Murder Mystery Party

We all love the traditional murder mystery party theme, gathering inspiration from board games like Clue, but now there are also new Murder Mystery 1 & 2 movies on Netflix to base your party on. Below there are murder mystery party ideas for all types of party themes based on where you want the inspiration to come from. Will the murderer be obvious or will they be the person you never expect?

Clue: Which board game characters are your favorite? Mrs. Peacock, Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlet, Dr. Orchard, Professor Plum, Mr. Green, and Mrs. White. As the party goes on, you will secretly take note and little by little, figure out what happened, where it happened, and what was the weapon.

Murder Mystery: Do you think you could pass the test to become a detective? Why not use your event to allow your guests to step into the detective role and solve that mystery. Do you enjoy reading mystery novels? What are you waiting for, why not add a European theme to your party? Just like Audrey and Nick Spitz, heading on their way to Europe to celebrate their delayed honeymoon. Or add a yacht theme, joining the party on its way to Monaco. All your guests will say “splendid” with excitement when they get the invitation. Or pretend you have arrived by helicopter to Maharajah’s private island to celebrate a wedding with an Indian theme and hop over to Paris.

Murder Mystery Party Invitations

Send out individual invitations with lots of notice and decorate them like the theme of your party. This will give your attending guests enough time to prepare. Seal the envelopes with the invitations with a fingerprint.

For Clue theme, include a clue card of the character the guest is assigned
Make an invitation look like a wanted poster. Use tea bags to make the paper look aged.

Murder Mystery Party Decorations

Choose a theme and decorate as much as you can, as with these parties the smallest details can make the biggest difference.

Use color theme of black, silver, and red
Have a sign that says, “one of us is a murder” and “you will be questioned one by one”
Have posters that say “who has motive: money, love, revenge”
Have a chalk outline of the subject
Use yellow folded cards with numbers for evidence
Have random police tape around in different areas that say “do not enter”
Have mystery books in small piles around
Give the guests name tags and sunglasses
Play themed music
Flowers
Have magnifying glasses around
When the guests arrive take their picture, print the pictures, and make a suspect wall

Choose a theme and decorate as much as you can, as with these parties the smallest details can make the biggest difference.

Use color theme of black, silver, and red
Have a sign that says, “one of us is a murder” and “you will be questioned one by one”
Have posters that say “who has motive: money, love, revenge”
Have a chalk outline of the subject
Use yellow folded cards with numbers for evidence
Have random police tape around in different areas that say “do not enter”
Have mystery books in small piles around
Give the guests name tags and sunglasses
Play themed music
Flowers
Have magnifying glasses around
When the guests arrive take their picture, print the pictures, and make a suspect wall

If using the Clue theme, dim the lights and set up areas for:

The Conservatory
The Garden
The Library
The Kitchen
The Study
The Ballroom
The Billiard Room

Have cutouts of the potential weapons, including rope, candlestick, lead pipe, etc.
Have the actual board game Clue out, looking like it was set up to play

For the Murder Mystery theme set up areas for:

The Yacht
The Racing Track
Room 802
Old Library
Quince’s Villa
Car race with Ferrari and police car

For continue with Murder Mystery 2 theme set up areas for:

Maharajah’s Private Island
Audrey and Nick Spitz’s Villa
Pre Wedding Party with colorful lights and decor
Paris
The crashed restaurant
The Eiffel Tower

Have a sign that says “this is our adventure”
Make a Quins Daggett, looking like it was made with Chinese steal and jewels from across the Orient
Have a boxes of both English and Japanese Claritin
Have a mask and fake blow dart
Outfits to make wardrobe changes
Sign that says “team buffoon wins again”
Have a sign with the three detective rules from Murder Mystery 2 “1. Follow reasonable instructions 2. Don’t hand off money before you see the hostage 3. Never go to another location”

Setting the Murder Mystery Party Mood

Before the party, inform each guest of their role within the scene. Within the invitation, give the guests details about their characters, but more importantly, if they are or are not the murderer. Online there are many murder mystery packages you can buy with premade characters and stories. Some premade packages have to be played at certain times of the day, so plan your event accordingly. Or make your own based on your favorite murder mystery story or game. When the guests arrive, have name tags ready and hand out the information booklets. Make sure guests don’t cheat and read more than they are supposed to. A fun twist to start off every mystery party is to have all the guests in a room and after a little while, turn on and off the lights when the guest is “murdered”. As the party goes on, have the guests mingle, slowly revealing more facts about their characters during snacks, dinner, and dessert.

Concluding Your Murder Mystery Party

Like any good observer, wait until your moment to make a dramatic presentation of facts. Gather everyone’s attention and go through point by point and accuse the murderer, saying how they did it. You can add the twist that if the person gets it wrong, then they are out and cannot guess anyone. Or do it secretly and when the guests are ready have them make their guess of who they think the murderer is by placing their guess in a sealed envelope. Eventually someone will get it right or the ‘murderer’ will outlast everyone and not get caught. At this point, celebrate the winner and provide them with a prize.

Murder Mystery Party Activities

Play a murder mystery scene with all the guests involved
Play Clue
Watch a murder mystery movie
Go race car driving like Juan Carlos Rivera in Murder Mystery
Before the activities begin, get your hair done at a salon and maybe Audrey will be your hairdresser
Do Henna Tattoos like in Murder Mystery 2
Do dancing or organize a flash mob like in Murder Mystery 2

Murder Mystery Party Food

Giant shrimp platter with lemons, don't forget the cocktail sauce
Vanilla and chocolate milkshakes
Pesto on pasta
Egg rolls and spring rolls
Mini pizzas
Have multiple charcuterie boards with different food platter options:

Two types of cheese, two types of crackers, three types of berries or fruit
Multiple types of meat, cheese, salsa/dip, nuts, olives, pickles, fruit and grapes with crackers on a separate display

Have champagne or nonalcoholic sparkling cider and add raspberries or other fruit garnishes

Giant shrimp platter with lemons, don't forget the cocktail sauce
Vanilla and chocolate milkshakes
Pesto on pasta
Egg rolls and spring rolls
Mini pizzas
Have multiple charcuterie boards with different food platter options:

Two types of cheese, two types of crackers, three types of berries or fruit
Multiple types of meat, cheese, salsa/dip, nuts, olives, pickles, fruit and grapes with crackers on a separate display