This past weekend, I was murdered, and my husband unmasked the killer. We also enjoyed a delicious meal and great companionship, helped a local senior residence, and found new readers for Agatha Annotated. It was definitely one of our most unique marketing efforts!
Here’s how it all happened: Way back in the spring, we were introduced to Susan Cincinelli, the executive director of the Atrium at Oak Crest in Elgin, Illinois, who has been on staff for more than fifty years. Oak Crest itself has been housing older adults for more than 120 years! Impressed by this history, as well as by the delicious lunches they serve to the public every Friday, we offered to present our “Lost Lingo” talk at Oak Crest.
That jump-started a months-long mystery series involving Don and me. We started in June with a showing of Peter Ustinov’s Evil Under the Sun, after which I gave a little talk about Poirot in the books and in the movies. In July, we gave our “Lost Lingo” talk, and then in August, Don’s old-time radio theatre troupe performed two Agatha Christie radio plays. The grand finale was last Saturday, a murder mystery dinner.
I write way more history than fiction, so coming up with a murder mystery was a challenge! We tried to keep it simple and fun, with a little audience participation, but no pressure to take part. The four suspects were played by some of the actors from Don’s radio group. Don was the detective, and in keeping with the Agatha Christie theme, he played it as Sven Hjerson, Ariadne Oliver’s fictional detective.
I was the victim, Vivian Starling, a fake spiritualist with at least four enemies:
- Felix, a washed-up magician I abandoned during my vaudeville days
- MayBelle, a true believer whom I ridiculed while pursuing commercial success
- Teddi, a friend I used and abused along the way
- Gloria, the club manager I bankrupted by breaking our contract for a better one.
Although I’m getting (a little) better, standing in front of people is most definitely not my favorite thing to do. Readers like presentations, and I do get enthusiastic about the subject, so I do them, but I’m pretty nervous beforehand. Acting in something like this murder mystery was a huge stretch for me!
I was still messing up my lines in the rehearsal right before guests started arriving, but I am relieved to report that everything went well when the time came. I was only in the spotlight for a few minutes, got promptly poisoned, and died quietly offstage.
We were delighted that so many of the guests dressed up in 1920s attire like we did! It really added to the fun. The staff at Oak Crest served a spectacular dinner, from stuffed mushroom appetizers to creamy sauced chicken, and Katie created a stunning “murder” cake decorated with shards of “glass” and dripping with “blood!”
The actors, John, Jennifer, Nicole, and Mary, worked the room with their clever improv, accusing each other of murder and trying not to implicate themselves. I heard lots of laughter, and everyone seemed to be having a fabulous time! I’m happy to report that Agatha Annotated found new readers, and we added new names to our email list. But most importantly, Oak Crest successfully raised funds and awareness for their scholarship program to support residents who have outlived their resources.
This event required a lot of hard work from a number of people, and I’m eternally grateful to all of them! Pulling it off was a challenge, but it was also a lot of fun. If you are an author, you know we are always trying to come up with new ways to find readers. Here is your invitation to go ahead and try something off the wall, too! Let me know how it goes.