For Rudy’s 79th birthday, we hosted a Murder Mystery Luau.  It was my first experience with a murder mystery dinner party.   It required plenty of preparation time but I started planning MONTHS before. 

I looked at many of the murder mysteries and finally decided on one that I could download from the internet.  It was a very comprehensive package with everything I needed including details for the characters, host directions, costume and menu ideas, party tips, and all kinds of graphics to print out.

At a murder mystery dinner party, the guests are each assigned a character.  They are encouraged to dress the part and assume the character at the party.  There are two sets of objectives for each guest.  They mostly involve interactions with other guests to demonstrate the conflicts and distrust among the guests.  Bribery, extortion, and blackmail are encouraged.  Before the night is through, each guest will have discovered they have a motive for killing the victim and be inclined to protect their innocence as well as seek out the murderer.

When everyone has completed their part A objectives, someone DIES!  It is only this person who knows he will die as it is part of his objectives and he is to conceal this from everyone else until he dies.  Part B objectives are then handed out and one guest learns that he is the killer.  This is concealed from the other guests until the investigator presents the evidence, everyone votes, and the investigator reads the solution. The solution reviews all the evidence and concludes with the identity of the killer.

THIS IS WHERE I REALLY SCREWED UP!  I had the solution printed out for the investigator to read and I set it aside in another room.   I FORGOT ABOUT THIS ENVELOPE and after everyone voted, I blurted out the killer’s name!  No one guessed the killer’s identity and we were all left wondering why this person could be the killer.  What a downer but it makes for an interesting story to tell. 🤦‍♀️

Back to the Prep

Then I decided on the props.  Pauline Fry and Noland Navarro (from bowling) helped design and paint the surfboards.  

Somehow that led to some happy dancing.

Then there were the outside decorations to make and, of course, we needed some palm trees.

It wouldn’t be a luau without a Tiki bar so Rudy and our neighbor got to work building one.  Barry Fry, Tom Hemmingsen, and Noland Navarro put the finishing touches on it so I could add the drinkware, etc.

 

Party Day

Finally it was party day!  I asked Jack Daniels, the bartender, and Kylie Cocktail, the cocktail waitress, to come at 1:00 p.m. and the rest of the guests to come at 1:17 p.m.   There was a lot of speculation about the 1:17 time and we had a lot of fun with it.  Some guests were quite early and parked a block away until it was time to arrive.  Some just sat in their car for a few minutes.  Actually, the reason I specified such a goofy time was to prevent people asking again what time for the party.  Everyone remembered 1:17 and some even thought it might provide a clue to the murder.

Coconut Joe and Coconut Jane

Coconut Joe and Coconut Jane, the proud owners of the Margaritaland Resort, like to dress in their native dress.  Jane is in charge of guest relations and Joe is the person to talk to when anything goes wrong.

Jack Daniels and Kylie Cocktail, AKA Glenn and Debbie Killens

Sandy Beachbum and Bindy Barkeep, AKA Tom Hemmingsen and Maggie

Lifesavin’ Sam and Candy Cotton, AKA  Herm Kaserman and Dianne Gerstel

Haha, Glenn 🤪

Cabana Bob and Starr Bright, AKA Bob and Judy Sirois

Sgt. Lord and Izzie Islander, AKA Barry and Pauline Fry

The Murder (Well done, Glenn and Barry, well done!)

And the Killer Is..

The accident report for the near drowning of Starr Bright shows that Starr was inebriated at the time of the accident—a condition that a recovering alcoholic should NOT be in, especially if it could jeopardize her career.

Upon examining the bar receipts from the prior day, and matching the receipts to the timing on the accident report, we see that Sam had just closed out a hefty bar tab minutes before the accident, which leads us to conclude that Sam must have been inebriated as well at the time of the near drowning.  As the bartender on duty, Jack would have been privy to this knowledge,

While Starr’s indiscretion with alcohol almost cost her own life, Sam’s use of the alcohol while on duty could continue to cost the lives of others, and apparently Jack felt it needed to be stopped.

Lifesavin’ Sam felt threatened by Jack and chose to eliminate Jack in order to keep his secret from coming out and losing his job and lifeguard license.

Time to Eat

Everyone brought something and now I have several new recipes in my burgeoning collection.

Let There Be Cake (or Coconut Cream Pie Bars) and a Round of Happy Birthday

Oh!  What a Night!

It took two photos but we finally got everyone looking at the camera.🤪😍

The host documentation for this mystery stated that it would be up to the guests to make the most of it and I would be surprised at how well they do.

They did and I was!  

I’m already planning for next year’s mystery dinner party!😉