Murder Mystery Night WORLD BOOK NIGHT PARTY PACK

Looking for something different for World Book Night? Look no further. A murder mystery event has everything you need: intrigue, drama, guts, gore and unlimited opportunities for themed refreshments!

Planning a murder mystery is not for the faint-hearted. It will take a whole team of young people and quite a bit of careful preparation to get the event just right. But with the right kind of planning, it's bound to go off with a bang (or a clonk to the head with piece of lead piping.)

For your World Book Night murder mystery you’ll need some or all of the following: A team of actors who are dressed up to attend the event in character. A script to set the scene for the murder. Some kind of clues scattered around the library for people to find. The chance for guests to interrogate the actors. Some kind of prize. Themed refreshments. Other activities to keep people entertained if the murder is solved quickly. A bit of money to spend on all of the above!

So, how do you do it?

First you need to create the drama.

STAGE 1 Come up with a theme for a mini-drama which will include a murder. To give it a World Book Night twist, why not have a bookish theme. Who killed Hermione Granger? Or Acid Attack at The Hungry Games.

STAGE 2 Decide who is to be killed and who the murderer is. You also need to think up motives and opportunities for the other characters so that everyone is a suspect.

STAGE 3 Write a script. (NB: This is the tricky part.) You need to make sure that your drama introduces the characters, sets the scene for the mystery and includes the death.

HANDY HINT: It’s not going to work if we see Ron come up behind Hermione with a Philosopher’s Stone and thwack her over the head. Subtlety is key. More effective perhaps if she’s killed by an invisible force while several actors are on stage. Even more effective if you can find a way to give the characters motives that are revealed in the drama.

STAGE 4 Source some costumes and props appropriate to your theme and story. (And have fun messing around with them.)

STAGE 5 Rehearse your script so that you can put together a convincing drama which reveals enough, but not too much. Hammy acting is, of course, acceptable.

STAGE 6 Design some clues that can be left around the library for your guests to find. Things like: A red wig in the area where Hermione’s body was found. Is someone trying to set Ron up? A letter from Professor Snape to Malfoy, saying “I know what you’re planning?” A love spell on a scrap of paper. Was someone trying to enchant Hermione when something went horribly wrong?

You get the picture.

PLANNING THE EVENT The event will be more than just your show. You’ve got to keep people’s attention for at least an hour or two so think about how the evening will pan out. Make a plan with timings, like this:

OUR MURDER MYSTERY PARTY 7.00pm – Refreshments 7.10pm – Welcome speech 7.15pm – New Moon Murder at Twilight (drama) 7.30pm – Clue search 7.40pm – Interrogation of characters 7.50pm – Murderer revealed and prize given out 8.00pm – Games and refreshments 8.30pm – Disco 9.00pm - Home

Some more activities with a murder theme

Have fun decorating and decapitating gingerbread men. Splatter them with red food colouring, chop off their heads or strangle them with red shoe laces. The choice is yours.

Set up a Cluedo board and invite people to have a Cluedo tournament.

Make your own poisoned punch. (But don’t use real poison, please. That could get messy.)

Have a themed disco: Murder on the dance floor I shot the sheriff Video killed the radio star Psycho Killer

NOW FOR THE BOOKS Why not make a display of detective and murder mystery novels in the library? Or set up an area where people can make recommendations?

For a more interactive reading experience, have a quiz master read out extracts from famous murder mysteries while the rest of the group try to guess the title of the books. Or the name of the murderer.

If you’re into writing, read out the blurb from the back of a murder mystery novel and have everyone in the group write an opening line to the book. Collect them in and read them out, alongside the real opening, and let everyone guess which is the genuine article. Score points for correct guesses and score points for fooling other people with your writing.

GO DIGITAL To add a digital element to your World Book Night celebrations: Create a Facebook event Invite Facebook friends and spread the word on Twitter Blog about the preparations Tweet clues in the run up to the event Tweet clues during the event

And that’s how to run a Murder Mystery Event in the library. Whodunit? You did!