The murder mystery themes that work best put the story somewhere your guests have never been, in a year before any of them were born: a night train, a villa, a riverboat, a desert excavation. Distance is what makes it fun to accuse your friends, because every accusation lands on a character. Here are 14 themes, each with a costume detail you can put on in five minutes, a record to play, one dish, and how many people it takes. Eleven of them are Guilty Party cases; three are themes we have no case for.
Europe between the wars
1. A villa on the Riviera, 1928
A house party on the Côte d'Azur, champagne on the terrace, a lunar eclipse after dinner. The easiest theme on this list to dress for.
- Wear: a linen jacket or a silk scarf.
- Play: twenties dance bands, and Josephine Baker once the drinks are poured.
- Serve: pan bagnat, the Niçoise sandwich that is better made hours ahead.
- Case: The Eclipse, where a famous diamond turns to glass in four minutes of darkness. Free, four to six players.
2. The night train, 1927
A sleeping car from Paris to Budapest, a violinist on his way to a competition, a tunnel.
- Wear: a hat and gloves, and a travelling coat you keep on.
- Play: Bartók's Romanian Folk Dances, in any recording with a violin.
- Serve: a pot of goulash on low, as the dining car would.
- Case: The Northern Express, with a Stradivari gone after the lights go out. Four to six players.
3. A snowed-in grand hotel, 1899
Gaslight, a mountain nobody has climbed in winter, and a hotel cut off from the valley by snow. The closest thing to a ghost story on the shelf.
- Wear: a heavy knit, or a waistcoat with a watch chain.
- Play: Strauss waltzes. Johann Strauss II died in 1899, the year the case is set.
- Serve: a pot of cheese fondue in the middle of the table.
- Case: The Winter Ascent. Four to six players.
America in the jazz age
4. Carnival in New Orleans, 1926
Twelfth Night, the first ball of the carnival season, a krewe that has opened it the same way for forty years.
- Wear: a mask. Nothing else is needed.
- Play: Jelly Roll Morton and his Red Hot Peppers, who were recording that same year.
- Serve: a king cake with a bean baked inside.
- Case: The King Cake. Four to six players. For more on running a carnival night, see the murder mystery party ideas.
5. A riverboat card game, 1927
A paddle steamer between Memphis and New Orleans, fog on the river, an invitation-only game in the texas lounge.
- Wear: a waistcoat, with a deck of cards in the pocket.
- Play: Louis Armstrong's Hot Five, recorded between 1925 and 1928.
- Serve: pecan pralines, made the day before.
- Case: The River Palace, where the owner puts a deed into the bank of the game. Four to six players.
6. Derby day, 1935
The first Saturday in May in Louisville, and a favourite in Barn 7 who is not quite the horse he should be.
- Wear: a big hat, or a seersucker jacket.
- Play: "My Old Kentucky Home", which has been sung at the Derby since the 1920s.
- Serve: mint juleps and Benedictine sandwiches, the Louisville cucumber spread.
- Case: The Morning Line. Four to six players.
7. A radio station, 1938
New York on October 30, 1938, the night of Orson Welles's Martian broadcast, and a rival station that goes silent for ninety seconds. It falls the night before Halloween, which makes it the obvious October theme; the Halloween murder mystery party plan is built around it.
- Wear: a bow tie, or red lipstick and a string of pearls.
- Play: Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall concert.
- Serve: a Waldorf salad, invented at the Waldorf in New York.
- Case: Dead Air. Four to six players.
After the war
8. A newsroom, 1948
The night desk of a New York paper, a columnist's farewell column, and the name the whole building expects to find in it.
- Wear: rolled shirtsleeves and a pencil behind one ear.
- Play: the Nat King Cole Trio.
- Serve: pastrami on rye from the nearest deli.
- Case: The Final Edition. Exactly four players.
9. A Paris jazz cellar, 1949
A club in Saint-Germain, a quartet, and the only recording of a set half of Paris claims to have heard.
- Wear: a black turtleneck.
- Play: Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, who both played the Paris jazz festival in May 1949.
- Serve: a baguette, a wedge of Camembert and a bottle of red.
- Case: The Second Set. Exactly four players.
10. An excavation in Egypt, 1936
A dig house in the Theban hills, the ninth season of an expedition that has run out of money, and a queen's diadem found at last.
- Wear: a khaki shirt and a scarf against the dust.
- Play: Umm Kulthum, the biggest voice in Egypt through the thirties.
- Serve: flatbread, hummus and a bowl of dates.
- Case: The Ninth Season. Four to six players.
11. A film shoot on a Greek island, 1962
Day thirty-nine of a forty-day shoot, one village street, and one telephone on the whole island.
- Wear: sunglasses and a headscarf.
- Play: Manos Hadjidakis, whose "Never on Sunday" won the Oscar for best song in 1961.
- Serve: a Greek village salad with plenty of bread.
- Case: The Last Reel. Four to six players.
Three themes we have no case for
These are popular, and they work well, but no Guilty Party case is set in any of them. They suit a printable kit, which is also the better choice for groups larger than six.
12. A Wild West saloon, 1880s
- Wear: a bandana or a cowboy hat.
- Play: saloon piano and fiddle tunes.
- Serve: beans and cornbread.
- Players: any number; most kits run from eight to twenty.
13. A Hollywood premiere, 1950s
- Wear: sunglasses indoors, or a bow tie.
- Play: Sinatra's records from his Capitol years.
- Serve: a shrimp cocktail.
- Players: any number, and it scales well past twenty.
14. The 1980s
- Wear: shoulder pads or a neon sweatband.
- Play: a synth-pop playlist.
- Serve: a tray of nachos.
- Players: any number.