Sunday 31 October 2010

It's Murder!

Way back in January I was offered my very first review copy, and this novel was Lex Trent Versus the Gods by Alex Bell. I loved the book and Lex Trent 2 is one of my highly anticipated 2011 reads. Over the year Alex and I have met more than a few times - she can tell you the "we were black listed from a casino" story! - but I was still delighted beyond words to be invited to the Lex Trent launch party.

Alex and her family invited a number of guests to take part in a murder mystery weekend held in Stratford-upon-Avon, run by a company called It's Murder! Fantastically, the theme was the 20s so we all got to dress up in delightful flapper outfits (feathers included!) *grins*

Here is a picture of Alex and her dad!



A cast of talented actors took on the roles of the various murder suspects, and we were allowed to interrogate them over the course of a delicious meal on the Friday and Saturday evenings, trying to find out clues so that we could work out whodunnit...

Here is a picture of the cast in their full regalia!



I was useless at trying to decipher the clues, and still had no real idea by the time we reached Sunday lunchtime and had to make our accusation. Even some time soaking up the culture on Saturday afternoon - visiting the birthplace of Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon - didn't do the trick!



Of course, the late nights and the alcohol probably didn't help - singing the theme song of Team America: World Police to Alex drunkenly was a particular low point....



I was a little unsure about a Murder Mystery weekend to start with, but the It's Murder! team produced something special. They allow the audience to take as much or as little a role as they want - if you don't want to ask questions, then you can just sit back and enjoy the food and the performance. Of course, the alcohol does flow freely and it becomes all too easy to get caught up in the mystery!

I had the most tremendous fun - it was *exactly* what I needed after the week I've had - and it just leaves me to thank Alex very much for inviting me to such an exciting and unusual weekend, and to thank her lovely parents - Shirley and Trevor - for being the best hosts.

5 comments:

  1. Alexander Storch31 October 2010 at 23:05

    Photos on FB are great, looked very well done. I've only attended one MM evening and I too didn't have a clue, great night all the same.

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  2. That sounds like so much fun. Some friends of mine put together a murder mystery, the cast, the plot, everything and we all acted it out. It was a blast. Definitely not the same caliber as this one, which just sounds amazing. Maybe I need to work on another one... maybe we need a blog murder mystery meme. :)

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  3. Wow, that looks like quite the fun experience!

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  4. Amanda, I have absolutely no memory of you singing the Team America theme tune to me (although I do remember talking about it)! My overriding memory of that night was the disturbing Henry/Betty conversation sparked by some poor staff member trying to hoover around us at 4am!

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  5. Looks like you had such a good time! Looking forward to the second book too!

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