The Book: A super sharp mystery endowed with a vivid and extensive cast. In the Christie tradition, Raskin isolates a diverse group of strangers--the mysteriously hand-picked tenants of a new apartment building within sight of the old Westing mansion--and presents them with the information that one of them is the murderer. When they are assembled for a reading of old Westing's fiendish will, the group is paired off allotted with four one-word clues to the murderer's identity. As the winning pair is to inherit Westing's fortune, there is much secret conferring, private investigating, far-out scheming, and snitching and scrambling of the teasing, enigmatic clues. (Adapted from the Kirkus reviews)
The Fun: Adjusting our time to a 4 o’clock meeting, we hosted a mystery party--Murder & Mayhem at the Old DoomMansion purchased online at www.mymysteryparty.com . Invitations and characters were sent out ahead of time. Girls arrived in costume and character. Food was served, courtesy of Shin Hoo’s Chinese Restaurant (a restaurant and frequent setting in The Westing Game). Activities includedHow’d I Die and a Mystery Scramble Challenge, all provided with the purchase of the game. Our meeting came to close after the girls all read their final clues and lines, and an unsuspecting Olivia realized that she was the murderer of Dr. Doom. As our meeting and mystery party came to a close, the Saunders’ Annual Halloween Screen on the Green began. More munchies and an outdoor viewing of The Mummy. Oodles of fun!
The Vote: Emma presented the following books. Meeting TBD. Sometime in February.
- The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John WINNER
- Masterpiece by Elise Broach
- Scarlett by Cathy Cassidy
Changes/Updates: Cassie & Susan passed their opportunity to invite a new mom/daughter group onto Odessa & AiYing. Hopefully, their pair will attend our meeting in January.
