Murder Mystery: Murder at Blackout Afternoon Tea

Murder at Blackout Afternoon Tea opens at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre on Thursday 3 December, and it runs through to Saturday 5 December. It's presented by DBY Interactive, and the whole thing is exactly what the title says: a theatrical murder mystery served alongside a traditional afternoon tea. The idea is that you're invited to think like a detective and piece together the clues as you eat, so the high tea and the mystery happen at the same time rather than one after the other.

The story takes place in a public air-raid shelter on a cold December day in 1943. A travelling journalist turned amateur detective has been evacuated underground as the bombs fall, and with the surrounding shelters flooded, the locals are forced into the same bunker. Tensions flare, someone is killed, and the group remains trapped inside, tasked with catching the killer before they strike again while uncovering secrets, political sabotage, scandals and corruption. It's a closed-room setup in the most literal sense—everyone is stuck together in the shelter, and the killer is one of them.

Because it's an afternoon tea, you'll be eating and drinking while the drama unfolds around you. The production blends the elegance of the sitting with the suspense of live theatre, mixing the culinary side with the dramatic twists of the plot. It's a bit of a double-bill in one go: you get the tea and the show together, and you're expected to keep an eye on the clues between bites.

Tickets are £42, and that includes the afternoon tea. The run is short—Thursday 3 December through to Saturday 5 December—so if you're keen, you'll want to pick your date early. You can find it at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre, 5-11 Hope Street, L1 9BH.