink offerings were what would have been served at that time.

Our party wasn't so rowdy, but it was still fun. I don't think the 'killer' knew who he/she was but the host/ess did. I believe they gave clues or offered information we didn't have as our 'act' progressed.

There's a game you can get (or used to - try Ebay) with all the info. I can't remember what it's called. Murder something.

Good luck with the story!

"How to Host a Murder"

I remember the first time I saw it I misread it has "How to Murder a Host!"

I've been a hostess and a guest in those murder mystery parties mentioned - "How to Host a Murder".

They're lots of fun.

Google them and buy a kit. Have a few friends over, see for yourself what it's all about.

I think one of the best advice ever given me was "write what you know." So... find out. Nothing like firsthand experience!

I went to a Mystery Dinner that was a dinner party at someone's home. We played a who-done-it game that came in a box. There were no professional actors. We got detailed invitations outlining our characters and what themed dish we were to bring to the meal. We were expected to come in costume.

When we got to the party we all got envelopes with info for our character, and more clues were passed out during the course of the evening. I don't recall anyone actually playing the victim. I think he was imaginary. We spent the evening interviewing the other guests in character, trying to figure out the identity of the murderer. (It wasn't me.)

IIRC, the game was based on a group of british tourists in egypt, and a murder on the cruise ship. You could buy similar games with different themes.

This party was many years ago (a dozen?) and at the time these kind of parties were pretty popular. Sadly, I don't remember the game very well. I mostly remember the huge fight the hostess had with her husband in the middle of the party over an accident involving BBQ ribs and white carpeting.

Murder party with actors -

I occasionally work with a group that does these things - not as an actor, but stagemanager. The core of the company has been together for six or seven years.

They arrive with the partygoers and try to blend in as much as possible.

Usually there are a set number of scenes - 4 to 6 - that are each performed several times before the murder depending on the location of the performance. Not all "audience" members will see all of the scenes. In addition, the actors mingle, dropping little hints (and red herrings). Then the murder occurs and two detectives appear. The guys who play these parts are brilliant at improv and are quite fun too watch. Finally - the audience/participants vote on who the killer is.

They work very much along the lines of a comedia production, improvising from a set script. I have fond memories of the woman who became great "friends" with the killer and was shocked to discovery that he had been playing a role.

I went to a murder mystery dinner (at a restaurant) where the actors ate right along with the other guests and didn't where anything to set themselves apart. The chatted and talked like everyone else and revealed bits about their "lives" in a really natural way. It really added a bit of fun to the whole evening, and made it hard to guess who was involved, since more experienced mystery goers knew how to make it look like they were actors too and throw people off.

I've been to a couple. The first one I went to was when I was still living in England. We played characters from the 1930s and it was great fun, because our friends' house was built in the 1930s and still had the original Raeburn in the kitchen which added to the atmosphere.

The second was here. There were more guests than characters and my poor husband got press-ganged into playing the (invented) part of a footman. He's a socialist at heart and did not take too kindly to being treated like a footman. Every time he disappeared into the kitchen he must've snuck an extra beer, because he looked more and more dishevelled every time he reappeared. It was pretty, bloody awful.

I saw one on Third Rock From the Sun.

Hilarity ensued.

I have considerable experience in something similar, which may or may not be of any use: LARPs (Live Action Role Playing). The ones I used to do (and sometimes run) were based upon White Wolf's Vampire: The Masquerade and we played them in public. The "Masquerade" of the title is the most inviolate law among the undead of the game -- humans must never, ever, under any circumstances be allowed to suppose that vampires or the supernatural are real.

We the players were all vampires, of various ages and Clans (the equivalent of a vampiric family/ethnicity -- each with different powers, weaknesses, cultures, etc.) who existed in a Byzantine covert society ruled by extremely powerful (and usually insane) Elders. It was fun. We had various hand-signs to indicate what powers we were using, and referees (playing key characters throughout the story) wandered in and out of stories in order to settle disputes or offer tantalizing clues.

One storyline we created involved an ancient golden Mask, around which legends swirled. Possessing it might increase a vampire's prestige and give them a bargaining chip, but could also make them a target. More than one vampire was obsessed with in for one reason or another while we'd set up that the Mask was also a "token" in an intricate game between two ancient and insane vampires, one of whom had sired (i.e. created or made) a major character who had the power to sense things about an object by touching them. When he finally had the Mask in his possession, he used that power and got an image of the creature who'd haunted his dreams for centuries--and had a wonderful scene of going into a total panic attack.

Part of the problem, however, was that some players didn't think too clearly ahead of time. We had to ban any prop that even vaguely resembled a real weapon (some water pistols look like the real thing) and after one really terrible incident when a player (in character) yelled "Call 911! He's got a gun!" in public (with predictable results) we had to put some draconian rules into effect.

Don't know if this is of any use, but offered nonetheless. BTW, you might want to check out The Last of Sheila, a wonderful movie that uses a slightly similar plot device, if just to avoid any coincidental details.