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Murder at the Manse – our latest murder mystery*

May 31, 2014 by Bel 1 Comment

A few weeks ago, it was my brother’s girlfriend’s birthday. In honour of that, we of course, threw her a murder mystery party! When I say we, I mean me… but hey, you know ;)

This murder mystery was kindly gifted to me by a lady named Jo, over at Red Herring Games. The game itself is no longer available to buy (or at least not at the moment, it might be back) but we were offered it any way, in exchange for a review. Always being one to love a new type of murder mystery layout, I jumped at the chance and we were given, Murder at the Manse to try!

When the pack arrived, it looked very well organised. There was a main hosts book, booklets for each character, invitations, along with envelopes and then another sealed envelope with the Inspector’s information in it. This was only to be opened on the day, containing the CD and a booklet for the inspector.

The parts were fairly simple, which made dressing up in costume easy. I have to admit I felt a little bit sorry for Erika as we usually go all out for Birthday Murder Mysteries (previous ones include Alice in Wonderland, Hunger Games, Fairytale etc.) but as with Amy’s a few months before, we did the best we could and it actually turned out great.

Father Twitcher – The Priest of Treddlethorpe All Sinners. A keen birdwatcher, Father Twitcher always comes with a pair of binoculars as well as a dog collar.
Jenny Wren – Newest member of the congregation, Jenny has only recently joined Treddlethorpe All Sinners and is somewhat a mystery but, despite dressing quite plainly to suit her shy nature, she is a bit of a looker!
Eve Stropper – The live-in Irish housekeeper of Father Twitcher. With cloth hat and apron, Eve is a force to be reckoned with, “Will you have a cup of tea? Go on, go on, go on…”
Arthur Jobdone – Caretaker and Handyman. With a tool belt and pockets full of interesting “might come in handy’s” Arthur is a somewhat grubby fix-it man.
Richard Branston – Church Treasurer. Always in a suit and tie, Richard is a bit of a flashy business man.
Teena Biscuit – The church member responsible for tea and coffee. Warm, cuddly and comfortable, Teena is always available as a shoulder to cry on.
Ivan Anorak – Church secretary and avid train spotter. With pen and paper to hand, Ivan is always available to take minutes, devise a rota, or sort out room bookings. With his trusty thermos and wet weather gear, he is prepared for any conditions.

The theme was basically a murder within a church congregation, though at the Father’s house instead of in the church itself. Theming the evening wasn’t very easy but again I tried and I think it turned out okay!

A few days before, the girls and I made some stained glass windows. Although it wasn’t set in the church itself, we figured the Father’s Manse might still have stained glass windows. Then we pinched one of mum’s palm crosses which she still had left from Easter and that was pretty much our decor.

With the table I went for a fairly simple look. It was just a plain tablecloth, with a sort of bring and share to the food, feel. To reduce washing up I chose to have paper plates but in the end I used so many serving plates that it probably didn’t make much difference!

One of the great things about the Red Herring Games, is that their murder mysteries are just slightly flexible with their numbers. For example, our group is usually an odd number and its actually hard to get that. Recently though, one of our friends has not wanted to participate (dressing up and acting got a bit too much I think) so he still comes along to eat and socialise, but doesn’t partake in the game. With 8 people actually attending to play and a CD for the inspector, I was all set to go. However the great things was that the Inspector can actually be a read-in part, so I gave our friend the option to play along (without dressing up!) and he did. This made an 8 player game, 9 players, all at the drop of a hat!

Though I was worried about the theme of the game – I shouldn’t have been. It was actually pretty funny. Everyone seemed to enjoy the simplicity of the style, nothing too complicated or hard to work out. That said, only one person guessed the “murderer” so there was definitely plenty of throw off clues.

The highlight of the evening for me, was by far my brother’s costume AND his acting. He was hilarious and had all of us in stitches all evening. To be honest, we can always rely on him for a good show.

The food I did in three courses, despite it being buffet style. As the rounds are broken up, its always easiest to fit them to courses, so I just had to figure out a way to do that. First round of food was nibbles, second round of food was more the mains and third course was sweet stuff and cake. Everyone was completely stuffed though and our family was eating left overs for days!

It was a great night and though for the most part I know that’s because we have a great group of friends, I also know a good murder mystery helps! While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Murder at the Manse for a birthday party (it is hard to make the theme feel special), I would definitely recommend it for a random dinner party evening. Red Herring Games has a circus themed one that I would definitely love to try, but for now it will have to wait as we already have the next two plans in motion…

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Filed Under: Murder Mystery, product review Tagged With: birthday, costumes, dinner party, fancy dress, murder at the manse, red herring games, review

Week 18 – Monday Round-up

May 5, 2014 by Bel Leave a Comment

So its that time again! Trying to do it on time this week. I’m also going to try and make it quick as I’ve got a lot more to do than originally anticipated.

Last week was a good week for the most part. I full week of work and school, unlike the week before, but good nonetheless. There was nothing particularly notable about the beginning of the week, other than another Disney Princess picture from Megan.

My brother came around Tuesday night to catch up on OUAT and the rest of the week, evenings were spent either watching TV with Chris or doing stuff for my blog or the upcoming Murder Mystery. Thursday night I worked, which was both tiring but also nice because between work (ending at 2.30 and starting again at 5) I had the opportunity to wander into town which is rare these days. I picked up a ghastly dress for Saturday night’s murder mystery at £1.99 and also a cake book for £3. I also treated myself to a copy of Elle, because it had a free Benefit Porefessional sample with it. I popped into see Chris at work too (which has been a while since I did) taking him a chocolate love bird from Thorntons.

I was glad to see Friday as this week has seemed very tiring, probably because of working the extra shift on Thursday. Friday evening Megan and I made stained glass windows, ready for the Murder Mystery the next day and I have to admit they turned out good.

Friday night, Nat came around. We had a good chat and a catch up, also starting on baking the cakes I needed to make Erika’s cake. She stayed until pretty late but it was nice, despite the fact I was desperate to crawl into bed.

Saturday was a busy day. Needed to pop out to the post office, start making food for the murder mystery and occupy the kids all until my mum arrived. I baked some fresh bread which turned out beautifully too. Mum came for the girls around 2pm and when she left I went food shopping. The rest of my day was then spent baking, cooking and making food for the Murder Mystery that night. On top of that, I also finished off Erika’s cake, as you may have seen in my post yesterday.

The murder mystery was fun but that was really because of the people not the murder mystery itself. The food was all good but loads left as usual! At least we all have a lot of nibbles for the week! Yesterday, Chris and I got a bit of a lie in as mum had the kids. However when we did get up, we only bummed around and watched TV anyway until the kids got home. In the afternoon Chris went to see his sister, nephew and gran, all up at his Gran’s house. I was going to take the girls swimming but in all honesty I was still feeling exhausted so I gave it a miss.

We got ready for the girls to go to their dad’s, packed a bag and had dinner. However when he arrived there was a bit of an argument, Megan got upset and didn’t want to go. Because Megan didn’t want to go, Lily didn’t either. I hated that they were both missing out on going to their dad’s but at the same time didn’t want to force Megan if she was feeling upset. Despite inviting their dad in for a coffee while Megan decided how she felt, the girls ended up staying here last night. That means that everything I had planned for today is out the window, but I suppose its actually pretty nice to have them unexpectedly around for the day.

Now, as I said, I have a lot to do so I’m going to leave it at that. However, though I didn’t mention it yesterday, while everyone was celebrating “May The Fourth Be With You” and all that, it would have been my dad’s birthday. It would have been his 60th. I’m usually okay on May 4th, but perhaps with a mixture of everything else that ended up happening yesterday evening, I found myself quite upset. Luckily today I’ve woken up feeling better but it wouldn’t have been right not to at least give a nod to one of the greatest men I ever knew. Love you Dad.

Filed Under: Monday Round-up Tagged With: cake, Chris, dad, decorations, dinner party, Erika, fresh bread, friends, kids, Lily, may 4th, Megan, murder at the manse

Hi, my name is Bel!


I’m a forty something, mother of two, self-confessed geek!

Here on my blog you’ll find;
books I’ve read, clothes I’ve made, movies I’ve watched, cakes I’ve baked, products I’ve tried, places I’ve been, pictures I’ve taken… plus lots and lots of DISNEY!!

I’m a lifestyle blogger – covering a little of everything I love <3

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