Your friends will never forget the night they came to your house for a mystery-solving party. Here's a few tips on planning and throwing one.
Get a few friends and some family members together to be the players in the mystery while your guests try to decipher the clues. You decide if the play will be acted out during dinner or if you will skip dinner and just have a mystery solving party. Other decisions you'll need to make before the party is who will play which role, how long the play should last, who will be "murdered" how the murder will take place and if there will be a prize for the first person who solves the murder.
Since your home really isn't a stage you might be somewhat limited in the type of play that can be performed. The play should be simple and should require few props. Write your own play or act out a little - known play that's been shortened. Read through the script first and make sure it's doable considering your circumstances. Make sure you have enough space, each actor understands his responsibility and that you have the necessary props.
Introduce the cast of characters by the name they will use during the play. Having too many characters will get confusing so try to keep the cast down to less than a dozen characters. Hand each of the guests a piece of paper and pen for taking notes. If you want you can give each of the guests a character as well, allowing them to use their own names.
If you're doing a play which you've written you'll need to consider motive, means and opportunity. These three things must be in any good murder mystery. The motive, of course, is the reason the person committed the crime, the means being how they did it. Opportunity shows how the criminal was able to get to the murder victim. Be sure you've given specific clues that enable the audience to deduce the circumstances.
Sometime during the performance it'll be necessary for the lights to go out so the victim can take center stage, dead of course. There are other ways, though, like moving something and there lies the dead body. The method of death should be obvious like a knife, gun shot or a rope around the victim's neck. If the method of death is something not so noticeable, like poisoning, other clues must be left to indicate this. For instance, the victim can be found with a spilled drink beside him.
There are several ways of determining who the winner is. Each guest can write a scenario on a card and the winner is chosen by the way he explains the situation on the card. You can also allow guests to ask questions which you or an appointed person answers. Or you can have everyone but the victim gather in one room for questioning. Ask each to explain his or her alibi, etc.
Put as many twists and turns into the play as possible. For instance, have the evidence strongly suggest one person as the murderer when in actuality it is another. Or have it appear that one person will be the victim then turn it around and have someone different killed. Or have one character be sweet as apple pie until the end when they show their true colors. Be careful not to leave any loose ends that will confuse the guests to the point of not being able to solve the puzzle whatsoever.
Announce the winner or winners who have explained the crime exactly how it happened. Prizes and awards are up to the host or hostess.
