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Mystery Factory

THE ULTIMATE MYSTERY RESOURCE

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how to write a mystery party

Cluetrails

cluetrail4Wanting to please everyone, has long been a trait of mine; some would call it a failing, yet I’m still sure it can be done, at least with mysteries. I want to have as many mystery party themes as possible available at MysteryFactory.com – something for everyone – with as little work as possible. Laziness is another trait of mine. Luckily there is a way it can be done.

I am going to write six different cluetrails and plug them into eighteen different mysteries; three mysteries per cluetrail.

A cluetrail is different from a mystery. The cluetrail is the path of clues that a sleuth follows to solve the mystery, and the mystery is the forest the path runs through … or the desert, town, castle, or anywhere ‘evil lurks in the heart of men’. A path can run anywhere. A cluetrail can be made to fit any theme.

It’s quite exciting to come up with scenario that works just as well in the late 1800s of Paris and in contemporary Hollywood. Poison can go anywhere though, just like a cluetrail.



In a Word

Here’s a question that has puzzled me for a long time: I have always considered the three elements of a crime leading to the solution as Motive, Method and Opportunity while others state the elements as Motive, Method and Means. Could someone please define the difference between Opportunity and Means for me. I’m thinking it might just be a matter of alliteration but I could be missing a finer point.




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