Make Your Own Murder Mystery

A couple of months ago, I decided to host a murder mystery party. I looked around for the perfect game template, but couldn’t find one I liked. Most of them had long scripts to follow, but I wanted to give my guests the freedom to ad lib. In the end, I decided to create my own game. It ended up being a lot of fun, so I thought I’d share it. Feel free to borrow this for your own party, or even better, perhaps the will inspire you to write your own game!  

My game sort of morphed into a cross between a traditional murder mystery and a scavenger hunt. Before the guests arrived, I hid various notes around the house. These included:

Ø   Investigate: Present this card to any player. They must show you one clue of their choice. They then take ownership of the card. (Can be reused/traded)

Ø  Blackmail: You may use this card on only one person. When presented with this card, the player of your choice must reveal to you, any new information (gossip) they collect throughout the course of the game. (become the player’s informant)

Ø  Form an alliance: Choose another player with which, you will share all your personal information, as well as clues collected. They will do the same.

Ø  Psychic vision: Look into the future. Select one gameplay envelope to read ahead of time

Ø  Friendly Wager: Challenge another player. Decide between each other how many pieces of information you want to wager and roll a dice. Winner takes all, including the card. (Card can be reused.)

Ø  Robin Hood: Take one piece of info from one player and give it to another (not yourself)

The number of each cards you print/hide should depend on the number of people you have invited. I only had a small group, so I had 4 investigate cards, 2 blackmail, 2 alliance,  and one of each of the others. I typed out the card description, printed it and glued it to a rectangle of cardstock. Then I hid them in inconspicuous places, for my guests to find.

I also hid various other clues (or red herrings), which included, belongings to the deceased, eviction notice, ticket to an event, last will and testament ect. Depending on your premise, you can include many other things which elude to the murder, but not reveal anything away too early. Photographs, newspaper clippings, birth certificates, diagrams, maps, obituary, police reports, coded messages, ect, are all good examples of things you can hide, which beef up your story a bit. Remember, not everything has to lead directly to solving.

I also, prepared 3 envelopes, which I called “gameplay” envelopes. These contained information which progressed the arc of the story. These included the toxicology report (overdose via syringe to the neck); a witness statement (Masked man seen fleeing the building at 6:15); and a note from the murderer, arranging a meeting (the note had terrible hand writing…almost as if a doctor had wrote it). These are key pieces of information, and should be left for the last quarter of the game. You don’t want to reveal too much, too soon.

I did not give my guests advanced notice of which characters they’d be playing. Instead I put the character descriptions on individual pieces of cardstock, and put them in plastic dollar store Halloween bags. I also put pieces of costumes in the bags. For example, I had a homemade nun’s habit (out of black material glued to white Bristol board) in one bag, a cowboy hat in another, a doctor’s stethoscope in another, etc. So everyone received a simple costume, depending on which bag they chose. It was luck of the draw who they got.

Also in the bag was small notepads and a pencil, for taking notes, and sharing information with each other without having a neighbour over hear.

Once the guests arrived, they each chose a bag, read their descriptions to themselves, dressed up in the provided attire, and the game began. They were encouraged to talk amongst themselves, in character. The hidden game pieces helped facilitate spreading the clues slowly amongst the group.

As the host (I dressed as Skipper Seamus Bayman, the Chase the Ace winner), I read out the following, to give the guests an overview of what the mystery is:

Theodore Bawdy, Local business man: Deceased

Police received an anonymous tip at 6:42pm, yesterday evening. Upon arrival to a residence in the city, they discovered the dead body of Mr. Ted Bawdy.

Successful real-estate agent and owner of several rental properties across the city, Mr. Bawdy had a direct impact on the community. As organizer of the most successful Chase the Ace in town, he gained notoriety. However, there have been rumours that everything wasn’t on the up and up, and there are theories that there may be criminal ties to Mr. Bawdy’s demise.

Last seen at the local church, where he apparently had a heated argument with Sister Mary Swindle around 5:30 pm. He stormed out of the church hall in a huff, only to be approached by Skipper Seamus Bayman looking for his ACE winnings, of last week. According to eye witnesses, Mr. Bawdy strong-armed him to the ground, as he stormed towards his car, and sped off. No word on if Mr. Bayman intended to press assault charges.

Cause of death is still undetermined. We are still waiting to hear back from the autopsy results. Foul play is suspected and it is rumoured there was a witness to the event. Police are advising the public to remain vigilant.

The character descriptions each guest received individually are as follows:

• Billy Skeetwilliger:

Mr. Bawdy was your landlord, but also your business partner. You’ve been cooking some sick meth next door, and Mr. Bawdy took care of the business side of things. But he was starting to cramp your style. You know you can make it on your own. After all, it was your idea to use the Chase the Ace as a way to launder the money earned from your little side business. It was genius. You had a few of your buddies regularly buy large quantities of tickets. You paid off a guy at Staples, who was doing the ticket printing, to fudge up the ticket numbers and rig it so, only the ticket belonging to your crew would be drawn. It was wicked, especially since Mr. Bawdy was in with that savage nun, wha? She’s something else, she is. But either way, at least she was willing to turn a blind eye, so long as the church received a “donation” for their troubles, and you got the other cut back as clean untraceable money. It was fool proof, until Mr. Bawdy got involved. He wanted to make it bigger. He started to advertise, so he could not only launder your drug money, but also turn a profit. He got greedy! It got too big. People started to notice the phony ticket numbers and demanded they change printers. Mr. Bawdy kept saying it didn’t matter. Enough of the tickets were in your friend’s possession that the odds were still in your favour even without the phony ticket number. But you knows what happened! Some feller from around da bay won it! Horseshoe up is arse I spose. You coulda killed him! How are you going to get your money now?

You owed a few unsavoury people some money. You were really relying on that Ace cash. Now that that’s gone, desperate times called for desperate measures. That Marie’s Mini Mart only had the one attendant on that night. You figured it would have been an easy target. Too bad the cops were in the area. You ended up spending the whole weekend in lockup. I bet it was that ol’ bat across the road. She probably called the cops on you. It wouldn’t have been the first time. She’s always going on about noise complaints. She usually complains about your dog making too much noise. But you know Killer only barks at one person: Mr. Bawdy’s son, Teddy. I guess Killer knows a twat when he sees one. 

• Ivy Levenkats:

You keep to yourself. Miss puss is better company than any person you’ve met. And you certainly wouldn’t associate with any of those neighbours of yours. You’re certain they’re all drug dealers and that your landlord, Mr. Bawdy, is in on it. If only you could get some proof. That would have put him in his place, for trying to evict you. He said his reasoning was because you didn’t pay your rent for 3 months, but it’s not your fault. He raised the rent so high you couldn’t possibly afford it on your fixed income. You’re certain he only did that to get rid of you. He knew, you knew too much.

It wasn’t even just about his nasty business dealings. You knew about the mistress too. He’d bring her back to the rental across the street for a romp in the sack, then send her on her way. Hardly true love. She was half his age anyway. Clearly she’s only with him for his money. But then again, you’re sure Bawdy’s wife would have a thing or two to say about that. She’s one feisty bitch. You know she’s not letting go of her fortune without a fight.

 As much as an inconvenience getting evicted is, you’re not sad to leave the cul-de-sac. The kid Bawdy is always hanging around, is hardly a good neighbour. He’s always having parties, and making a ruckus.  And that dog! He can’t control it. Once it starts barking they’ve got a job to shut it up. You called the police on them the last time the dog started up. How can miss puss get any peace with that dreadful beast across the road barking like mad? Come to think of it, that was the same night they found Bawdy’s body. It was around 6:20 or so. You must have called in a noise complaint about the dog just before the killer attacked Bawdy. Terrifying to think you were just meters away from where it all happened. Yes, much better to get out of this horrid neighbourhood.

• Teddy Bawdy Jr.:

Well things are not going according to plan for you. You were up-along making that Alberta money, when one of your buddies tells you they heard your father was making a fortune running a drug ring back home. You had no choice but to go home, back on the rock. You and your father haven’t exactly been on good terms lately and you knew for a fact that your father has been messing around with some young missus. She’s clearly making a play for his money, and if your father is making as much as your buddy says he is, then you want to make sure you get a piece of that pie! You were determined to go home and interject yourself into your father’s business…whether he likes it or not. If he refuses…well you can use his girlfriend as blackmail. Your mom will kill him if she finds out he’s been stepping out on her.

You went to the church, the evening in question, to volunteer to help with the fall fair. (It was your mudder who made you go) The only reason you agreed to it was because you found out Pete Reedish was going to be there. You’re favourite pastime is giving him a hard time. He’s got no sense of humour, b’y. He deserves it really, because he takes himself too seriously. It would be hilarious if you’d got a chance to stick his head in the urinal at the church hall. Little piss head! You didn’t get a chance to have your fun though. While the other volunteers were working to set up the booths, you were in the corner texting. Suddenly a paper airplane flew into your lap. On it, it read, “Meet me at 100 Main St at 6:00pm. I have information about your father’s business and how you can get your hands on his money. Cameron Mann”. You couldn’t believe your luck. That’s the reporter from the News. If anyone had dirt on your father, it’d be him. The more info you had, the more you could blackmail the old man for. You snuck out of the church, and to the house. When you got out of your car, the neighbor’s stupid dog started barking, again! It does that every time you come around. You decided to teach it a lesson and went over there to give it a few kicks. You got so distracted, you lost track of time. It wasn’t until you saw your father’s mistress run out of the house that you realized the time…6:20. You figured if she’s here, so is your father. You didn’t want to get caught digging up dirt on him, so you just went home.

  

• Penny Rich-Bawdy:

You are the wife of the decease. But you’re not exactly the grieving widow. In fact you’re happy he’s gone. And after collecting the insurance money, you’re richer than ever too. That bimbo he’s been messing around with never managed to get a dime. Ted thought you didn’t know about her, but you have your own friends. You’ve been sleeping with someone; a man named Blake Sheap, and he told you he saw them together. Well now you’re free to continue your relationship with Blake, out in the open.

Although lately, Blake has been more distant and hardly ever around. It was a little worrisome when he didn’t show up to the church, to volunteer for the Fall Fair. If your husband wouldn’t come with you, you were determined to bring a “friend” to make him jealous. But instead Blake had made you look like a fool, by standing you up. You had to drag that oaf of a son of yours with you instead. Even he disappeared on you before the night was over. How dare they embarrass you in front of all the members of the Ladies Auxiliary? How undignified must you have looked when you had to call for a cab at 8:00pm to get home, by yourself. You could have killed all three of them.

  

• Sister Mary Swindle:

Oh My! You wish you had never heard the name Ted Bawdy. Ever since he started coming around there’s been nothing but trouble. You had good intentions, but things got way out of hand.

He first came around with the idea of doing a Chase the Ace. You knew he had a criminal past but turn the other cheek and all that. Why not trust him? Chase the Ace has worked so well for fundraising for other churches in the past. Why not yours too? But you slowly started to notice that some things weren’t as they should be. There was that mess with the duplicate ticket numbers, and not to mention the hard looking people who’ve been stopping by. But who are you to judge? People in glass houses ought not to throw stones. As long as the church was getting their cut of the winnings, you found it easy to turn a blind eye to the underhandedness. After all, you can’t very well turn down a donation for the church, even if it comes from a drug dealer. Think of all the good you can do with that money.

Now that the game is over, you could move on with the regular church activities. You tried to rope Mr. Bawdy in to volunteer to set up for the Fall Fair, but he wriggled out of it, and volunteered his wife instead. In total, aside from the regulars on the Ladies Auxiliary, you expected 4 volunteers. Some man named Blake Sheap, who never showed up first or last; Mr. Bawdy’s son, who spent a half hour on their phone and then disappeared; Mrs. Bawdy, who wouldn’t know a hard day’s work if it bit her on the bum; and Dr. Pete Reedish. It’s too bad the doctor got called away with an emergency to attend to. We could have really used his help.  

  

• Helen Earth:

You are an emotional wreck. You haven’t slept a wink since your Ted was attacked. Sure he was a little grody, but he paid for everything and gave you presents, so you’re like really going to miss him! And to think you had almost convinced him to take his son out of his will and to divorce his wife. You were so close to getting everything you’ve ever wanted. Oh why did he have to die so soon?

And now you’re so worried that someone might come after you. That night was like sooooo scary!

You had met up with Ted at the usual spot, to let him rub up against you for a bit. (These nights were never pleasant, but if you just count the ceiling tiles or something, it’ll be over before you know it. And you might get a new pair of earrings out of it.) When you arrived, the first thing you noticed was the neighbour’s dog was going nuts. It struck you strange because he was always pretty quiet any other time you visited the property. You both hurried in, and as you were walking through the door, a masked figure, wearing a black cloak jumped out of the shadows and attacked Ted! Now Ted’s Dead! Luckily the figure didn’t try to hurt you. You must have been too pretty to want to hurt. He or she just ran past you and out the door. You were left just staring at Bawdy’s body. Gross!! Once you got a hold of yourself you ran out the door and to your car as fast as you could. When you got back home you called the police and left an anonymous tip. You didn’t want to leave your name, because a) there’s a killer on the loose, who knows there was a witness and b) Ted’s wife doesn’t know about you. All you told the police was that you had seen a cloaked figure in a mask, with a weapon, fleeing the building around 6:15, and hoped they’d go investigate.

• Cameron Mann:

You are a reporter for local news, but you are currently going undercover to try and get an exposé on the dirty dealings of Mr. Ted Bawdy. You are going by the alias Blake Sheap

You know that Bawdy was conducting a major drug operation and you suspected the Chase the Ace was a cover for something. But what? You’re sure that shady nun has something to do with it too.

While disguised, you managed to make friends with Bawdy. Unfortunately, you made one missed step. You started sleeping with his wife behind his back. Somehow Bawdy found out and confronted you. He threatened violence, and told you to sleep with one eye open. Rather than sit around waiting for Bawdy to get you, you decided to take the offensive. You took martial arts classes and are ready for a fight. When the time is right you were going to attack Bawdy, before he gets a chance to attack you. At least then you’d have the element of surprise in your favour. But now it looks like someone has beaten you to the punch (literally).

You heard the news while you were on set for the news. Your bosses asked you to present a special news bulletin and there it was. Ted Bawdy, dead.  Well this story has taken a turn. But you’re not giving up. You’ll find the truth or your name isn’t Blake Sheap…errrr…Cameron Mann!

  

• Dr. Pete Reedish

Keep this secret: YOU ARE THE KILLER!!!

Alibi: You were signed up to volunteer at the church, but called in and said you had an “emergency”. As a doctor no one would question it. Feel free to elaborate or lie when asked to reveal clues about yourself.

You had a hard time growing up. You were a bit of a nerd and kids at school used to pick on you. Worst of all was Teddy Bawdy Jr. He made your life a living Hell! It got a little easier after graduation when he moved up to the mainland. You got your degree and opened your own health clinic. You were finally starting to feel good about yourself, when low and behold who should show up, back in town, but your childhood tormentor. And he picked up, right where he left off. It was embarrassing to be a grown man and yet feel powerless against his belittlement. The final straw was when he gave you a swirly whirly in the Sobeys bathroom after a cooking class a couple evening’s ago. You decided the world would be better off without that scumbag.

You sent him a note, telling him to meet at one of his dad’s apartments. You implied you had some information regarding his father’s activities and how he can get his hands on his fortune. You knew that would be enough to peak his interest. All he cares about is money. You signed it from Cameron Mann, the reporter from the local news. Everyone knew he’d been snooping around Bawdy Sr.’s business.

You set the trap and then waited in the dark with a syringe full of barbiturates. It will look like an overdose. There is just one snag. You didn’t realise that this was also where Bawdy Sr. and Helen Earth met to hook up. When the door open you sprang forward and jabbed the needle into a neck, and ran! You realized too late that it wasn’t Bawdy Jr you attacked. It was his father Bawdy Sr! And even worst, Ms. Earth saw the whole thing! There goes your plan to make it look like an overdose. Now you’re going to have to shut her up before she talks to anyone.  

Your challenge: Sometime through the course of the evening you need to dispose of the witness. When the opportunity is right, give Helen Earth the victim card. But be careful no one sees you. You don’t need any more witnesses!

VICTIM (You are now dead! Sorry ‘bout it!)

 

And that is the gist of the game. The best part of creating your own, is you can make it personal, and you can add as many players as you need, for the number of guest you have. This format worked really well for my friends and I, and I hope it has inspired you to create your own murder mystery.

Tips when writing your story:

•  Come up with a premise first. To make it more personal, try using current events, inside jokes, or topics you know your guests will be interested in.
•   Give every suspect a motive. Everyone gets a motive; some people had the means to do it; but only one had the opportunity.
• Put in lots of Red Herrings to distract from the truth. Muddy the waters at the beginning to create intrigue.
• Create at least 2-3 sub-plots. Breaking the suspects into different storylines that involve the deceased, will give your characters links to each other, and assist conversation.
•  Be Theatrical. The more over-the-top, the more fun you’ll have.
• Include a smoking gun (the clue that points to the guilty party). For me, it was the note, arranging a meeting. Do not reveal your key piece of evidence until at least 75% of the way through the party.
•  Give every suspect a whimsical name; age; relationships amongst each other; contact with the victim; motive; etc
• Make sure that no one suspect can have enough info to solve. The story needs to be like a pie. Each player gets one piece of the pie. To solve the mystery, the players must extract knowledge from each other.
• Keep in mind your timeline – When was the body found? Time of death? Who was where, when?

Good luck, and Happy Sleuthing!