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PERHAM — There's been a murder in the town of Holly, and it's up to you to solve it! That is, at least, in the winter-holiday-themed murder mystery game, "Honeyed Holiday Homicide," created and distributed by library assistant Andrew Stewart at the Perham Area Public Library. The second kit of this kind written for the Perham community by Stewart, he's been working on honing and perfecting this craft.
"I'm part of these groups online that people from across the nation share programs that they do at libraries," Stewart shared. "And someone had done a (murder mystery) kit like this. And I thought, 'Oh, that sounds fun. We could do something like that.' So I started with what they had done and kind of compounded upon that."
And that's how the first kit came to be. After it was distributed and played by community members, the library took player feedback and started working on another. Through these changes, "Honeyed Holiday Homicide" was born.
Players delve into a world of crime, intrigue and baked goods in this holiday season's murder mystery game. When Jenna Baker, an aspiring patissier, gets the chance to participate in her town's televised and renowned baking competition, "Holly-Days Bake-Off," she's thrilled — that is, at least, until one of her fellow bakers is murdered, and she becomes the prime suspect. It's up to you, a new member of Holly's police force, to prove Jenna's innocence.
The game — split into three different categories of "Orient Yourself," "Narrow it Down" and "Solve it" — allows players with a passion for mystery-solving to delve deep into the world of sleuthing. This kit — made for those 16 years and older — is both entertaining and in-depth, complete with photos of the suspects, security camera footage information, timelines, police interviews, audio transcripts, crime scene photos and more.
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In the one to two hours the game takes to complete, players get the opportunity to really get to know the world of intrigue crafted by Stewart. While you're working to solve the Holly-Days Bake-Off murder, you also discover other secrets and drama kept close to the chests of all the characters.
The amount of work put into this entertaining holiday activity is clear as you get to unravel the mystery set in front of you, even complete with an enveloped confession note at the end to confirm or deny your suspicions.
A limited number of the kits, which can be played both alone and collaboratively, are available for free at the Perham Area Public Library.
Stewart made sure to emphasize that the Perham Area Public Library is constantly creating new programs, which are open to the public and available for free. To keep an eye out for future library programs and events, either check out the posters in the building or find them online at Facebook or their website, perhamlibrary.org .
"A lot of people really don't think about all of the processes that happen at a library and all the things that go into making programs," Stewart said when reflecting on creating the kit. "It can be a lot of fun, and it's really rewarding to make the kit, to finish the kit and then put it out."
