Have you ever been to one of those parties where you try to figure out who committed a murder? You get cards and a story but then you start into it and it’s like you’ve just been para-dropped into a grade six choral reading exercise. Some time between the chip dip and the socializing the murderer is revealed and then everybody goes back to small-talk.
You really need to play a production from Shot in the Dark Mysteries.
A creation of Torontonian, Leigh Clements, this unique type of Murder Mystery is emphatically different from the ones that you’ve played before because it really stresses the individual’s ability to investigate and formulate theories based on the available information at hand. These are “Mingle” mysteries. Players are given customized information packages that fit into a given time frame of the host’s choice and that describe their character’s relationships to each other and to the victim. Details about background, sharable information as well as hidden information make each character unique and fun.
What’s really fun about this game system (though the word “game” is frowned upon; instead think true “Investigation” experience) is that players don’t even know that their character might even be the killer! As the players interact within the host’s house (which can be modified by copying the provided maps and plans in everyone’s dossier) they gather clues about the identity of the murderer and his or her motive which could include … them! Hilarity ensues as one of the players realizes that he might be incriminating himself!
Shot in the Dark is a Toronto company that specializes in party events. Owner and Creative Director, Leigh Clements, founded the company in 2007 as an independent business. Originally a freelance writer with a background in fiction and journalism, her idea was to provide a truly unique murder mystery experience for her clients while running her own business. The name “Shot in the Dark Mysteries” actually comes from the chance she was taking in operating her own business. However, the shot paid off as she enjoys an international clientele list with as many customers in Australia as she has in Canada.
Inspired by the great ones: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie, Clements takes great pleasure in knowing that her clients are entertained and satisfied with her amazingly detailed and customized murder mysteries. Post-party reports about hearing how entertained her clients are or how their families and loved ones were brought closer together in making new memories is extremely special to her. Clements has clients who use her work as a family tradition; every year they look forward to getting together and taking part in the latest crime that their favourite “mystery maiden” has assembled for them.
This is every writer’s dream: to have his or her work affect people on a personally significant level. Shot in the Dark Mysteries is also an entrepreneur’s delight: a local success story with international appeal. If you are looking for a unique and entertaining evening event, then you need to contact Leigh and arrange for your own customizable murder mystery experience. Leigh can be contacted via her website – www.shotinthedarkmysteries.com or via Twitter @mysterymaiden.
