Murder and Mayhem

L-R Lesley Kelly, Wendy Jones, me, Jackie McLean, Chris Longmuir
Photo credit: Wendy Jones

A couple of Saturdays ago, a posse of writers descended on Arbroath Library for a morning of Murder and Mayhem. The picture above shows us all larking about (for a photographer from the local paper) before the session.

The event was absolutely hilarious! One of the audience was the 'murder victim' who took a sip of a drink and then fell to the floor as if poisoned. At least one of the audience thought it was for real and started to leap up to help!

At this point, one of the library staff, Christine, donned a police officer's hat and brandished a plastic truncheon and 'arrested' all the authors on suspicion of murder. We then had to answer a set of questions, after which the audience had to guess which of us was 'guilty'.

None of it was scripted, beyond us agreeing what the questions were, for Christine. Consequently, it was a complete riot. The first question was, "Where were you immediately before this event?" to which Wendy answered that she was interviewing one of the local prostitutes, Nicky Knickersonandoff, for background information for her new novel. I'm sure you get the picture of how the event went!

Lots of props on the table!
Photo credit: Wendy Jones

I love doing these kind of things - great interaction with the audience, a fun time with fellow authors, and making new friends in the libraries. My only problem was that I felt very under-propped in comparison with Wendy and Chris who brought skulls, daggers, a noose and various other props with them to decorate the table, as can be seen in the picture. I've tried to remedy that by ordering myself some antique poison bottles and a table-top skeleton. I was seriously tempted by the life-size skeletons available but thought they would probably take up too much space.

The next stop on the Murder and Mayhem tour is on 21st September, 2017, 6.30pm at St Andrews Waterstones. You can see the Facebook link here. Come along! It should be a fantastic night.

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