Creating Your Mystery
Once you have some firm ideas regarding the initial considerations, it’s time to begin drafting the mystery plot that will serve as the theme and foundation for your party. At this conceptual stage, an evening of brainstorming ideas can prove fun and productive. Below are some tips to provide direction in designing your mystery.
- Consider ideas from your favorite mysteries. Think about memorable mystery books, films and video games and the plot devices and strategies they have successfully used. For example, in Agatha Christie’s book The A.B.C. Murders, the plot involves three murders of victims whose names are alphabetically sequential, and the reader is required to resolve the significance and implications of a seemingly unrelated pattern of murders.
- Create Your Own. If you’re like us, you’ve consumed dozens of mysteries over the years. Come up with your own murderous plot, complete with unique twists and gimmicks. During one of our parties, our guests were jointly admitted to a sanitarium in 1910 - all suffering from symptoms of amnesia after having witnessed a murder. They were then challenged to work together to regain their memories and solve the crime.
- Decide on a compelling setting. Reflect on your favorite mystery settings. Is it an old English mansion? A train barreling through Europe? A snowed-in country lodge during the holidays? A notorious haunted house? An archeological dig site? Consider how the setting will inform the rooms/sets you will design for the party. Our favorite mysteries involve isolation. Isolated settings limit the suspects and increase the sense of mystery. They also reinforce the concept that no help will be coming to your stranded guests - until the identity of the murderer is discovered.
- Decide on Your Crime. Nail down the actual mechanics of how the murder was committed and create a statement regarding the murder that describes succinctly the who, what, where, why and how the crime was committed.
For example: Jungle missionary Liam Hardwick murdered his older brother, explorer Rafe Hardwick so he could inherit the wealth from the discovery of a long-lost Mayan pyramid. After killing his brother with a Mayan ceremonial dagger, Liam staged the murder scene to cast blame for the crime on the missing expedition team leader Arnoldo Cruz.