Dinner & Mayhem with Friends

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We have a book club. We get together for coffee. We’ve done game night, moms’ night out, matinee movies.  For a change of pace, I recently invited my friends for dinner at a winery.  We got all dressed up – casual dresses, floor-length gowns, smart suits – chatted over a pasta dinner and wine.  As dessert was being served, we were told that – oh, my! – someone had been killed and someone in the room had done it.  We looked around suspiciously, wondering which one was capable and had the motive to kill a man in cold blood. You think you know your friends…

Christine's smile looks a bit guilty, doesn't it?

And when you find 11 who say “yes, a murder mystery dinner sounds like it’ll be fun,” you know you’ve got a good group.

With all my crime solving expertise from watching CSI, SVU, Law & Order, Snapped! and Alfred Hitchcock, hosting a mystery dinner was an obvious party option.  With the help of Shot in the Dark Mysteries I planned an evening with the theme “Murder in the Winery” for a dozen guests (myself included).  This online mystery game company personalizes the various aspects of the party for you – co-ed, all girls, all guys, number of guests, theme – Murder in the Spa, roaring 20’s, Mardi Gras, tropical, for instance. For those who like the darker side, they have witches and vampires themes.  Each theme has costuming and decorating suggestions, too.  And it’s not just for the adults – they are planning kid-friendly themed party packages to be revealed in the next couple of months.

Before the party, I downloaded all of my materials from the site and was amazed by all the stuff. There was a hostess guide with everything you’d ever need to know about hosting a murder mystery dinner and character information that I distributed beforehand to all the guests.  Since we were in a winery, wine labels were also included.  All that was left to do was cook the spaghetti and solve the murder.

There was no script or prescribed format of questioning and revealing information; one of my friends thought this was a plus over another mystery party that she went to, making it more spontaneous.  We had to mingle, chat, and figure out who to ask what.  Each character has information they will share willingly and other information that you have to dig for, but like in real life, you don’t know what to ask them to get that information because you don’t know what the information is.  The funny thing about this – the next day, one of my friends said, “I was thinking about it – I should’ve asked this person this question – then I would’ve figured it out!”  20/20 hindsight, right?

This was definitely a unique get-together for us and we had a lot of fun.  Even my family was excited, my kids peeked from the steps, waiting to see which of my friends was guilty.

So the next time you and your friends are trying to come up with a reason to get together, stop by Shot in the Dark Mysteries and then invite them over for a little dinner and mayhem.

So I glad I survived!

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We received a complimentary party package for this blogpost; all opinions are my own; thanks to Leigh for a fun event!