Hi guys I've been asked to come up with an idea for a murder mystery weekend for a casino in Reno. I have 5 actors and myself so I need six characters and a small plot, so far I have something along the lines of... couple sitting at the dinner table, wife is whining about everything, husband gets up and starts shouting, they have a blazing row about his infidelity months ago. Oh oh guess who walks in, the women he was unfaithful with and her new boyfriend, guess what, she's pregnant. After the three finish arguing the new boyfriend pipes in. Apparently the MC owes him half a million from a gambling debt. The new boyfriend is also a hitman and knows there's a half million bounty on MC's head from more gambling debts in Vegas. Either way he'll get his money back. So wifey has an excuse to kill him, pregnant lady he dumped also has a good excuse. Character number 6 needs to be a lone wolf also with a good reason to see MC dead, (any ideas?) MC takes a time-out and orders a drink from the bar, the bartender tells him a really expensive and very special old Brandy has been bought for him. MC drinks it and keels over - he's dead. The public have to work out who killed him. Or any ideas to scrap this altogether and come up with something new and fun? PS I'm not writing a book here, just a small script for max 6 people that has to be fun and I'm scouting for ideas from you lovely people.
It sounds good. I'd glamourise it a little, though, Agatha Christie style. Make them all rich, beautiful gowns, trips to faraway places, hidden relationships from long ago and motive to perhaps be money. Inventive way of executing a murder, a rare poison, people who aren't what they seem to be, maybe even have the wrong person be knocked off the first time, so another person dies later (which will throw the audience off, and make them consider completely different motives). My favourite is also one of the server staff being a long lost child or something, that can go in different directions, depending on whether they know or not, or if they are pissed off with the parent who abandoned them. I could go on I hope his helps!
One thing - will this be a one-shot, or will there be multiple runs? If the latter, you may need to consider endings where each of the surviving characters is the murderer. That way, anyone who is there more than once will have a fresh experience. of course that also means dropping different clues, so your giving folks a fair shot at solving it.
He fakes his own murder and acts dead. Of course he will have to have an accomplice that tries to make the others look guilty. It's a little different than just your traditional 'who-done-it.' Say he fakes his murder in order to leave his wife for his mistress? There are all kinds of angles you can take.
