Wednesday 10 April 2013

Billy Bonka's Death by Chocolate

One of the other things we did when the whole group was together in Cockermouth was to have a Murder Mystery over dinner on Saturday night.  It was Helen's idea and she planned the whole thing beautifully, even posting invitations to our characters!  I won't say we were exactly typecast, but the people Helen chose to put against the characters was quite amusing.  I think we were all a bit nervous, this being the first murder mystery experience for many of us and I certainly have never done any sort of plays or acting.  In spite of all that, if you've never done this, I'd highly recommend it, but everyone does need to enter into the spirit of the thing for it to work.  It was great fun!  Thanks to Simon and Bill for sharing their photos...



Inspector McClue in Death by Chocolate 

"It's the 15th of April 1900, Easter Sunday. Paris is the centre of world attention as millions of visitors arrive for the opening this weekend of the International Exposition. Amongst them is an elite but diverse group of individuals staying at the Hotel Paradiso. As they gather for dinner, however, the peace of the hotel is rocked by an explosion. Billy Bonka, the foremost chocolate manufacturer in America, is found dead in his room, having apparently been killed by an exploding Easter Egg. Suspicion falls on the people around this table.

One - or more - of you is a murderer. Your task is to discover who that killer is. Fortunately the famous amateur detective Hercule McClue is on hand to assist your investigations."


Guests :


'CHOCOLAT' BERTRAND - The greatest legend of the Belgian chocolate industry, he is known as much for his ruthless business practices as for his suave bonhomie.



MARCHIONESS DUCHAMP - An internationally notorious artist, whose work has scandalised two continents, and whose private life has done much the same.






MARIA VON SCHNAPPS - The young businesswoman who has just taken over as head of a long-established Swiss chocolate firm.




MIKE BISON - The rising star of American boxing. He's in Paris for the Olympic Games, where he's sure he'll win a gold medal.




DAME BARBARA CARTHORSE - The most celebrated beauty in England, as well as a hugely popular romantic novelist.



DR. DORIS JOHNSON - An amateur archaeologist specializing in the Aztec culture, she is regarded as being eccentric even in a field populated by eccentrics.




DR SIGMUND FRAUD - The controversial psychologist whose theories have won him a small band of devoted disciples and the hatred of conventional society.


Inspector McClue makes his contributions via video conference.  You didn't know those were available back in 1900, eh?



And of course we had to have some chocolate on the menu!




At some point it started to get a bit wacky, but who could resist a tiara, a pretty hat or a stainless-steel-scouring-pad-beard? 







But all's well that ends well and the good guy got the girl...


6 comments:

Beryl said...

We had these parties all the time in Seattle, but have yet to figure about a proper group to do one here in Tulsa. It is true that your guests just have to get into it, and we have got to figure out at least one more couple before we do one. Nice to see how much fun you are all having! Thanks!

D A Wolf said...

Oh what fun! I've never participated in one of these parties but it seems like it would be a blast...

Chocolate would be required regardless of plot, no?

Unknown said...

Well, so who dunnit?

Shelley said...

Beryl - Yes, finding people who are prepared to make a bit of effort can be a challenge.

DA - Well, I'm not that big on chocolate, but we do tend to have dessert, a habit I never had when I lived in the States. When the kids are around we splash out on cake or pies, but if it's just just we have sliced fruit with yoghurt for dessert...no chocolate in sight I'm afraid. And yes, the murder mystery was a hoot.

Susan - That would be telling, wouldn't it? I must admit that I was so relieved it wasn't me, I didn't really care who dunnit.

Carolyn said...

What fun!! I absolutely LOVE parties like this. We've been to a few, one pre-packaged like yours and some written by the host and tailor-made to the guests. I've written two myself too.

Shelley said...

Carolyn - I'm so impressed that you have written two plays - were they murder mysteries as well? Is there anything you can't do?