Although the solution to every mystery seems simple after the fact, the best crime stories are devilish in their details. The logistics that bring this to life may soon seem overwhelming...

Sure, we've all read a good Agatha Christie novel. The basic premise is Killer + Victim = Murder- but did dear old Agatha have to plan for the suspects to arrive at HER house? Turn her dwelling into the Orient Express? Make sure that the murderer even showed up at all? Maybe not, but you will.

Determine the critical information at the get-go. FIrst and most important is to decide the number of participants to invite. There are two ways to approach this: one is to only allow a specified number of friends, normally 8 to 12, to participate; the other is to open the floodgate and have a free for all.

For a controlled group of guests, the approach is straightforward:

Once you've determined the theme, characters, and plot (covered further on), assign each guest to a character and send out the invites with the basic premise of the party and a cursory sketch of what their persona will be. It may also be helpful to send nametags, costume suggestions, game rules, and a guest list. An elaborate dinner setting would be the perfect environment.

For the larger party approach:

Simply send out the invites with the theme of the event. The guests can dress up as they choose (preferably in line with the theme) and need only to arrive on time. The characters and plot will ready beforehand, but the roles will be assigned by chance rather than forethought. Be sure that the key characters are doled out to specific people; the rest will be supplemental characters. Although you don't plan who will play the roles of your side characters, their distractions will often bring surprising twists.

Creating a story can be as straightforward or as creative as you want, but you need a few standards:

First, decide the setting in which the murder takes place - perhaps a cruise ship in 1890, a school field trip in 1950, or New Year's in Times Square 1999. Pick a setting you are familiar with and which your guests will enjoy so that your suspects know how to spruce themselves up for the party. Then decorate your home to match the genre and serve appropriate food.

Second, craft the plot. Determine your victim and place him/her into the setting, but add a twist that doesn't seem to make sense. For example: the cruise ship captain was found with lungs full of seawater, but his clothing was bone dry. The best way to steer the direction of the party is to make yourself the victim; that way you can still be a part of the festivities, yet guests perceive you as "out of the picture." Both the crime scene and clues can be part of your costume. Only answer questions regarding the rules of the game and the state in which the body was found. Of course you should socialize but don't let them get the solution out of you! Another fun way to approach this is to die DURING the beginning of the party - it cranks up the intensity of the game and draws in inquisitive minds.

Your next character should be the Murderer; you can't deal in death without a killer. Maybe the death was an accidental demise and the character who witnessed it doesn't want to be blamed for something he/she didn't even do. Was it a crime of passion or in cold-blood? Could it have been a conspiracy to eliminate a departing investor or some elaborate group revenge?

The motive should be apparent but not blatant. Don't tie such confusing knots that your guests need a PHD to figure it out, but don't make it so simple that the party ends in 15 minutes. The best way to obscure the truth and introduce "red herrings" is through the supplemental characters.

For a small group, have at least three characters hold the clues that lead to the murderer. For a larger group, aim for five clues. The best way to create characters is to spin out people from your own life that you see everyday. The sardonic mailman, the neighbor with wild red hair, the crazy coffee clerk at the Starbucks...etc. For each character write up three to four clues, each successively more revealing and intriguing than the last. Label, seal, and place them in an envelope labeled with the character's name.

Guests should only open the clues when told to, usually every half-hour to an hour. The murders should not know that they are the killer until at least clue 2 or 3. (Don't let the participants know that this is the case though). The timed intervals ensure that the guests have time to mingle and investigate that specific round of clues. It may also cause the murderer to reveal a bit before deciding that secrecy is the best policy. The clues need be only a line or two in length. The first round of clues should establish character motives and personalities. For example, a character Bertha Wallaby may have the initial clue state "You have worked for Mr. Victim for 15 years and he has yet to get your name right; Betsy, Bonnie, Belinda, Bernie...yet you take it all in stride...all that matters is that your name is spelled correctly in the will, and it is. If only the ex-wife would stop trying to change it. You don't know if she got a chance to before he died...."

This has now set the stage for Bertha to suspect the ex-wife and for other characters to suspect Bertha because of her inclusion in the will. Bertha's second clue, opened half an hour later, could read a follows "You saw Mr. Victim's daughter Marie the night of the murder. She had blood on her hands but claims she merely cut herself dicing tomatoes for Mr. Victim's dinner. You know that Gerta the cook would never allow Marie in the kitchen and she was dressed to go out, not to cook."

Third round could be "Congratulations, you're the one that killed Mr. Victim. Do not look guilty. You killed him by injecting him with a syringe with an air bubble. He wanted to deport you back to Greenland after discovering your affair with his son. Keep your cool. As a matter of fact you think you might have seen Dr. Joe walking out of the office with a syringe the night of the murder..."

Be sure that in the unregulated party that the key characters are distributed; all the rest can be as silly or misleading as you like.

For the larger grouped party, you can liven things up a bit by adding the rule that the murderer may continue to murder. The killer can kill people by winking three times unwitnessed at a victim. The person winked at must wait ten minutes then feign a their own death. This heightens the intensity and the tension while investigating. However, if anyone witnesses the murderer, he/she is considered discovered, so the killer must be VERY selective about using this ability. The newly deceased cannot speak a word about who killed them.

As the event closes, pass around a ballot that the guests secretly write their name and their prime suspect. Most likely in the small party the guests will have discovered who the murderer is, but in the larger party that may not be the case. An idea might be that if the murderer in the large party has either killed more people than the amount that named him/her at the end of the night, or he/she is not in the clear majority, the killer has gotten away with it.

Of course this is all in the name of good fun and it's your role to make sure the party goes smoothly and that you guests leave happy and, more importantly, - alive!

-- Seth Leamer