Yes.
The “how to host a murder” ones tended to be better than the other brands (I liked Powar and Greede, plus it gave a chance to re-wear formal clothing). It worked more when everyone got into costume and was in character for at least part of the time, and did it. There was a lot of slipping in and out, but during the appropriate times, everyone was who they were pretending to be.
It works well when you do a full dinner party, full courses, and spread the game out over the courses. It isn’t a fast thing at all. And feels nicer when you’re not rushed.
You get a booklet with an exposition/profile, three rounds of clues, and a fourth round which provides the solution.
In every round, each character is give a list of things that they MUST say, and a list of things they should try to hide at all costs (but you can’t lie).
BTW, I don’t remember exactly how the rules go, but for the fourth (reveal the murderer) round, it’s best for each character to get up in turn (everyone has a number from 1 to 8, 8 being the murderer) and speak in the first person, instead of in the third person as the profile is written. It’s MUCH more fun if you’re still in character when you give these gloating little speeches, and also, it keeps the identity of the murderer hidden right down to the very end. By the time you hit person #6, everyone is on the edge of their seats to find out which of the remaining players did it, and while #7 is reading his, usually everyone is wondering, “Okay, so how the heck did he/she do it?”
I also don’t remember how the rules go on this, but it’s a lot of fun to go around the room after round three (before the reveal) and get everyone’s opinion on who did it and how.
Finally–save the party and sell it either to an acquaintance or on eBay. I resold all of mine (they’re $30 new) and recouped a tidy sum. Make sure your guests don’t lose the various pieces and parts!
Gosh I had forgotten all about these parties! I’ve hosted several, they are fun, and the How to Host a Murder boxed ones really give you all you need so even your shy guests get into character.
I agree with the good (fun) ones being Last Train From Paris (my favorite), Who Hung Woo was great, except we kept cracking up at eachother’s names! Food was easy too. Grapes of Frath was also a good one. Watersdown affair I bought and never hosted the party because it sounded dumb when I read through it.
When I sent out the invitations and the charcter booklets, I sealed the last pages of the scripts so no one knew if they were the murderer or not. just a little twist.
We also had fun, least the girls, just shopping for the right outfit to get into character.
Thanks for all the replies. I bought the “Last Train from Paris” one on your recommendation.
Colour me slow, but can you guys fill me in on the names of the characters:
(I can get a few)
KHOVER T. AGEANTE - Covert Agent
PRINCESS IDELLE CHATTRE - ? Idle chat?
MALCOLM R. CONNTINT - Mal Content
MARY K. TRAIRIE - ? Contrary?
RAF GROUP CAPTAIN WEYLAND W. AWFCORCE – ‘Way’ off-course
BARBRA Z. ENHUSSIE - ?
DUKE SCHWÄZHE B. U. KLARE - ?
BELINDA SCREETE - ? Discrete
Thanks. I’m having quite the mental block over this one…
We used to do these every once in a while. (I think we did about 4 mysteries.) We had a lot of fun with them, but there wasn’t a “Columbo” in the whole group. We never did figure out any of the mysteries. Usually we weren’t even close.
Idelle Chattre: Idle chatter
Mary K. Trairie: Mary mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?
Barbra Z. Enhussie: Barbra the Hussy
Schwazhe B.U. Klare: Be unclear (?) I never did quite get this one.
Belinda Screete: Be indiscreet