Travel review: Magical murder mystery weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon

Travelling towards my first murder mystery weekend at the Macdonald Alveston Manor Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon, I was hopeful that, being in Shakespeare country, the thespian skills on show would be top rate, and happily I can say they were just that!

Myself and my companion attended a one night weekend at £152.50 per person. Guests could also stay for two nights at £210 per person. The plot was called Act of Desperation.

These events sell out fast and we were lucky to get in. I learned that although staged at beautiful country hotels round the country, the events themselves are organised and run through a professional theatre group company called The Killing Game.

The team first came together in the early 1990s. Bringing together a variety of theatrical and business skills, they share a love of good writing, good performance and fiendish mysteries. The murder mystery events began in a very similar format to the one they use today, although the format has been honed over the years. The company was formed in 2000, when it became apparent this was no longer a hobby they were passionate about, but a business.

After getting the last two places for a weekend, I was emailed confirmation of our booking together with what it included – afternoon tea on arrival Saturday, black tie dinner and bed and breakfast Sunday. I was also sent background information on what to expect. This set the scene about a weekend for amateur dramatic enthusiasts. It was being run by a theatre groups' association and us guests had to pretend to be amateur actors/back stage hands etc from a local theatre group. We were supposedly there to attend workshops aimed at organising an anniversary celebratory performance to mark the association's 25th year. I received a pretend timetable (with obviously no murders planned in it) and a real one telling us how the actual weekend would unravel. We were given clues about one member of the performing cast – other guests would get clues about others.

We were expected to be prepared to interrogate the performers. We would not to be given actual parts (phew!), but would be encouraged to play along as little or as much as we wanted. We were warned that the actors would be in character throughout the entire weekend. This did happen, as on more than one occasion we came upon one going back and forth to our room, and they continued to talk to us about the weekend or their shock at a murder etc. Very good!

After checking in we were very pleased with our excellent contemporary room. And throughout the weekend the food was divine and the staff faultlessly helpful and efficient. It was also a stunningly beautiful hotel to stay in.

Things kicked off at 4pm with tea/coffee and scones with jam and clotted cream. Yum yum. The room soon filled up and we began to guess who the actors were (they proved to be very talented, equity card holding professionals, who had a cheeky sense of humour and a big dose of dramatic aplomb!)

They started to circulate, introducing themselves and sitting with the guests. After a few scenes with clues being cleverly dropped for an attentive audience to pick up, followed by more mingling, we were soon gaining enough confidence to begin interrogating. But be warned, if you are too nosey or rude you will soon get their back up (all in the cause of entertainment of course). Their funniest reaction was when the guests all quickly ran to visit the first "corpse" and started taking photographs of "the scene of the crime". "I can't believe you're taking photographs!", gasped one loudly – "this is quite dreadful!"

From 5.30pm to 7.20pm your time was your own. Later, glammed up for the evening, we arrived for drinks where things recommenced. Thoughout a delicious four course dinner the cast members took turns to sit at our shared table, enabling questioning and clue swapping. During the evening more scenes unfolded around us. Action ended around 10.30pm. Breakfast was from 8am-9am. Between 9.30am and 10.30am we got another chance to confront the suspects before yet another murder was discovered. Any guest coming across a corpse had to react accordingly – "There's been another murder" said one to the room while trying to keep his face straight. After reading paper clues displayed on police-style boards, at 10.30am we filled in answer forms to guess the murderer before her/her/they were finally revealed at 11am. We were then given certificates marking our sleuthing prowess and a full typed explanation of the plot. What great fun this had been. Would we go again? "Definitely Luvvie Darling".