FAQ

Our small standard versions start at $29.95US. The larger standard versions cost $39.95. The meet and mingle kits for up to 30 guests cost $39.95, for 50 guests they are $44.95US and the kits for up to a 100 guests are $54.95US.

Our online order form via WorldPay supports USD (US dollars), AUD (Australian dollars), GBP (Great Britain Pounds), CAD (Canadian dollars) and EUROS (European dollars). On the second page of our order form, the price is displayed in US dollars. You can click next to this and choose your currency. Then you will see exactly what you are being charged in your own currency. Our kits are supplied in Adobe Acrobat Reader format (ie pdfs) via download and email.

To get a general idea of the price, you may like to use The Universal Currency Converter to work out what this is in your currency. To order a kit, click here.

Payment is processed by WorldPay merchant facilities. WorldPay is part of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Once your credit card is approved, you can download the files immediately or wait to receive the files via email (generally within a few hours). Australian laws apply to the sale of our kits.

Each kit contains: 

• a host's guide which includes decor and menu suggestions, prop suggestions, instructions for the host on how to run the party, rules for the party etc.
• invitations – where you can type in your parties details and then print in color or black and white.
• clue files which include an overview, character descriptions and costume suggestions for each guest, clue booklets for each main character explaining what they must reveal in each of the three acts for the kits in standard format and clue pages for each suspect in the meet and mingle format kits and clues to divide up amongst additional guests.
• a description of who did it and why and how they did it, with a warning page beforehand so you don't read it by mistake. 

The mysteries are subject to copyright and must not be copied and distributed. Merri Mysteries Inc. grants you the non-exclusive right to use and perform the purchased kit. However, you can only make one printout of the clue pages and lamination of the clue pages is not permitted. Commercial users can only use the kit for more than one event if they tick the Commercial users box on the order page and pay double the price for each kit. Please do not place your order unless you accept this requirement.  Please see http://www.merrimysteries.com/tmm/terms.htm and http://www.merrimysteries.com//tmm/termscom.htm for details.

To order the kit, please use our secure online order system via http://www.merrimysteries.com/order.php. These pages are secured via SSL. All data is sent to us in an encrypted format and credit card details are transferred straight to the bank. We do not get to see your credit card details. We maintain your privacy and we do not give your details to anyone.

Our online ordering facility via WorldPay accepts the following credit cards:

If you would prefer not to send your order over the internet, you can phone or fax through your order (see our contact details at the bottom of this page). Please do not send cash. We do accept checks and money orders and you can pay directly from your bank account via PayPal. Email us for details of how to do this via info@merrimysteries.com.

Please note that in order to use this order form you must be using a recent browser (eg V5 or above) such as Internet Explorer or Netscape. These browsers are free to download. You also have accept Cookies in your browser settings. You may like to change these settings just while you order.

You should see a Receipt Number at the end of the process. If you don't, it may mean your order has not gone through properly. Please send us an email via info@merrimysteries.com if this is the case.

If our system does not accept your credit card for some reason, try ordering once again, this time making very sure you complete all the fields on the credit card window and that the card number you enter is correct and that the expiry date isn't one that has already expired and make sure you select the country the card was issued in. If the system once again rejects your credit card, do not try again. In this case, it is best to order by phone. Please see the contact details at the bottom of every web page.

The mysteries are subject to copyright and must not be copied and distributed. Merri Mysteries Inc. grants you the non-exclusive right to use and perform the purchased kit. However, you can only make one printout of the clue pages and lamination of the clue pages is not permitted. Commercial users have to pay twice the price for the kit but they can use it for more than one event. Please do not place your order unless you accept this requirement. 

If you have trouble ordering, please send us an email via info@merrimysteries.com.

Although we endeavor to make our kits as error free as possible, we make no guarantees to that effect. If you are not totally satisfied with our product/service, send us an email and we will exchange the item or refund your money.

Our kits are supplied in Adobe Acrobat format. You can download the files immediately after you receive your login instructions via email or wait to receive the bundle versions of the kit that you have ordered via email.

Once you order online and your credit card has been approved (this can take a few hours in some cases), you will receive your download instructions and within a few hours you will receive an email with the host guide attached, another email with the clue file attached and a third email with the invitations attached.

Then all you have to do is print it (we suggest you use a laser printer if possible). The files are in Adobe Acrobat format Version 4 (ie PDF files) so that our formatting, fonts and graphics are maintained. You can obtain a copy of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader from:

If you don't have a printer, all you have to do is copy the file on to a floppy disk and take it to your local copy shop and ask them to print it for you.

If you have trouble downloading the files or opening the files sent via email, often this problem is caused by your having more than one version of Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Please use Start - Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs and remove any old versions and just leave the most recent version. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

Note: If you have trouble receiving the files, please send us an email via info@merrimysteries.com. We will email the files to you as an attachment. Please let us know the name in which the order was placed, the month and year of the order and which bundle of versions of the kit you ordered you require (ie for how many guests, "standard" or "meet and mingle" etc).

Although we endeavor to make our kits as error free as possible, we make no guarantees to that effect. If you are not totally satisfied with our product/service, send us an email and we will exchange the item or refund your money.

We supply the files in Adobe Acrobat format via email after you order. You need Adobe Acrobat Reader Version 4 or greater. You will have printing problems if you use an older version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can obtain a copy of the most recent free Adobe Acrobat Reader from:

Tip: Make sure you print the kit in Landscape format.

If you have trouble printing the file, on the Print window try selecting "Fit To Page" (an option under Page Scaling) or "Print As Image" (an option on the Advanced Print window). This can sometimes solve the problem.

If you have trouble, it could be because the file hasn't downloaded properly. You may like to return to the download page and download it again. You can return to the download page as often as you like within the next 6 months. There is no extra charge for this.

If you have further trouble printing, please send us an email via info@merrimysteries.com as we may be able to find a solution. Please let us know the name in which the order was placed, the month and year of the order and which version of the kit you require (ie for how many guests).

If you don't have a printer, you may like to ask a friend to print it for you or you could copy it on to a floppy disk and take it to your local copy shop and have it printed there.

Note: Some people may like to print the invitations in color, but it isn't essential. You can print them on a normal printer instead. You may like to print them on to colored paper.

If you have forgotten how to receive the 15% discount you deserve as an existing client, send us an email via info@merrimysteries.com.

If you would like to enter the current photo competition, please see our photo competition page for details.

Yes as host, you can participate! Or you can choose not to, if you want. It is up to you. But as long as you are careful not to read the "Who Did It?" pages at the end of the kit, there is no reason why you shouldn't participate. There is a warning page before the "Who Did It?" pages, telling you not to read the rest of the pages in the kit, so it is easy to avoid losing your innocence.

Most of our kits are structured so that the murder has taken place before the meeting. Everyone is then a suspect (or a witness in large kits). No one knows who did it, till the end of the party – even the murderer doesn't know they are the murderer!

We structure our kits in this way because if the murderer were to know they were the murderer, they may accidentally give it away to someone.

In some of our kits, the murder takes place during the party – generally towards the end of the party. For example, a body may be found.

Some of our kits don't involve a murder at all, but they still contain a mystery. The solution to the mystery is not revealed till the end of the party.

We do provide menu suggestions and directions as to where you can find recipes on the internet. But it isn't essential to provide a meal. That is up to you. However, you may still like to allow a few breaks so people can have a glass of water or some nibblies or whatever.

Some of our kits are in meet and mingle format and these are structured especially for large groups. They work best with cocktail party food or a serve-yourself arrangement. They are informal parties which are generally held in a lounge or outside.

Here is how to use the meet and mingle version for a seated party:

1. Read out the rules, introduce the suspects and let everyone mingle for 20 to 30 minutes before they are seated.
2. People will continue to talk to the people seated near them and to pass on information.
3. Allow the 4 or 5 suspects to move around during each of the breaks between courses so that they can answer questions from people (so they all get a chance to move but not all at the same time).
4. Give everyone including the suspects a couple of new extra clues during the end of their main course.
5. Read out the reports during dessert.
6. Then have everyone cast their vote and have the suspects read out the "who did it" pages.

Just try and make sure everyone has a similar amount to say.

We have two kits for up to 100 guests.

If you are having more than 100 guests

If you are having more than 100 guests, you can have multiple lots of suspects (eg 2 lots) and multiple lots of all the smaller roles (ie 2 groups of 90). Use different colored name tags for each group, and tell them to only ask questions to suspects with the same-colored name tag.

Or you could use a standard kit and have tables and have each table dress as a character (or in the case of "Mystery in the Library" or "Who Stole The Cookies?" as characters from the same book). Then have each table elect their representative to read out the clues for their table. For example, for 150 guests you would have 15 suspects and 15 tables with 10 guests on each table.

Or you could have each table doing the same mystery at the same time and just come together at the end to guess who did it. But this is very noisy.

Or you could use a smaller kit and perform it in front of the whole group and have everyone guess at the end. "Mystery In The Library", "Who Stole The Cookies?" and "The Love Letter" are also available in play format.

Whichever option you use, at the end of the party you can either have each individual write down their guess as to who did it or have each table decide on who they think did it, how, and why. Then the 'Who Did It' pages are read out to the whole group.

Most of our parties are structured to take around two and a half hours, but this can vary depending on how much time is spent taking photos at the beginning and how much people ad-lib and how long you make the breaks between acts. If you are running short of time, you can always continue reading out clues while people are eating. With the meet and mingle kits, you control how long you let people mingle so you can run them in less time if you want, but you will need at least an hour.

With most kits there are a number of versions to suit a range of guest numbers and you receive a bundle of these versions. So if your number of guests changes, you can just print the correct file. Some of our kits cover a range of guest numbers (eg the meet and mingle kits) and these are very flexible in terms of the number of guests.

There are three types of formats of our kits:

• Standard – this is where you generally go around the circle and say your first clue, then go around again and say your next clue and so on. You read out your clues to the whole group. Sometimes a detective starts the ball rolling.
• Play – you pass around the script and say your lines when it is your turn, but you don't need a stage – you can use it around a dining table or you can sit on sofas etc.
• Meet and mingle – this is where only the rules and a report or two are read out to the whole group and people mingle and talk about their clues and find out about other people's clues and pass on what they know. This works better for large groups of 17 or more guests.