Murder Mystery Dinner
You’re eating dessert. Then a nearby table erupts. Two customers appear to be arguing. Someone pushes. One man falls to the floor. He rises, grabs a knife, and stabs the other man in the chest. Hold on, there may be more to this than meets the eye says a policeman who rushes in. The dead man was shot dead, the stabbing came after. Who shot off a gun? That’s how a murder mystery dinner might begin.
Murder mystery shows are an old tradition. More cozy locations often host these shows, along with a meal. It’s an evening of good food and good fun. The meal quickly becomes an intricate game. A variety of types of mysteries exist. The most basic involves interacting with the actors but not being asked to engage in solving the murder. A more popular version has the guests racing to solve the crime. These can become very complex.
These mysteries have become popular for parties, special occasions and even entire weekends and cruises. Pop culture covers them. Movies and television have explored the concept. A group gathered at a spooky house die one by one in horrible ways. One comedic version is Murder by Death. In other versions, a mystery dinner is taking place when someone is really murdered. The television show Monk explores it when the lead character, Adrian Monk, solves a mystery weekend in only 5 minutes and is then banned from future participation.
Spooky places often host these mystery dinners . Many dinner theatres that specialize in murder mysteries boast that their location used to be a morgue, or is built on a graveyard, or that someone was murdered there in the past. True or not, such stories add to the atmosphere. Patrons are willing to suspend disbelief enough to enjoy themselves, even if in the real world they wouldn’t believe the tall tales.
A murder mystery dinner is enjoyable. There are even versions specially made for children, and the whole family can participate.
