DC Endeavour Morse Mystery Party {pt. 2 Games, dinner, dessert, and family portrait(s)}

Now for the fun and games!

With the fog still rolling about our living room,

and after a terrible time finding

a dry erase marker that actually worked,

the games began.

To dole out the characters, we played Hangman. And they were all characters apart of the story surrounding our mysterious mystery guest, Endeavour.

 

The first one to guess the name became that person.

The boys were not too keen on the idea of getting a girl's name.

But as it turned out, there was only one female among them, and Mama guessed her.

I received Police Constable Jim Strange's identity card. Splendid chap. And he turned out to be one of my favorites!

After everyone had their characters, we used Morse Code to decipher the names of the victims and the suspects!

A lovely little card to help us out.

Whoever figured out the codes on the board first got to open the character envelope and read all about them.

After we had all the names, the mystery began. Murder and intrigue.

With all the characters in place, the clues began dropping in. One by one. And with DC Endeavour Morse, DI Fred Thursday, PC Jim Strange, Chief Superintendent Bright, DS Peter Jakes, Dorothea Frazil and Dr. Max DeBryn, we set off to uncover the grisly murderer.

And one by one, three other victims fell at the hand of the murderer.

But with Chief Superintendent(William) leading the way, we made after him/her, and at dinner all was revealed . . . Mm. Dinner. Above, our glorious roast!

Dinner consisted of mushroom soup to begin with.

Pardon the little interruption to dinner here, but if you look closely - the petals of the floating rose slowly melted away throughout dinner. We thought it was so fascinating.

Lovely Dawna in the candlelight.

And a few more decorations I missed before.

Wonderful Mother.

It was during this fine meal, the team of detectives received a little card and envelope on which to write the name of the suspect they suspected most. The envelopes handed in, Hannah read to us the ending of our mystery.

An enraged sister had murdered her adopted brother to secure for herself the family fortune, but not only that, the love of her expensive fiance, and the appreciation of her mean, crippled mother. But to cover up the scheme, she murdered her brother's real mother and a neighbor who had witnessed her. To put the blame upon the unstable Greg Pasty, she also murdered his wife, to make it seem as though the man had gone on a mad rampage, thus burying her murders deep into a man's wounded past. But she was not smart enough for Endeavour Morse and his team!

We found her out and justice was served. Bravo! Now, back to dinner.

More delicious white truffles.

I loved the potatoes. Baked first, then hand mashed with the potato masher (right, sister?), instead of whipped up with the hand mixer. So delicious.

Served with the potatoes: roast and Brussels sprouts, then Yorkshire pudding. Needless to say, we felt like proper Englishmen after that meal!

The dishes cleared away and the thought of dessert on our minds, we gathered for a family portrait to mark this successful endeavor of ours. But, as you can see from the following photos, it was a little harder, and a little more hilarious, to achieve a serious family portrait than initially expected.

First, the camera had to be set up at the far end of the room, from which the photographer had to run in heels, too small for her feet, clear to the other side before the self-timer went off. This, combined with a blinking red light, too much grape juice and the lateness of the evening, it made for an atmosphere in which everything, absolutely everything, was hilariously funny to everyone.

Joseph and I are not good at hiding our emotions as well as our family, it appears. As the pictures above can attest, we were in a very silly mood. And Joseph being Joseph could not hold his laughter in for the final five seconds before the camera went off. Twice this happened, and everyone groaned accordingly after it was announced that another go was needed.

Third time is not always the charm. In an effort to look snobbish and aloof, Joseph squinted too much, resulting in a blink.

Then at last, we managed to restrain ourselves long enough for the camera to take the photo. After four tries. Goodness. The perfect family portrait. Complete with wine glass and pipe.

Then it was all hurry and scurry to change and have dessert, and at last meet our mystery guest, Detective Constable Endeavour Morse, Oxford, England.

Now. THIS, my friends, is DESSERT. Birch de Noel.

Meringue Mushrooms, and more truffles!

Coconut pieces.

Frozen rosemary sprigs.

Oh. Heaven on a tray.

We stood looking and staring for a full ten minutes before anyone had the courage to cut it. How Hannah summoned the courage to molest this creation, I cannot fathom! But it was oh, so glorious. I wish I had not been so full from dinner, I might have enjoyed it more!

We gathered in the living room and here at last met our guest. And enjoy him we did! Incomprehensible murders, intelligence beyond compare, and very lovable characters, Endeavour is now a family favorite, and we anxiously await the series return in July this year.

Well done, Hannah. Your best mystery party yet! We all loved it. It shall go down in family history.

And so ends our mystery party adventure. If you missed the first post, you may find it here. And to read about Hannah's other party, visit this post here.

Much love,

Kayla