My name is Chloe and my partner Dave and I create original murder mystery parties.

We have always looked for excuses to throw a party! In fact, our relationship is founded upon this; we created our drinking board game Booze-a-palooza © one night whilst still at university. We graduated onto murder mystery parties during covid when all other routes of revelry were locked down. We had such a fabulous time collaborating and creating the game and the party was such a success, that we decided to create more murder mystery parties. Our families enjoyed our New Year’s murder mystery so much because it transported us back in time and provided the escapism and glamour we all needed in that period. We decided we wanted to bring that escapism to others!

Since then, we have created two more murder mystery party games from scratch; ‘Fright at the Museum’ and 'Murder in Monte Carlo'. We dreamed up the characters, invented their secrets and relationships and devised the mystery. We realised that what excited us was the idea of transporting players to another world. So, we took it one step further, illustrating the characters, creating varied clues and designing the character sheets, all to create an immersive experience – this is what we strive for.

I have always been a hopeless addict of murder mystery novels and I am most drawn to the stories where you can empathise with the murderer to a degree. I have also been writing stories for as long as I can remember. This is why I take so much pleasure in writing a rich story. I want to create interesting characters with a full backstory so that the motive is believable and draws upon psychology. Dave has a passion for puzzles and games, and so decided he wanted the game to have a logical puzzle at its heart; the murderer is the only character who has the motive, means and opportunity to kill. So whilst there are red herrings and distractions, you can be sure that you will have all the tools to deduce who the murderer is! Dave is responsible for any hidden puzzles you may find in our games…

We’ve played a few murder mysteries before and found they vary quite a lot in terms of structure, complexity and richness of the story. For our first game, Fright at the Museum, we distilled all the aspects we liked from other murder mystery parties and added our own unique twists. From this we came up with our own formula.

Partially scripted – There are a few scripted speeches which we find increases the atmosphere and makes the story more theatrical.

Structured in three acts – Many people have never played a murder mystery game and are not quite sure what to expect when they arrive. A structured party gives guests a level of comfort and provides a foundation from which they can then improvise and go wild! It also allows for a richer story but still leaves plenty of space for mingling, improvisation and of course… partying! Finally, it means the host can structure it around a dinner if they wish.

Bullet-proof instructions booklet (😉) – We have found that the host is sometimes left with a lot to work out for themselves, so our instructions booklet includes everything you need to plan and host the perfect murder mystery party. This includes a simple 4-step planning roadmap and a party pull-out booklet (a timeline you can refer to during the party). It also includes all the tips and tricks we have gathered through our own parties, if you want to go the extra mile.

Please do get in touch if you have any questions, suggestions, or ideas for a murder mystery theme you would like to see next! We’d genuinely love to hear from you and help you to host the perfect murder mystery party.

Chloe and Dave