I should have planned it better!
1) The food was late
2) Guests were late
3) Some of the major characters didn't even bother to show up,
4) A few guests were not really mingling and needed a lot of cajoling to get them to participate
5) The murder victim was supposed to 'die' before dinner. However he could only do this after he'd had a few confrontations with certain guests. This was difficult because said guests turned up late or didn't show!!!
The food was getting cold!
I pulled him aside and said "Sod the guests, I need you to 'die' now!!!"
He nodded as though he understood and then I saw him wandering around the room, not dying!!
So I announce to the room
"Dinner is ready, and 'Big Jim' would like to make an 'announcement'".
I nod at him meaningfully as this is his cue to start the speech, that will set off the set of events leading to his death, i.e. lights go off, a loud gunshot is heard and then he 'dies' in dramatic fashion.
Instead he threw open the shutters to the kitchen and announced to all the guests
"Dinner is ready!!"
(groan)
It all went downhill at that point!
So while the guests were eating, he decided to 'die'. Of course, at this point people were more concerned about their dinner, and consequently there was very little reaction to his 'death'
We had a couple more 'deaths' later on in the evening- still no reaction. They were a hard crowd!
And then I forgot to give the inspector the 'Evidence'
Some said they enjoyed themselves!
I felt so bad!
Where did it all go wrong! I've organised 4 of these before and they have NEVER flopped!!!!
I'll need to do this again to convince myself that I am not a failure!
