Murder mysteries – why we love them!

Samantha PillingEntertainment, Latest News

Murder Mystery

One of the most popular entertainment nights we host at Grim’s Dyke hotel, is our comedy Murder Mystery evenings. You get to enjoy a 3-course meal with wine, whilst also turning amateur sleuth, as you watch a full performance from a cast of 6 or 7 professional actors.

But why do we British love a good murder mystery – especially as we didn’t even invent them?

We may not have invented the murder mystery, but we DID perfect them.

British authors such as Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, P.D. James, Arthur Conan Doyle and G.K. Chesterton bought us classic murder mysteries, all created using a standard set of ‘rules’. Even W.S. Gilbert bought us murder and intrigue through his operettas. But what makes a good murder mystery?

A good murder mystery must include:

  • A big house
  • A large number of guests
  • A death on the first evening
  • Most, if not all, of the guests must become suspects
  • The police are always called
  • The actual murder will be solved by an amateur sleuth – that just happens to be one of the guests

But these ‘rules’ only effectively work in a traditionally British setting. We just so happen to have the perfect inheritance laws (something most murder mysteries are connected with), we have smaller families (meaning more friends, as opposed to family members, would be at a typical dinner party) and being a whodunit detective isn’t a professional career!

The murder mystery genre really came into its own in the 1800’s. The characters used in these ‘sensational’ novels were often linked to real-life murder stories – stories that gripped the imagination of a nation. However, people had had enough of blood and gore. They’d been effected greatly by war, death, horror and violence so, in these novels, the murder frequently happened off-scene; was rarely described in detail and seldom gruesome.

Murder was a crime that was often solved with intellect. It was more to do with brain and less to do with heroism and bravery. It therefore, had little to do with the sleuths age, gender or physique – so a little old lady could just as easily solve a murder, as could a young woman or man or even a wheelchair bound person.

But predominantly, a murder mystery also ticks the box for a common desire – to see good triumph over evil. We want the guilty to be caught and the mystery solved. Quite simply, we love it when all of the loose ends have been tied up and there is a definite end to the story – a story that, until the very end, often has the ability to make the hairs on the back of our neck stand on end and wonder who an earth actually ‘dunit’.

Fancy yourself as an Amateur Sleuth?

Then join us one of one of our popular Murder Mystery Comedy Dinners (these run ever couple of months so please see our Events Calendar for a suitable date).

Deer-stalkers not obligatory!

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