Murder Mystery

Scottish Castle Murder Mystery Kit

★ MURDER AT BALNAGAR — a 1963 Highland whodunit for 4-12 players ★

Get it on Etsy → Instant digital download · print at home

In February 1942 the laird's uncle was shot dead in the library at Balnagar. Hector Rae, a ghillie on the estate, was convicted on the evidence of the factor, Angus Fyvie, who swore he had seen Rae at the gun room window. Rae said he had not done it for twenty-one years and died saying it, in Peterhead, on Tuesday. His daughter brought him home to be buried in the glen, and the house gave the tea after the burial, because it has given the tea after every burial in this parish for two hundred years.

🎭 THE TWIST THIS ONE IS BUILT ON

Angus Fyvie came to the tea as well — seventy-nine, and not well, and he had told two people he meant to say a word at the graveside in the morning. They found him at eleven on Friday night in the library, where the other one happened, and the gun room window was standing open for the first time since 1939. Somebody has told that old story again tonight, in this room, deliberately. And to tell it deliberately you have to know it was never true.

🖼 FULLY ILLUSTRATED — NEW EDITION

• 12 painted character portraits, one on every character sheet

• A "Meet Your Characters" page so your guests can see the whole glen at a glance

• A painted cover of the library as it was found

Nobody hands out a plain sheet of text any more. Your guests get a face to play.

👤 12 CHARACTERS, EACH WITH A REAL SECRET

The 6 at the centre carry the mystery — the young laird of a wet estate who has never once in his life been asked where he was, the dead man's daughter who spent forty years in case files and asked the factor in October to sign a statement, the mistress of the house who has known something since 1942 and never asked a single question about it, the granddaughter who has had the old factor in her spare room since spring, the head keeper who was the one man in that court who said Rae was somewhere else, and the journalist whose paper has been paying the family for exclusive access.

6 more of the glen each get a full sheet of their own: a motive, an alibi, something they saw, and a reason to be nervous. Nobody at your table just watches.

📄 WHAT YOU GET — instant download, 23 pages

• Host Guide — how to run all three rounds

• At a Glance — the whole game on one page, safe to read even if you are playing

• The Tangle — who is covering for whom (host only)

• The Story — read aloud to open the night

• Meet Your Characters — the illustrated cast

• 12 Character Sheets — secret, alibi, what you know, and what to say in Round 3

• Clue Cards for all three rounds

• Accusation Sheets and printable invitations

• The Murderer’s Envelope — hand it to one guest, or leave it sealed and play along yourself

• The Solution — sealed at the back, read aloud at the end

🖨 HOW IT WORKS

1. Print. A4 and US Letter are both included — print at 100% on plain paper.

2. Hand out. One character sheet per guest. At 4 players you use the core 6; at 12 you hand out every sheet in the file.

3. Play. Three rounds, roughly 90-120 minutes. Clue cards go out at the top of each round.

4. Accuse. Everyone fills in an Accusation Sheet. Read the Solution page aloud — whoever names the murderer, the method AND the motive wins.

You can host AND play. No character sheet tells its owner they are the killer, so read your own and leave the last two pages — the Murderer’s Envelope and the Solution — in an envelope until the vote.

★ GREAT FOR ★

Dinner parties, game nights, girls’ nights in, birthday celebrations, Halloween gatherings, and evenings when a group of friends wants something to do together — small groups and large.

Teen & Adult · Instant digital download · Nothing is shipped · Print it again for the next party.