Murder Mystery Parties

I love the classic murder mystery TV shows and films - Agatha Christie, Poirot, I even love a bit of Midsomer Murders!  And have always wanted to go to a murder mystery party on board the Orient Express.  I haven't managed that, yet, but have been to two murder mystery parties.

The first was my Hen Night, many moons ago.  Unfortunately, my best made was studying for her degree in New Zealand, and about to sit exams, so she was unable to come to the party nor the wedding itself.  My sister was doing a sandwich year in Spain/France as part of her degree, so she couldn't attend the hen night, but did return to be a bridesmaid for my wedding.  So, it fell upon my mum to organise the hen night for me.  She asked what I wanted, and I decide upon a murder mystery party.  As everyone invited lived all over the country, and nobody had room to host, we went for the slightly more expensive option of buying a package in a hotel in Reading, that included a 3/4 course meal, twin rooms for everyone attending and actors who would guide the story along.  It cost £100 per person, for 10 of us, which my mum initially paid on her credit card and we paid her back. Everyone who said they were coming were sent an envelope which included the background of the story (a murder on a cruise ship) and who their character was (and they had to dress up).  Fortunately for me, I was a generic posh famous person, whereas other people had to dress like Dolly Parton or characters from British comedy sitcoms!

As the date drew closer, one of my friends still hadn't paid my mum back.  My mum had not long come through a divorce, so it was important to me that she was repaid what she was owed.  My friend was adamant that she was definitely coming, and would bring a cheque on the night of my hen party. Perhaps I was naive to trust her, but she didn't turn up and didn't pay my mum back.  The party itself was good fun, and the food was good.  "Dolly Parton" had some blow-up boobs that were hilarious!  The night continued, and the actors did their best to compensate for there being one less person than expected.  At the end of the night, we had to guess who was the murderer.  I piped up that it would be typical if the missing character was the murderer.  Unfortunately, as that character's description had been posted to her, other than a few lines that were handed out during the night, nobody was able to take over that part, so we had to make the judgement based on the actual attendees.  Of course, she was the murderer.  It put a dampener on what was otherwise a good night.

My second murder mystery party was last night at a friend's birthday party.  She had bought a package from Amazon for a murder mystery party, and I made sure to tell her my previous experience in case someone didn't turn up.  Fortunately, this party box was able to be adjusted for 5-8 players, so it wasn't an issue.  There were 7 of us in total, enjoying an Indian takeaway, whilst trying to discover who had swapped Juliet's stage prop with a real knife, so that she killed herself for real in the final scene of the play...

I'm not going to give away any spoilers, so won't name who I was, nor who the murderer was.  I will say, however, that my character was not the murderer.  As we had to account for ourselves for the times between 5pm and 10pm on the night of the murder, the rules were that we were allowed to omit things, but couldn't lie if asked a direct question (the murderer was allowed to lie).  My character didn't show up at the theatre until 6pm, and had company/an alibi for the whole time duration.  At the very last moment, one of the other attendees asked me directly what I was doing at 5:15 on the night of the murder?  My information didn't say anything before 6pm, but did say I had to show myself in the best possible light.  I was pressed for an answer, so I made something up: I was doing charity work before being called into the theatre early.

Apparently, I am the world's worst actor and can't lie.  Despite not being a suspect throughout the bulk of the game, I was now Suspect Number One!  Even though I knew I wasn't the murderer, I couldn't convince the others.  I tried to explain that I was innocent, and was just smiling because I was enjoying myself, apparently I have "shifty eyes" and "looked away" and a "cheeky smile"!

Despite the murderer getting away with it, the game was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed themselves.  It also reanimated my desire for more murder mystery parties/weekends. 
It was a good laugh.

Edit: This was an honest review written previously, however as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, and the link has been edited accordingly.