How To Host A Murder Mystery Dinner Party

Nowadays, going out is getting more and more expensive.  The cost of taxis, drinks, meals, cinema tickets, babysitters and even getting glammed up can make a big dent in your bank balance.  Staying in is becoming a more realistic prospect for those of us who are watching the pennies!  But staying in needn't be dull.  You can have fun at home on a budget.  Ian and I would rather stay in and have a good night in and involve the kids, which means we can relax knowing that they are safe and happy too.

Moneysupermarket challenged me to take part in the Big Night In competition.  With a £50 budget, I had to host a fabulous night of food, drink and entertainment!

So I decided to do something a little bit different to my normal takeaway, wine and DVD night in.  I hosted a Murder Mystery Dinner Party!

Firstly, I picked up a Complete Murder Mystery Night In boxset for £20 from Mad Moose.  This made it really easy to host the event as it contained everything such as the invitations, character cards, a newsreel CD, a host's booklet and name badges.  With ten possible murder scenarios, it can be replayed again at a later date making it a good value investment!

Next I came up with a menu for dinner that my guests would be dying to eat.  They were simple dishes that could be made in advance so I wouldn't be stuck in the kitchen all night.

• Murderous Mushrooms (mushroom pate served with French bread)
• Lethal Lasagne (Quorn lasagne served with vegetables)
• Death by Chocolate (chocolate fudge roulade from our local cake shop Gill's Puddings)

This was served with a fine Chianti -smacks lips in a Hannibal Lector fashion!! OK...maybe not a fine Chianti, but definitely some cheeky botttles of red , some beers and some juice punch for the teenagers.

The invitations gave the guests an overview of their character with ideas for what to wear.  The Murder Mystery we used was based on the murder of an author Barbara Paige-Turner and my guests played her family and acquaintances.  Dressing up helped everyone get into character.  Ian was brilliant, even shaving his goatee beard into a moustache to take on the persona of Barbara's son Clive Montford. A quick visit to the charity shop got us a few bits and bobs to set the scene and cost next to nothing.

We were ready to go!

We enjoyed a nice three course meal served alfresco thanks to the glorious sunshine.  During the meal we got into character and discussed the motives, opportunity and potential alibis of each of the characters. Using our powers of deduction we whittled the suspects down to three possible murderers and one of our party guessed 'whodunnit' correctly.  The murderer turned out to be my daughter Megan aka Jacqueline Montford who run over Barbara fourteen times in her husband's Clive's Roll's Royce!!  It was really good fun and a good excuse to enjoy a dinner party with a twist!  It was a bit like playing a real-life game of Cluedo.  All the clues are there in the character bios, the police report and an audio CD which provides a newsreel highlighting the events surrounding the murder.

I loved how easy the game was to play and I really want to have a go at writing my own murder mystery.

My top tips for hosting a murder mystery dinner party are:

Make a simple menu that can be made in advance.
Check out charity shops for props to help set the scene.
Encourage guests to make an effort with their character as it will make the night much more fun.
Theme your meal to match the theme of the murder mystery.
Choose food that is easy to eat so you can talk during the meal.
Check Ebay for second hand Murder Mystery sets.
Invite a good range of guests which makes it more entertaining for everyone involved.
Enjoy!

West Midlands Safari Park - Our Review

We have only ever visited safari parks in the summer so when we received tickets from MoneySupermarket  to visit West Midlands Safari Park for their Wild Winter Safari we couldn't wait to discover this whole new experience.  So on a beautiful, clear, crisp winter's day, we wrapped up warmly and headed off for our safari adventure.

We were greeted by cheerful characters, Christmas trees and fake snow.  Festive music played keeping everyone in a Christmassy mood.  Santa has his own grotto with a workshop full of toys and helpful elves.  It's magical!  You can meet a cuddly meerkat and ride on Santa's sleigh adding to the magic of the season.

The fun fair is closed for the winter giving the walk-around area a calmer ambience.  There is lots to see on foot.  The African Village has free roaming lemurs, families of meerkat and friendly goats.  We loved the  village's attention to detail.

The lemurs in Lemur Woods were running around,  jumping from the branches of the trees and scurrying along the fences, acting naturally within the freedom of their woodland home.  We enjoyed the antics of the cute, cuddly Madagascan acrobats.

The meerkats live in enclosures with glass sides so you can see them clearly.  They were cuddling together to keep warm which delighted the children!  Everyone watched mesmerized as they stood up and looked around.  Kizzy swears one was dancing to the Christmas music.

The Goat Walk is a lovely hilltop area with free roaming goats who just love being petted.  Ella and Kizzy channeled their inner 'Heidi the Goat Herd' and spent ages stroking, cuddling and talking to the characterful creatures who loved every moment of the attention.

In Hippo Lake the huge beasts were dozing at the water's edge.  Discovery Cove has lots to explore.  The Reptile House gave us the chance to try our best Parcel Tongue to the snakes on display.  Twilight Cave was fabulous.  The bats were very active and we watched as one climbed up a branch using the claws at the tip of its wings like little hands.  Small bats buzzed around our heads illiciting squeals from the kids.  The penguins in Penguin Cove looked chilly huddled up together...but I'm sure the Antarctic is much colder!  There is a Sea Lion Theatre show but unfortunately we missed it.

The Lost City Plaza has a selection of shops and a fast food outlet. We enjoyed mince pies and mulled wine. The souvenir shop is perfect for a spot of shopping.  The huge array of cuddly toys proved very tempting!

We really enjoyed the walk around the exhibits and loved being entertained and educated.  

                                         

We returned to our car for the Wild Winter Safari.  The four mile drive-through  is home to more than 600 animals including the UK's only pride of rare white lions.  There are opportunities to get up close to the free roaming animals on the lookout for someone to feed them!  Animal food costs £3 a box and is well worth buying.  Feeding the deer is a really incredible experience for little ones.  Freddy gave us some safety advice before we set off.

It was quite late in the afternoon when we started our journey so it was very quiet so we went at our own pace stopping to watch the animals and feed the deer at our leisure.

Freddy was a bit worried initially about animals "eating our face" or "getting in our car" but soon got over his concerns and excitedly watched as deer surrounded our car hoping for a little snack.

It was magical for the children to feed them,  laughing as they nibbled the pellets from their hands.  Freddy's technique was to drop the food but he still watched excitedly as the animals gobbled it up.

As well as goats, cattle, deer, camels, llama, emu, zebra, rhino and giraffes, the drive through has sections with big cats and wild dogs behind fences.  You get very close to them from the safety of your car. The pride of white lions were spectacular.  Some were play fighting over a twig, just like playful kitties...only bigger!  The white tigers and cheetahs were prowling the fences.  We got a great view of some beautiful exotic creatures.

As the sun set on a beautiful day, we felt really close to the animals who were watching us as intently as we were watching them.

West Midlands Safari Park really is a perfect day out. The animals were very active and happy to approach the car which is the magic of safari drive-throughs.  The experiences that the children had were wonderful and unforgettable.  So whatever the weather, whether it is a sunny, summer's day or a chilly winter day, West Midlands Safari Park is a great venue for a family day out.

We visited West Midlands Safari Park as part of the Moneysupermarket competition to find Britain's best family days out.  Take a look at their site to find great deals on family days out!