Come help the Friends of the Irmo Branch Library solve “Murder on the Menu”  at our annual Murder Mystery Dinner Theater Saturday, July 29, at the River Center at Saluda Shoals Park. Tickets are on sale now!

Artemus Ward, head of the lucrative family publishing business, falls face first into his mashed potatoes, revealing a knife in his back.  Luckily, Dr. Bullfinger, an over-eager, newly elected county coroner, was dining at the restaurant and is eager to lead an investigation…  and give herself a career boost in the process!

It’s hard to say who did it considering everyone has a motive. Reginald, heir to the business?  Major, who wrote the company’s bestseller but hasn’t received his royalties?  Alexis, four-time widow of husbands who died at the dinner table?  The destitute nephew, Bernie, from the mailroom?  Or Eileen Morrow, a backstabbing attorney?

Attendees at this audience-participatory evening of fun, prizes and mystery will be entertained by local actors and other celebrities as Dr. Bullfinger enlists audience members as guests at The Manor Restaurant to help find the guilty party.

“The annual Friends of the Irmo Branch Library Murder Mystery Dinner is a highly anticipated event each year,” said Friends of the Irmo Branch Library President C. Grant Jackson. “This is our ninth production, and last year’s production of ‘Crab Cakes and Murder’ sold out in a few weeks.”

Sponsors for the 2023 Friends of  the Irmo Library Murder Mystery Dinner Theater include The Wheeler  Group/Coldwell Banker Realty and Cason Development Group.

The event includes a buffet meal, beer and wine tickets, an optional costume contest – come dressed as your favorite fictional detective – and door prizes. The Grand Prize will go to an audience member who solves the mystery. The evening starts at 6 p.m. and should end around 9:30 p.m. when the mystery is solved.

Tickets are $70 per person – priority seating available with a single purchase of a table for 8 — and can be purchased online https://FOIBL.eventbrite.com  or in person at the Irmo Branch Library at 6251 St. Andrews Road. The event is for those 18 or older.

Murder on the Menu was written by Bill Hand and is being produced by special arrangement with Pioneer Drama Service, Denver, Colorado.

The Friends of the Irmo Branch Library is a 501c(3) non-profit that supports the library’s programming through financial assistance, volunteerism and community awareness.