The Hub March 2016 | Page 8

Angelica Haggert While continuing our Exploring Matters Bucket List for 2016, in February my friends and I went Cruising …For Murder … Okay, it’s not as crazy as it sounds. Using a downloadable PDF from Night of Mystery, we became a variety of characters and went sailing aboard the Mystery of the Seas on our own Murder Mystery evening. Murder mysteries don’t happen nearly often enough in my opinion. What a great opportunity to be someone else! The download came with 12 characters that I, as the host, divvied up amongst my willing friends. I, of course, was a billionaire’s daughter and the Captain’s wife, come on board to save my marriage to my cheating husband… I won’t get into the messy details, but each character’s description was well drawn out. Upon arrival at the party, cruisers were given an envelope revealing character traits and objectives they had to portray before the murder occurred - and one character found out that they were, in fact, the murderer! One person also unfortunately found out that they were soon to die, but the setup allowed for that character to then lead the investigation into their death. To prepare for the adventure, there was a lot of printing and envelope stuffing, but the preparation effort was well worth the looks on my friends’ faces as they walked in with their costumes on. Certificates for Best Dressed, Best Character, and The Smoking Gun (for those who guessed the killer correctly) were handed out. The whole party took about two hours. “The most difficult part was helping Decorating your space and having your guests dress in character add to the fun of a Murder Mystery Evening. Check out Night of Mystery to download your own adventure with the preparation - I wanted to look at everyone’s information,” says Drake Baird, who played the Captain of the ship and helped me decorate and get organized before the event.