Murder Mystery Dinner Party

A murder mystery dinner party is a good party theme for adults. Your guests are the suspects and the murderer. You can create your own mystery scenario or as most people do, purchase a kit from your local party store or on the Internet. The kit will contain a story, a specific number of characters, background information on the characters, costume suggestions for guests, a package of clues for each guest, and the invitations to the party.

Murder Mystery kits come with various types of stories including settings in places other than the U. S. and in different periods. When looking at murder mystery kits, you should determine which one will meet the need you have. If this is your first party, you may want to purchase a simple scenario to gain experience for the more elaborate games.

Many of the kits have suggestions to make your murder mystery dinner a fun and successful party. Some come with gifts to give to the winners of the murder. Some of the guides will let you know up front who the murderer is, while others let it be a surprise. You should study the guide carefully when you open the kit. You want to be familiar with the rules and the progression of the game so you can plan your meal around the game.

You can host your murder mystery at your home or at a restaurant or other venue. It depends on how much you want to spend and the type of murder mystery kit you purchased. Your menu can also be tailored around the type of mystery.

Your kit will tell you how many guests you need to have at your party. Ideally, your guest list will be the number of characters needed to play the game. It is important that all of your characters attend the party and that they are on time. You should let them know this when you invite them and request a RSVP in advance of the party so you can make substitutions if you need to do so. Some kits will have more characters than you need to play the game and the guide may tell you which ones are important to the success of the game.

When you receive your RSVPs and your guest list is fixed, you can determine who will play each character and pass out the information related to their character to them. This information lets them know who their character is, their costume suggestions, and the specific background story they should share with the other guests as part of the game. Let your guests know they should read the material and be familiar with it when they come to the party. They should also bring the information packets with them. This information will be shared by your guests as the evening progresses.

The evening begins with your characters introducing themselves. Your dinner will probably last two to three hours during which your guests will share information between courses. The object is for your guests to share information about their character and give hints to solve the mystery. Revealing the murderer should be done during or after your dessert course.

If your murder mystery kit does not come with prizes, you may want to purchase some inexpensive gifts for your murderer and/or your characters.

If your guests get involved with their characters, this can be a fun evening for your guests.