Murder mystery solved over soup at the Charles City Library

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

Murder was afoot at the Charles City Public Library on Friday, Jan. 27, as community members came together to solve a role-playing mystery.

“It went well,” said Library Director Annette Dean. “It seems like people had fun.”

The library hosted a similar event in January of 2020, one of the last events it held before the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week the program saw its triumphant return as 34 participants signed up to take part in the mystery game, part of the Cabin Fever Weekend slate of activities promoted by the Charles City Area Chamber of Commerce.

The evening began with a meet-and-greet over dinner, with food sponsored by Kwik Star, as 20 guests interacted with 14 character actors playing parodies of popular 1980s personalities, getting to know their quirks, histories, and potential motives for murder.

“It’s a good time,” said Joanna Thompson. “I think they’re playing their roles pretty well.”

After mingling with the 80s-themed celebrities, dinner was abruptly interrupted by the death of actor “Alligator Dundee,” played by Josh Mack, who was left to haunt the party as a ghost while the guests gathered clues from the surviving actors to figure out whodunit.

“There was a period of time where everybody interviewed each other again,” said Dean. “After that, they had to make a final decision to figure out who it was.”

Once all of the forensics had been gathered and questions asked, the guests gathered for an accusation round where they named their primary suspects out of the surviving characters. Dean says that Ellen Smith successfully sleuthed out the murderer, naming singer/songwriter “Lindy Lauper,” played by Lisa Chatfield, as the killer.

The murder mystery event is popular enough that Dean is considering putting on another one later this year, though the behind the scene work that it takes to line up a sponsor, print out character sheets, and recruit volunteers may limit how frequently she can put on the show.

“We might do one in the summer,” said Dean. “Otherwise it will be next year.”