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1930s: Not every one who plays The Murder Game survives…
A Man Lay Dead
What you need to know before your trail
A game at a country-house party between the two world wars – servants bustling, gin flowing, the gentlemen in dinner jackets, the ladies all slink and smolder. Even more delicious: The host, Sir Hubert Handesley, has invented a new and especially exciting version of that beloved parlor entertainment, The Murder Game.
Travel Guide
Travel BookTrail style to a murderous manor house in “Frantock”
In a fictional country manor…
The plot concerns a murder committed during a detective game of murder at a weekend party in a country house. The guests include Sir Hubert’s niece (Angela North), Charles Rankin (a 46- or 47-year-old man about town), Nigel Bathgate (Charles’s cousin and a gossip reporter), Rosamund Grant, and Mr and Mrs Arthur Wilde. Also in attendance are an art expert and a Russian butler.
During the detective game of murder, one of the guests is secretly selected to be the murderer, with a victim of his own choosing. At the time of the murderer’s choice, he taps the victim on the shoulder, indicating that “You’re the corpse”. At that point, the lights go out, a gong rings, and then everyone assembles to determine who did it. It is all intended to be light-hearted fun, except that the corpse is for real.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: A Man Lay Dead
Destination: England “Frantock” Author/guide: Ngaio Marsh Departure Time: 1930s
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