As a pre-Christmas celebration we (virtually) traveled to the Belfrey Hotel, run by Mr. and Mrs. Bookin for a traditional Christmas meal. Unfortunately, at the start of the festivities, the man supposed to be playing Santa for the evening was found dead in his room.
“Santa” had been murdered!
Yes we were at another online Murder mystery evening. This time by Red Herring Games.
Situated in the popular holiday destination of Torquay, on the English Riviera, this hotel is a magnificent building, retaining many of its original features (in other words, it’s in disrepair). This grand (large and drafty) building offers a unique respite from the bustling tourist scene (the hotel is difficult to find). Mr. and Mrs. Bookin retain a small staff (understaffed) and strive for a family atmosphere (in other words, there’s lots of arguing).
With the hotel in anarchy and the Bookin’s close to losing control, it leaves the guests with only one option; they must uncover the killer themselves as quickly as possible or run the risk of a, frankly quite worrying, overnight stay!Red Herring Games.
Review
This was a one night version of the very popular Red Herring’s virtual weekend murder mysteries. With suspects that looked uncannily like characters from another Torquay Hotel, we met :-
- Ivor Bookin – He could really enjoy running a hotel if it wasn’t for the guests who keep getting in the way.
- Phyllis Bookin – Hotel Manageress and Ivor’s wife, who is extremely good in a crisis.
- Vinnie De’Tableau – The hapless waiter with a limited grasp of the English language.
- Silvia Service – The waitress, who seems to be the only voice of sanity at The Belfrey Hotel.
- Cathy Terize – The local District Nurse who looks after The Belfrey Hotel’s longest resident.
The evening was a lot of fun with the actors throwing themselves into the parts – especially Ivor. Then there were a couple of murders. Well one murder and one extermination (of a Siberian hamster), if you get my drift.
We were put into breakout rooms with other guests to interrogate the suspects. As we didn’t have much to go on, it was difficult to know what to ask our first suspect but as the suspects came thick and fast we gradually build up an idea of who did what and why….
Then it was back to the main room for more action in the story before…….Another murder!
We returned to the break out rooms and questioned the suspects again. Back to the main room, the police gave us a poll to vote on who we thought was the guilty party (or parties). A good way to get everyone to vote on their own devise.
Then it was time to reveal all. Did we get it right?
No.
It turned out our breakout group had failed to uncover anything about a major subplot. However, I don’t feel we were alone in that omission, as only 7% of the audience got it right.
If staged again, I suggest the cast need to divulge more about a certain character from the get go. Maybe we were just unfortunate we got said character as the first person to interrogate in our room. There is being evasive and being extremely evasive to the point it obstructs the investigation. Not giving you a major chunk of the plot was excessive, I feel.
So a fun but faulty evening, in more ways than one.
