Hosting A Murder Mystery

I LOVE to entertain.

Up until now I have not done a lot - maybe 3-4 times a year for a large group and 5-6 times for 2-4 people.

So in honor of some friends birthdays ( of which one is normally my large group party in the winter), we decided to host a Murder Mystery.

This was a really great idea. I did some research on line and found a wonderful site that supplies everything one needs to Host a Murder Mystery Dinner.

I was able to find one called Murder on the French Riviera. This is really cool and supports 12 players and you can add non essential players for more guests.

It creates and emails the invitations. You can also print them and mail them if you need to. They provide and create individual webpages for each guest. these pages provide essentials on the character, their role in the crime, costume ideas and pregame clues.

The Host page controls the release of information, all the game materials that can be printed and coalated.

My party in two weeks will be a dinner party a la French style. We will have drinks ( martini's and Kir Royale or Champagne) and maybe a hot hors d'oevres or two. The Dinner menu will be:

1. iceberg wedge with melted blue cheese and crumbled bacon bits.
2. Creamy French Country Chicken Stew
3. French Breads and biscuits
4. zucchini with parmesan
5. San Andree Triple Creme with Baguette
6. Birthday cake ( not french but home made)
7. Wine - Both Red and White
8. Water - Flat and Sparkling

I have no intentions of over stuffing my guests this time. Every party I throw is always more food than we ever need.

I am planning to have my guests who want to bring something bring the bread, the martini makings, the hot hors d'oevres, the sparkling water and any other beverage that might strike their fancy.

The stew is the barefoot Contessa's and can be made ahead. The zucchini will need to be made that day - no big deal, that's it really. Everything is easily pre-assembled.

It goes with the game too - this should be a lot of fun and I am doing a LOT of prep work to make sure that the game is a success. I am going to take the game materials to a copy center and have color copies made and bound, name tags, I have candles. I am getting flowers that both birthday girls can take home and I am, as of today, assigning the gift purchase to someone else as it is too much for me to all of this.

So I will delegate some tasks. This party will be a wonderful success!!!!