News and photos

• We are busy writing a new mystery called "Who Found The Treasure?". This is a buried treasure mystery set on an island in Chile near Cape Horn. Send us an email to info@merrimysteries.com if you want to be told when it is ready.
• With our new promotion scheme you receive 25% from each sale and the person you refer to us receives a 10% discount too. We now have a new brochure available. Please send us an email if you are interested in hearing more about this scheme.

• "Red Gum Cottage"
• "Balmoral Guest House".

My favourite is "Poetic Justice". The dressing up is fabulous, the story fun and it brings out a 1920’s theme that a lot of people love. Mae West, Charlie Chaplin, James Joyce are cheeky characters. (In fact we found Mae on someone’s lap in the "Murder on the Prairie" set.) I decorated the cafe with pink towels, lavender oil and Grandma’s old pink dressing gown. You ask why??? You'll have to buy the kit.

"Murder on the Prairie" is fun for a very loud group, or that’s what we had. The group added songs from Annie Oakley movies. They had a heap of fun. I decorated the room like a saloon.

"Family Quest" is great for 8 people who enjoy a not too serious murder.

"Mystery in the Library" (fairytale version) has entertained a few Church Youth Groups. We had Goldilocks bring her own porridge, Dorothy brought Toto and the Wicked Witch of the West was SO green. Huck Finn brought his fishing rod and Robin Hood his bow and arrows.

In our cafe, we ran 5 mysteries on the one night and that was fun, but very noisy. Because of "word of mouth" advertising, people have come from other towns such as Sydney and Wee Waa (3 hours drive) just to participate. People get a real buzz out of walking to the cafe from the Motels in all there dress up gear. (So does the traffic!!) I'm also sure many second hand shops are doing well out of people buying their costumes from them.

I enjoy these murders just as much as my guests do. We sometimes have complete strangers mixed up and that has worked really well for us. I’m looking forward to hosting "Who Killed Santa?" as Christmas approaches. I find Stephanie a great help always, and willing to help you adapt the mysteries to your group. She is always very "cluey" and full of interesting ideas. Thanks Stephanie."

Tina McIntosh , Red Gum Cottage, Tamworth, NSW, Australia.

We started the evening with a cocktail party so that all the characters had the opportunity to "grow" into their characters. To add to the atmosphere we had the local funeral parlour deliver a coffin as a prop. They went to the trouble of putting a brass "nameplate" on the coffin saying "host a murder at Balmoral, 9/9/2000" which made for a great photo memento.

We also had some other guests come to the "party" after cocktails. These guests were given "witness" roles and we supplied basic props such as hats, scarves and coats to help them with their character. This worked out very well because we had the major actors acting out their roles as per your script with the other party watching on. So in effect we ran with two different experiences within one host a murder show.

The main actors were outrageous in their dress and behaviour which is attributed I think to good characters and knowing well in advance who their characters were.

I look forward to your ghost story which will suit Balmoral as we are very much haunted and using more of your kits as they are very easy to understand, very user friendly and do not require too much extra work on our behalf. Well done Stephanie, keep up the great work. Yours in murder John."

John Heath, Balmoral Guest House (in Katoomba 2 hours west of Sydney, NSW, Australia), www.bluemts.com.au/balmoral/.