How to Play Murder Mystery

Pick a person to be the murderer. This person will mingle with everyone else at the party. She can introduce herself, talk and laugh like everyone else. However, when she winks at another guest, that guest is dead. That guest must see the wink to know that he is dead, so she cannot wink at the back of someone's head, then go and tell him that he has been murdered. Usually the host will select the murderer.

Choose a way to identify "dead" guests. You might only allow him or her to visit the snack table after being killed or limit a certain food to murdered members of the party. This will help guests that are still alive track down the murderer by tracking who gets the murder marker when and trying to figure out who they were talking to just before they were "killed."

Have the living guests try to identify the murderer. If you are murdered before you finger the killer, then you continue to mingle but you cannot tell who the murderer is, even if you are speaking with them in a group. Once someone spots the killer, you can move on to other party entertainments or select a new killer and play again.