These Murder Mysteries are all designed to have some element of audience interaction - the audience has to work out
whodunnit.
Whilst some of them are structured as plays (where actors perform a script), there is always additional audience involvement.
If you are
looking for a conventional whodunnit play (with no audience involvement other than the pleasure of watching)
then please
look here.
The Perfect Murder
There are lots of ways of structuring a murder mystery.
(Each time we think we've seen them all, an author pops up with another variation.)
Here, we have tried to break the mysteries down into categories, to help you browse for the sort of mystery you are looking for.
(If you have more specific requirements, such as a specific number of characters, the
Murder Mystery Search Engine may help.)
There are lots of overlaps between the categories, so don't be surprised if you find the same mystery in two places.
There's also our
Hot List of best-selling murder mysteries.
(Note that these are listed by popularity, so the scripts are a mix of the categories below.)
Generally, the actors play one or more scripted scenes, ending in a murder.
The audience members interrogate the cast members in some way.
The audience members try to work-out whodunnit.
Generally, the actors play one or more scripted scenes, ending in a murder.
The audience members try to work-out whodunnit
(often with some additional information such as written clues).
The actors perform partly from a script and
partly by improvising from character briefs and other information.
The audience members try to work-out whodunnit.
The actors improvise the dialogue from a "narrative arc" (the plot!) and
character briefs (back-stories, relationships, motivation, etc.)
The audience members try to work-out whodunnit.
(These tend to be less serious and more suitable for boisterous audiences!)
Looking at this from a different perspective...
The actors
and audience behave as if brought together for a special event.
The event has a theme (generally an era or genre).
The cast
and audience dress appropriately for the theme.
The cast perform a murder mystery.
The audience members try to work-out whodunnit.
The actors
and audience behave as if brought together for a special event.
The theme of the event does not require any special costume.
The cast perform a murder mystery.
The audience members try to work-out whodunnit.
And yet another perspective...
Generally, a company of actors perform to an audience.
The audience members try to work-out whodunnit.
Mysteries for private parties where some or all of the guests take the roles.
The party guests try to work-out whodunnit.
Footnote
You may have noticed that for our scripted plays, we display the entire script on-line.
We don't do that for Murder Mysteries.
The reason is that some groups award prizes for their murder mysteries.
For a play, if an audience member reads the script they may spoil it for themselves.
For a murder mystery, they spoil it for everyone else!
Therefore instead of the full script, we have downloadable "taster packs"
(available from the individual murder mystery pages).
These give a flavour of the structure and content, but never reveal the solution!