Try a murder mystery party for Christmas party or Christmas in July parties (for Australians)


If you are planning an Xmas party to celebrate Christmas the following party tips and Christmas games will get you off to a good start.

 

Who Killed Santa? mystery party game

Mystery party games can be useful if there are people who don’t know each other as they can act as an ice-breaker.

Who Killed Santa? party kit for 8 to 104 guests is perfect for Xmas parties.

  • Santa as victim
  • Santa as victim and with forensic doctor
  • Elf at Christmas Party
  • Santa at Xmas party
  • Murder victims body outline

Samples:

  • Downloadable Base Kit for 8 guests but expandable to 104 guests:


     

  • Downloadable All Girls Base Kit for 8 girls / ladies but expandable to 56 girls / ladies:


     


What they’ve said

Johnson and Jones Advertising Agency, Mississippi, USA

We wrote “Who killed Santa?” for a Mississippi advertising agency Christmas party. We based it on the actual staff, clients and suppliers of the ad agency. We received this feedback:

“Our party was today and it was a success!!! Thank you very much. We have told people about you and your services and we may be doing business in the future with you for some of our clients. They were very impressed. Thanks again!!!”

Jennifer Jones”

Sue Riggle, USA

“Thanks for a great evening!

Dear friends at Merri Mysteries Inc.,

Just wanted you to know that your murder mystery “Who Killed Santa?” was a hit here in Marion, Illinois. Our church always has a family night of fun and games on New Year’s Eve, ending with a service of communion at midnight. This year we wanted to jazz it up, and your script was a hit! My husband and I served 37 people ranging in ages from 5 to 85. The meal was elegantly done (my husband is a great chef so the part of Lorenzo fit him perfectly) and the guests really enjoyed being dramatic. All came dressed in costumes as best they could, and were not shy about “hamming it up.” As hosts, we did not read any of the clues or the answers before hand, so were able to play along with everyone else. No one guessed correctly who murdered Santa.

Thanks again for your creativity. The fact that your script was appropriate for all ages even in a church setting was very much appreciated. This New Year’s Eve celebration will be remembered for a long time to come!

Sincerely,

Sue Riggle
First Presbyterian Church
Marion, Illinois, USA”

Helen Cross

Helen had never held a mystery dinner before, but she found that running “Who Killed Santa?” was no problem.

“Thank you so much! Everyone had a blast! The night was a success. Everyone came in character and to make it a little more fun I made some women play male roles. Gibson Downs was especially funny being played by a woman.

Thanks again for all of your help!

Helen Cross”

Della Archambo

“We just had a birthday party for our now 13 year old daughter. We did “Who Killed Santa”. We all had a wonderful time. It was an easy party to host and everybody said they had a great time. A couple of people told me that it was the best party they had ever been to.

We had about 35 people there from ages 18 months to 70 years old. It was great how everybody mingled and talked to each other, adults talking to the kids and teenagers and vice versa.

Everybody came in costume and did such a WONDERFUL job of that. Since Josh Frasier was into his monopoly money, he gave the killer a get out of jail free card at the end and Santa’s lawyer offered her services for half off.

We originally had told people that steak and lobster was on the menu, because nothing was too good for our precious daughter. When Santa died Lorenzo announced that he was too frazzled to prepare the steak and lobster, so he opened the salad bar to an all you can eat buffet. We had prepared deli trays and a big arrangement of produce for salad. It was great.

I can’t say enough good things about the evening. I know it will be a party that my daughter will never forget. My other daughters plan on having the same kind of party when they turn thirteen. Thanks for everything. I will be recommending you to all of my friends and will be buying parties from you in the future.

Della Archambo”

Donna Pelletier

“Stephanie, I just had my Christmas party for 45 people and your Mystery was a huge hit!!! Each year I do a theme party and this one was the best yet. Everyone had a great time and could not wait to find out “Who done it”….Your online support was the best, and I appreciate you helping in every way that you did. You’ve made this year Christmas Party one that everyone will remember for years to come.

THANK YOU!!!!!!

Donna Pelletier”

Teri Reid

“STEPHANIE

MY PARTY WAS THIS PAST FRIDAY NIGHT IT WAS THE MOST FUN WE HAVE HAD IN A LONG TIME.

IT WAS AMAZING – THE WAY THE QUIETEST MOST RESERVED FRIENDS WE HAVE – BECAME THESE WILD OUTSPOKEN CHARACTERS. THE PARTY TOOK ON A LIFE OF IT’S OWN. ONCE IT W AS SET UP – I JUST STOOD BACK AND WATCHED THE MYSTERY UNFOLD. PEOPLE CAME IN COSTUME, IN CHARACTER (a few have adopted the personalities as their own).

IT WAS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE BEST PARTY I HAVE EVER HOSTED. WE WILL TALK ABOUT THIS NIGHT FOR A LONG TIME.

AS FRIENDS WERE LEAVING, THEY ASKED WHEN THE NEXT MURDER MYSTERY PARTY WAS BEING HELD.

THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL IDEA, SCRIPT, ENTIRE PACKAGE.
(we did have someone guess the murderer.!)

STILL LAUGHING

TERI REID”

Brenda Wedderspoon-Gray, USA

“Stephanie, I just want to tell you that we did our company Christmas party last Saturday (12/14) and did the murder mystery – Who Killed Santa and it was fantastic!! Nobody knew what we were doing and we handed out bags with their character, clues, props, etc. In the 16 years of our Christams parties, this was way far from the norm and everybody loved it. Their remarks were – this is the best party yet, this was so much fun, awesome, etc!!!!

Everybody had a blast. No negative responses from anyone – even those who you might think wouldn’t want to stray from the norm as far as our Christmas party goes. It made all that attended have to talk with each other. Normally at our parties there are tables that kind of stick together and don’t always mingle with everybody else. This made everyone mingle and nobody minded! For the next week at work we were all calling each other by their character names! It was GREAT!

So I just want to thank you for your help and let you know how it went. I’m sure we’ll do it again! In fact we may do one as a fund raising event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. If you have any ideas – let me know!

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Sincerely,
Brenda Wedderspoon-Gray, NY”

Kelly Hilmer, USA

“We just had our Mystery on Saturday night and thought I’d let you know we had a great time! There were several people that got into their roles and wore great costumes to enhance their part. There were several skeptics before the event and we weren’t sure how it would turn out. In the end everyone had a great time, and the skeptics are still talking about what a great time they had. We even had one person guess the killer!

As for the photo contest, I’m submitting a picture of one of our technicians, Weldon Barnett. He played the part of Bert McGill, motorcycle shop owner. Keep in mind that Weldon has to be one of the most conservative of all our our staff, so we were all quite shocked to see him in his costume. We just worked with him on Friday (when he had hair) and on Saturday night he showed up with a SHAVED HEAD! Wow! He got INTO IT! It was great.

Thanks for a great time!

Kelly Hilmer
Director of Online Services
www.atra.com”

Linda Hurley, USA

Linda sent in this feedback about her party (see photo no.1 above):

“Dear Stephanie,

Here are the promised pictures from the “Who Killed Santa” party, it was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Thanks for your help,

Linda Hurley”

Aeran Schmid, Canada

Aeran sent in this feedback about his party(see photos no.2 and 3 above):

“My name is Aeran Schmid. I purchased your “Who Killed Santa?” Murder Mystery package back in November and we (Cropper Motors) just had our party on December 12th. It was SO MUCH FUN!! We had quite the dramatic group of people. Everything went smoothly and I thank you for making the preparing process very easy to follow. Maybe next year, we’ll look into getting another one of your party packages.

I attached some picture of our party and I would also like you to submit them in your contest. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed our Christmas party.

Thank you,
Aeran Schmid”

Lori Hennessey, USA

Here is Lori’s feedback on her party (see photo no.4 above):

“My company played the murder mystery game “Who Killed Santa?” at our company Christmas party this year. What an absolute riot!!! We had so much fun. We enticed our employees to “dress and play” the part by offering a $50 cash prize for the best character portrayal. Wow, that did the trick! Not only did people dress in character, some had props, accents,…many added flair and personality to their character. When it came time to reveal the killer we had several people with the correct answer and had to draw a winner for another $50 prize.

So glad we chose to play this game at our Christmas party. We would do it again. Everyone was involved, there was much laughter and jokes throughout the evening! I would highly recommend this to any company looking to do something fun at a party.

Lori Hennessey,
Office Mgr.
Trudell Consulting Engineers, Inc.”

Beverly Michaels, USA

Beverly sent in this feedback(see photo no.5 above):

“I purchased your “Who Killed Santa” kit for our annual holiday function at work. Every year it is very challenging to try to come up with a group/team-building activity so that all may attend and enjoy themselves at the same time. This was perfect! Our environment is not typical in that we’re composed of mostly scientists (which tend to be introverts) so it was great to see many folks come out of their shells and really get into their character. This was such a success that I’m not sure how I am going to top the next holiday function!

I’ve attached pictures of folks dressed in their characters. There were way too many to attach but I wanted to pass along our sincere thanks. We hope you come up with more ideas for future events!

Thanks again,

Beverly R. Michaels

Christmas party decorations

Your house will feel warm and inviting if you have lots of candles and pretty lights both inside and outside for your Christmas party. Besides the usual nativity scenes and reindeers and mistletoe and so on, you may like to try these decorations.

Outside Christmas Decorations

String strands of tiny white lights in your garden, along railings, through potted plants, around tree limbs or around the front door of your house, for a special Christmas atmosphere.

Paper bag lights

Place paper bag lights along the edge of your path leading up to the front door to create a warm Christmas welcome for your guests. These soft lights will also help to guide those who are not quite sure of your address to your Xmas party. Another good place for them is amongst plants in a garden bed and on the letterbox. Here’s how you make them:

  1. Pour a few inches of sand or soil into the bottom brown paper lunch-size bags.
  2. Open them into a cylinder shape so the sand holds the bag flat on the ground.
  3. Push a short candle (a few inches long – so it sits below the top of the bag) into the sand. The sand will keep the candle upright and the wind won’t blow the candle out because the bag protects it. If the sand has made a solid base the bag will be well away from the flame.
  4. Have a bucket of water handy to pour on any of the bags if they do happen to catch alight.

Christmas party games
Chris’ photo of Santa’s legs coming out
of their handbuilt chimney for her
Who Killed Santa? Christmas party

Inside Christmas Decorations

Here are some Christmas ideas you may like to try:

  • Float small candles in water in glass bowls. For variety, color the water with food coloring.
  • Decorate plain glass tumblers by pasting stars cut out of tissue paper on the outside, and place a short candle inside.
  • Tie candlesticks with wide gold, silver or Christmas ribbon.
  • Clump candles of different sizes in groups on a table.
  • Sit short candles on a tiered cake stand in amongst pine cones.
  • Stand a candle in the middle of a dish of seashells.
  • Use scented candles to give the room a nice soft smell.
  • Spray pinecones or whole walnuts with gold or silver paint and cluster them around a candle. Tie with a broad ribbon to hold them in place.

Warning: Never leave burning candles unattended. Keep flames away from paper, greens, or other flammable objects. Make sure candles aren’t placed where partygoers will knock them over or brush against them with their clothing. Have a bucket of water handy and a hose.

Other Christmas decoration suggestions

Fill the house with a delightful aroma by simmering a pot of water with cinnamon and citrus fruit.

Fill mittens with potpourri, tie with ribbon and hang near the front door for a lovely aroma. These can be given as gifts at the end of the Christmas party.

For a dramatic tree decoration make a huge bow out of richly colored wired ribbon and place it on top of the tree. Just make big loops, tie them together with floral wire and allow long lengths to hang down through the tree.

Xmas food and drinks

For a change from the traditional Christmas fare, why not have an international Christmas meal? There are many recipes on the internet – see www.google.com for “Christmas recipes international”. The following is traditional Christmas fare enjoyed around the world.

  • Czech Republic: Fish soup, salads, eggs and carp.
  • Finland: A casserole of macaroni, rutabaga, carrot and potato, with ham or turkey, or a mixed platter of meat and fish.
  • Germany: Roast Goose accompanied by potatoes, cabbage, carrots, parsnip and pickles.
  • Italy: Antipasto, a small portion of pasta, roast meat, two salads, two sweet puddings followed by cheese, fruit, brandy and chocolates.
  • Jamaica: Rice, gungo peas, chicken, ox tail and curried goat.
  • Latvia: Cooked brown peas with bacon sauce, small pies, cabbage and sausage.
  • Norway: For coastal regions haddock and lutefisk, and inland pork chops, meatloaf and special sausages.
  • Portugal: Salted dry cod-fish with boiled potatoes.
  • Russia: Cakes, pies and meat dumplings.
  • Sweden: Shellfish, pork, cooked and raw herring fish, caviar, cheeses and brown beans.
  • Ukraine: Meat broth.
  • United Kingdom: Roast dinner with Yorkshire pudding, Christmas Pudding and Mince Pies.

Note: Don’t forget the cookies and glass of milk for Santa and a few apples for the reindeers.

Xmas drinks

  • Champagne is a traditional Christmas tipple, however mulled wine (Gluhwein) is a popular Christmas drink in Austria, Switzerland and Germany. It contains red wine, fruit, cloves and cinnamon and is served hot.

Other Christmas party games

Blindfold giftwrap

This Christmas party game involves you blindfolding two volunteers. Have them stand at a table with a number of small, unwrapped presents, sticky tape and ribbon. They each have to wrap, tape and tie with ribbon two or three presents blindfolded. The neatest wrapper wins. You could also divide the guests into two groups and have them all have a go.

Christmas Gift list

Ask the guests to write their name vertically down the side of a piece of paper. Give them a few minutes to write Christmas gifts starting with each letter, beside each letter. Try to make up as many as possible beginning with each letter. The guest with the greatest number wins the prize.

animated reindeer

Clumsy fingers

Divide your party guests into two teams. Have two pairs of large rubber gloves (washing-up type) or large men’s gloves. Put plenty of wrapped sweets into two paper bags. The first person in each line has to put the gloves on, take a sweet from the bag, unwrap it and put it in their mouth. If they drop the sweet on the floor they have to start again. They then have to take off the gloves, and pass them to next person on the team. The team that finishes first wins the prize.


Who Killed Santa? murder

Who Killed Santa?…

The portly gent who dresses in red won’t be going down any chimneys this year. He is dead – possibly murdered – yes it’s scandalous but true. Was it revenge for an unwanted present?

Reading level: 7

Perfect for Xmas parties!

Games for every taste!

Our Games Are Perfect For

Friends & Families

Because our kits are good clean fun, they can be used for 9 years upwards. There are no hidden innuendos, so no embarrassment just lots of laughs.

HobBy Detectives

We make our kits challenging but still solve-able. Even the host or the murderer can fully participate in working out who did it.

teambuilding

People find that when they assume a role, they lose some of their inhibitions and relax more easily. So it's a great way to get to know your co-workers.

Fundraising

Mystery games are great for fundraisers. You can charge people to participate, to play the suspects and also for special clues.