Frequently Asked Questions

MurderMysteryEvents.com are a unique way of getting people to interact in a relaxing friendly atmosphere. These murder mystery themed events are an ideal ice breaker for a corporate meeting or convention, awards dinner, conference, staff incentive event or fundraisers.

Great for teambuilding and allowing people to get to know each other in a relaxed and fun atmosphere our murder mysteries appeal to all ages. They are great fun for introverts and extroverts alike.

Murder mystery events are a great way to celebrate a hen night or stag night, a special birthday or anniversary or have a great Christmas party as they are unique and provide special memories which make our events unforgettable.

The Murder Mystery Dinner Party begins early evening with a drinks reception where you will meet the characters and receive your clue-packs – keep your wits about you so you don’t miss any vital evidence. Next it’s through to a three course silver service dinner as the plot unfolds. The actors perform comedic and clue packed scenes in between courses and table-hop whilst dropping clues, giving you the chance to play detective and question them. Word-games and quizzes are introduced, which may help you to reveal clues about the culprit. At dessert time it’s your chance to figure out who did the deed. Then you hand in your solution sheets, after which the dramatic denouement uncovers the dastardly villain whodunit. They may even come to a sticky end themselves…

Our combination of interactive improvisation and scripted scenes means that your guests can get involved in the action as little or as much as they like, creating the perfect blend of fun, comedy and theatre. In short, we create entertainment to die for. Our events appeal to introverts (who enjoy working out the clues) and extroverts (who enjoy interacting with the actors) and because everybody loves a mystery, we have a broad appeal to both the young and old. Our actors remain in character throughout the entire evening. In terms of style – imagine somewhere between a Carry On Film and Agatha Christie.

Expect the unexpected! Actually the main thing to expect from any of our Murder Mystery Events (whether that is at a theatre presentation or a role play night) is laughter. Enter the room with an open mind and a willingness to suspend your disbelief. You are entering a world that will be filled with fun, silliness and lots of laughs. All the plots are based on humorous takes on classic films, books or stage plays. The humour is never cruel, but always warm, funny and engaging. By the end of the evening, you may find yourself completely engrossed in the events of the night.

The feedback that we have received time and time again tells us that people love the silly world that we create for the night, and the high numbers of rebookings that we receive confirm this.

Before the evening starts, we work with you to help you ensure that you have all the elements that you need for the perfect deadly evening.

Murder Mystery Events offer:

Free venue finding service, or we come to your venue / office / stately home

The choice from a selection of original and witty plots created by our expert team of writers

Full event management

Private room hire

Murder mystery dinner theatre performance

3 (Gold) or 4+ (Platinum) professional actors

Clue packs

Great prizes of 2 bottles of bubbly for the table that correctly identifies the murderer and a bottle of red (Ribena that is!) for the losers.

A free prize draw

Limerick competition

Fancy dress encouraged with prize for “Best Dressed”

Typical running order

For private murder mystery events you may choose the start time, but we recommend a drinks reception for either 7pm or 7:30pm. Advise all guests to arrive on time as we cannot start without all the suspects there!

Role-play murder mystery event and dinner theatre events tend to run for about 3 hours, so with a 7pm start the event would finish at approximately 10pm.

7:00pm Drinks reception. Meet at reception for pre-dinner drinks, where clue-packs and your character breakdowns are distributed. You will get to know who’s who so keep your wits about you so you don’t miss a clue.

7:30pm Sit down for dinner. Dinner is announced the guests take their seats; the two professional actors play out a dramatic scene, ending in who knows what? Bloodshed?

7:45pm Dinner is served. Each course is served and the comic plot unfolds. The actors guide you through, unveiling the story and its twists and turns. You might be questioned by the detective or reveal an important clue when questioned by a fellow guest during the main course. Word-games and quizzes are introduced during the evening, which may reveal clues to who the murderer is.

9:15pm You solve the crime. Just before the dessert it’s your chance to be a super sleuth and figure out who did the deed! Then hand in your solution sheet in for judging, after which the dramatic denouement uncovers the dastardly villain whodunit. They may come to a sticky end…

9:45pm Prizes awarded. The star prize of one bottle of bubbly is awarded to the winning person and a booby prize to the most absurd solution. But there’s still a chance to win with our limerick competition, free prize draw and best fancy dress!

10pm End of murder mystery event.

Whilst there are other companies offering murder mystery nights out, we believe that MurderMysteryEvents.com the best track record of reliability, professionalism and excellent quality entertainment, testimonials are available from our past clients and venues to prove our excellence.

The company director Mark Hayden worked in interactive murder mystery events since the year 2000. He remains a working professional actor with appearances in TV, Film and Theatre including Agatha Christie’s record-breaking West End production of “The Mousetrap”. Mark also has an extensive background in event management, theatre production and interactive entertainment, he also writes and directs. Over the years the business has grown Murder Mystery Events to become a market leader in providing interactive comedy murder mysteries with the emphasis on entertaining the audience whilst they play detective, working in teams and interacting with the actors to work out whodunit.

All Murder Mystery Events performers are professional working actors, many of whom have appeared in TV, Film and Theatre in London’s West End. Not only are they highly skilled in scripted performance but also experts at improvisational comedy to provide off the cuff interaction, which adds magic to an event.

Our events offer the perfect blend of a real mystery to solve which will engage your grey cells along with funny interactive dinner theatre. Think of it as “Carry on Agatha Christie”.

So if you’re looking for:

Reliability
Professionalism
Personal Service
Entertainment
A mystery to solve
Comic fun
Don’t risk a sub-standard evening; choose Murder Mystery Events for your next night out.

At our GOLD interactive murder mysteries you meet larger than life comedy characters who are either suspects or victims in the murder mystery. All these characters are played by professional actors. You employ your detective skills to work out who committed the crime! Most events work over a drinks reception and three course meal with coffee. You are free to question the characters at any time. The characters play out various scenes between courses and when it comes to dessert time it’s up to you to put together the clues and figure out whodunit. For more detail on how an event works click here to see “how it works?”

At our SILVER and BRONZE Role-play events you and your guests play the suspects in the murder mystery, the event runs in a similar way to a GOLD event but relies more heavily on written evidence and guests acting abilities. At a BRONZE event the murder mystery is facilitated by a professional actor who also plays a role and on a SILVER event an extra actor is added to make the event more interactive.

All shared parties are GOLD interactive murder mysteries. Our SILVER and BRONZE packages are only available to private celebration groups.

A shared party is an event open for public bookings, so you will be joining other groups celebrating their special occasions; these events provide great atmosphere and value for money. If you prefer something a bit more exclusive a private event may be arranged, for more information on private events completes an enquiry form.

We encourage fancy dress at all of our shared party & private events, dress in the theme of the event- flapper style, mobster or Moulin Rouge the best costume wins a prize. At a shared event if you prefer not to dress up the dress code is smart casual. For a private event please check with your organiser.

Dinner theatre murder mystery takes place over a drinks reception and 3 course dinner and a murder mystery weekend starts on a Friday night and runs to Sunday morning, see “how it works?” for more detail We do not run full murder mystery weekends- we find a murder mystery dinner and weekend break ticks all the boxes in providing value for money and time to visit the location you’re staying at- rather than being cooped up in a hotel for the weekend!

Corporate Groups

For team building, corporate entertainment, staff incentives & product launches we recommend arranging a private GOLD interactive murder mystery dinner. You may hire us on a performance only fee, we also offer a free venue finding service; where we can find the right location and accommodation through our recommended venues and remove that hassle for you. In London we run private packages on a per person price inclusive of venue hire, welcome drink, 3 course meal and murder mystery. For smaller groups on a budget we recommend our shared parties see murdermysteryshop/upcoming_murders.

Celebration Groups
We provide several different options, for small groups celebrating a special event such as a hen night, birthday party or wedding anniversary. We recommend one of our shared parties see murdermysteryshop/upcoming_murders as these provide great entertainment and value for money. Larger celebration groups of 15+ may consider arranging a private event where we will find you a venue and accommodation as required. You have a choice of BRONZE, SILVER and GOLD murder mystery packages.

Christmas Office Parties
The best value solution would be to attend one of our shared Christmas parties. See murdermysteryshop/upcoming_murders. For larger groups of 15+ it is worth considering a private murder mystery dinner. You may hire us on a performance only fee. We also offer a free venue finding service, where we can find the right location and accommodation through our recommended venues and remove that hassle for you. In London we run private packages on a per person price inclusive of venue hire, welcome drink, 3 course meal and murder mystery. For smaller groups on a budget we recommend our shared parties.

Couples
We recommend a joining a shared party, either a murder mystery weekend break or join one of our murder mystery dinner parties.

All shared parties include:

One of our original Murder Mystery stories
Clue Packs for each guest
3+ Professional Actors
Winning prize of 2 bottles of bubbly and a booby prize
Prize draw
Fancy Dress Competition
3 course dinner with coffee
Cash bar until late
Some also include a welcome drink, 1/2 bottle of wine with dinner and a disco after the mystery. All further drinks are purchased through a cash bar. You can search by date and location on www.murdermysteryshop.com for an event and full details of what’s included are detailed under each event.

Of course you can. We provide private parties across the UK, Europe, and the USA. You name the place and we’ll perform! You can find the venue and we’ll supply the murder! Alternatively we can find the venue for you from our extensive list of venues. If you’d like us to venue find complete an enquiry form stating likely dates and a budget to work to.

A dinner theatre event usually starts at 7:30pm and finishes around 10:30pm see “How it works?” for more details. For shared parties we ask all guests to arrive promptly so they don’t miss any clues!

Our shared dinner theatre events range from £39.95 to £80, we offer generous discounts for group bookings and there is also an Early Bird booking discount on some events by booking early online by credit card see www.murdermysteryshop.com for more details.

Our private events have a minimum charge but usually work out to less £20 per person including vat for the murder mystery entertainment. We have special packages including the welcome drink; room hire and 3 course meal, for more information on private events complete an enquiry form.

You and your guests must play detective to solve the crime. You are encouraged to work as a team, with fellow guests. The key things to do are:

Come in fancy dress
Be observant
Ask questions
Work as a team
Have fun!
With MurderMysteryEvents.com at a GOLD interactive murder mystery you have a full cast of actors playing the key parts, if you wish at a private event your guests may be given small token parts as part of the interaction. Our combination of interactive improvisation and scripted scenes means guests are free to get involved as little or as much as they like, creating the perfect blend of fun, involvement and theatre to provide entertainment to die for!

Our BRONZE & SILVER role-play murder mysteries are facilitated by professional actors and you and your guests play the parts- yes you could be the killer! These events rely on your acting skills and on written clues. They are only available to private celebration groups, they are great fun with interaction between guests making them very involving as you put the clues together to solve the crime.

Interactive murder mystery dinner theatre is an ideal team building tool as guests using their problem solving skills to work as a team to put the clues together to figure out whodunit, with private team building events the process can be further tailored to integrate problem-solving and other communication skills into any event. Previous clients have used our mystery events as ice-breakers, fundraisers, as a break between intense meetings at a conference, or for product launches. Many customers use the murder mystery to celebrate their hen night or stag night, a special birthday or wedding anniversary.

Although some companies will tell you that the number of actors is immaterial, Murder Mystery Events have found from over a decade’s experience the number of actors does matter, as to maintain an interactive murder mystery there has to be a proportional number of actors to the size of the group. We find that 3-7 actors is usually the right number of actors for most groups, although we have run events with up to 13 actors. Each event has an event manager who works with the caterer, the facility, the actors, and you to insure a smooth running and successful event.

We have performed private events to groups as small as 6 and large as 400 – both events worked very well. For an interactive murder mystery we cap the numbers at 130 once a group is larger than this we recommend a theatre style murder mystery, which retains some interaction and is suitable for much larger groups.

We have a range of “off the peg” scripts you may choose from please see “popular plots” these can be personalized with office gossip free of charge or you may choose to have us write a bespoke murder mystery to fit your needs like a glove.

Yes we can! We will have a full consultation with you to discuss your requirements and create an original plot to suit your needs. This service attracts a writer’s fee and is recommended for product launches.

Pretty much anywhere! We have performed in 5 star manor house hotels, castles, corporate hotels, old English pubs, church halls, even at customers’ homes and on board a ship. However, we most often perform our events at 4 star hotels.

We have a selection of recommended venues detailed on our “popular locations pages” for more on these have a browse or find a shared party by visiting www.murdermysteryshop.com

Our dinner theatre events last the length of the drinks reception and 3 course meal with coffee, which is usually 3hrs.

A murder mystery is excellent for team building, it provides a great initial ice-breaker and gets people to work as a team to solve problems and puzzles within the mystery and ultimately whodunit.

The great thing about our GOLD interactive murder mystery format is that it is relaxed; the guests are not under any “pressure to perform” they are able to open up in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. We have performed several events for large companies recently who’s employees are from all over Europe or even the world and have never met face to face. The murder mystery has performed perfectly in its task of breaking the ice and getting people from different cultures, whose first language may not be English, to work closely as a team.

We are able to fully bespeak any private event so that if there are certain areas that need to be worked on these can be incorporated in the murder mystery, for example presentation skills.

Yes we can. We are able to contact our extensive database of venues and arrange anything from a 3 day conference to a private murder mystery dinner. Just complete an enquiry form with all the details including dates and budgets.

Yes we can. Murder Mystery Events have worked arranging events for years across the UK. We are able to contact our extensive database of venues and arrange anything from a 3 day conference to a private murder mystery dinner. Just complete an enquiry form with all the details including dates and budgets.

Once you have returned your booking form a 50% deposit should be returned within 7 days (or with the booking form). Full and final payment due one month prior to the event.

Alternatively book and pay in full for shared parties online for exclusive discounts see www.murdermysteryshop.com

For private events complete an enquiry form or give us a call on 0871 3300 155 and we’ll create a quotation that suits your requirements, when you are ready to confirm complete and return the booking form along with the rest of the paperwork and a deposit. For shared parties you may check availability and book by credit card at our sister site www.murdermysteryshop.com.

You may call us Monday to Friday between 10am and 6pm on 0871 3300155 to discuss your booking or if you have any questions. Outside these hours please leave a message and we’ll be right back to you.

Our games are delivered in downloadable PDF files immediately on purchase. No waiting for the postman.

Just follow the easy instruction guide included in your download. There are several rounds, or scenes of the game which happen between or during courses, culminating in guessing whodunnit and the murderer being revealed!

No you don’t need to, but most people prefer to prepare and this will give players time to get into character and even dress the part for your event.

Not at all, but it’s more fun if you do!

The game download includes everything you need to run your event and we recommend printing and prepping everything ahead of time. Remember to send out invitations early and provide everything your guests will need if you are pre-casting. Then it’s a case of deciding your menu, decorating your venue and choosing a costume!