Hosting our first New Year’s Eve Party in 1999 at the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan, was a new experience for us. We offered a private 7 course dinner with a prime rib for the main entree. My wife is an excellent cook and we have a great old house to entertain in. It went over well and the people that came had a good time, but we had 4 of our 7 rooms empty for this holiday. That was the year of the Y2K scare and many travelers stayed home fearing the worst as the century turned.
We wanted to make sure that we did a better job of promoting in the future. We wanted to have a full house, and we wanted to make sure the night was fun, too.
We read up on hosting a murder mystery dinner. We went online and purchased some box sets, we downloaded some from murder mystery sites, and we got some at the toy store. We reviewed the way the game played, how interesting the characters were, and how possible it was to figure out who-done-it. Then we started practicing. We hosted a bunch of murder mysteries for our friends before we were confident in how to run the game, how to prep the meal, and that the game was fun.
Our first murder mystery dinner for the general public was the following New Years Eve. We predetermined which mystery we would run and we did our best to interview our guests when they made their reservations to assign an appropriate character. Then we sent out scripts for each of our characters.
The guests arrived. Some had spent big bucks renting costumes, some folks came simply dressed. For some guests, we nailed their character, for others, not so much. We decided to keep it simple.
Now, we have people come as they are. My wife, Lori, subtly interviews each player as she explains how the game is played. As she gets an idea of everyone’s personality, she assigns an approporiate character and reaches into our costume closet to provide a hat or other accessory to identify each character. All of this is done while sipping wine and munching on shrimp cocktail.
Each person then gets a set of clues that they must get into conversation over dinner. Everyone moves to the table where the game is played and the food is served. We help to move the game along while we serve. When all of the clues have been divulged, everyone has a chance to discuss who they think did it and why. The guilty party does not know if he did it or not, so suspects sometimes vote for themselves when they think they did it.
Then, one by one, we tell you who didn’t do it, and why. The final character then reads an explanation that recalls the dialogue that points to his guilt, motive, and opportunity to commit the crime.
The games we choose to play are very entertaining. We have hosted hundreds of murder mysteries since the new millennium started. Private groups can schedule one at our house anytime. We have regularly scheduled murder mysteries scattered thoughout the year where you play the game with whoever else is staying with us. November is Murder Mystery Month at the Munro House. There is one every weekend of the month. Get a bunch of friends together or come and meet some new people at a fun evening at our B&B.
Mike Venturini – Innkeeper
“Life is good in Jonesville”