Our First Murder Weekend.

It all started about 20 years ago. I needed a birthday present for my partner Dee. She has always been an Agatha Christie fan always trying to solve the plot before her on screen hero Poirot.

Having searched for an idea for a present I booked a weekend murder break with Joy Swift Murder Weekends and our lives changed forever.  I thought naively that I would keep the event a secret and on her birthday tell her to pack her bags because we were off for the weekend.  However two weeks before the event I received the itinerary for the weekend and I soon discovered keeping it a secret was not going to be practical.

The first night Friday had a colour theme and the second night Saturday was Fancy Dress night. There was no way I could choose what she was going to wear. I had to tell her. To make the plot work we were all supposed to pretend we were all members of the Time club, ex cons that have made it good and gather once a year to try and help others. The colour for the first night was Denim and the theme for the fancy dress was Time. The Hotel I booked was Whatley Hall in Banbury a 17th Century building that made an ideal setting for the murder plot. Arriving at the hotel on the Friday night we were given a pack containing the itinerary  for the weekend some name badges so everyone else knows your name and more importantly let the hotel staff know you are part of the strange events about to happen.  As it was Dee’s birthday I booked a deluxe room with four poster bed. Not that we were about to see much of it.

The evening starts with cocktails. We entered the dining room and were confronted by about 50 people sitting around about 8 tables. We didn’t know it then but each table had one or more actors on it all in appearing as normal guests. We found our table from the setting plan and took our places. Our table contained a mixture of people , a widow from the states, a supermarket manager and mother and daughter on a birthday present were amongst them. Or at least I think they were. It soon become apparent that some people took the plot to heart and they threw themselves right in to it from the start allowing them to reinvent themselves and become who they wanted to be for the weekend.

This was a bit weird, any talk of Murder weekend had been banned and some guests found this quite easy whilst others like us found it very difficult. All our previous discussions about who we were pretending to be went straight out the window when someone asked Dee who she was and what her reason to be here was. She replied “I’m with him he’s just picked me up outside and brought me in for a dirty weekend”.

I’m not going to give the plot away but during the weekend three people were murdered and we were confined to the Hotel while the police investigated. The whole weekend is very competitive with guests investigating the clues trying to solve the murders.
During the day part of the plot involves getting the all the guest together to play strange games giving the actors time to go through pre planned arguments and fights gradually dropping clues and guiding the many sleuths to the multiple plots that seem to be emerging. Although these games are just an excuse to learn more about the characters they become very competitive. I have never seen so many grownups attempting to cheat playing charades and the efforts they all go to just to win a chocolate frog.
The actors play a brilliant part and are amazing the way they stay in character the whole weekend. Even 1 o’clock Saturday morning when the stay hardy guests are still in the bar lounge discussing who’s who and the detailed plot unfolding.
 The poor actors get bombarded by ammeter sleuths asking the most personal of questions that would make anyone blush.

By the time you reach Sunday morning everyone is both hypo and exhausted. conclusion sheets have to be filled in naming the murderer and your reasons why you chose Him, her or them. This is not easy as there is always more than one suspect and each of them have motive and means for killing at least two out of the three victims. Finally all are gathered by the police inspector to unveil the murderer and he gives a breakdown of all the clues and red herrings. After the fiend has been revealed everyone can come clean and say who they really are. This is most enlightening.

When you eventually get home after the eventful weekend don’t expect to get much sleep as the complicated plot is going round and round inside your head. We have now done over ten of Joy Swifts Murder Weekends and have never been disappointed. Each one is unique and had a whole array of interesting events and happenings. On our second weekend there was an interesting team of sleuths that introduced themselves as plumbers however their interrogation techniques and enthusiasm were undying throughout the weekend.

One plumber in particular was up to 3am Sunday morning going through a stack of homemade notes and clue sheets. It turns out they weren’t so much plumbers but police officers on a busman’s holiday and the very enthusiastic one was the police inspector that could not afford to get it wrong. I’m pleased to announce the inspector got it right but the other officers were no better than the rest of us. Many things do go gone wrong on these weekends just to make it more interesting. At one hotel a wedding reception was also being held on the Saturday night and although the wedding party were warned when they booked a murder weekend was also going to be in progress they didn’t tell all their guests. Yes you guessed it one of the wedding quest found the dead body at the foot of the stairs covered in blood and gave an almighty scream resulting in a crowd of ammeter sleuths running to take photos barging their way to the front for the best shot upsetting the wedding guest even more. We have since attended Murder weekends all around the world and in both Florida and Las Vegas we had our names put down as the Murders. I do apologise to the Californian lady in Las Vegas for going down her handbag left on the table I really did think it was a planted clue. Murder on the Orient Express For one of Dee’s special birthdays we did Murder on the Orient Express. This amazing day took place on the Orient express train between Victoria and Brighton. The gleaming carriages of the British Pullman adorned in umber and cream take you on a trip of a lifetime. A team of actors patrolled the train talking to guests and each other laying down the plot whilst you are attended to with 5 star service by the excellent staff in their immaculate uniforms. The splendour of the train , coupled with the slowly revealing plot the eventual murder and the amazing cast make this one of those lifetime experiences you just can’t miss.