ST. JOHNS, Mich. — There's a mystery afoot in St. Johns—a classic whodunnit at The Nordic Pineapple Bed and Breakfast. The "murder" in question, however, feels as real as a game of Clue.
Owners Kjersten and Greg Offenbecker opened the bed and breakfast in 2018 and have been hosting murder mysteries since 2019.
"Seven couples come together on Friday night—who don't really know each other—and by Saturday night at dinner, they're throwing each other under the bus," Kjersten said.
She and her sister write the murder mysteries themselves, and each one takes months to plan.
"They get a profile before they arrive, and it tells them who their character is, kind of what the premise of the murder is, all the background information that they need," Kjersten said. "It's intentionally a little vague, so you play that character however you want."
Last year, Dave Paul of Grand Rapids visited The Nordic Pineapple for a murder mystery party. He said it was so fun, he and his wife are going again this year.
"I'm not an actor by any stretch of the imagination, and it was a little bit difficult to get into character at first, but they made it so easy," Paul said.
It starts with a mixer Friday night with all the guests in character. Spoiler alert! One of the characters gets "murdered" before breakfast. The detective comes the next morning and the investigation begins.
"I ended up being the murderer the first time around, and that was a little nerve-wracking because I didn't want to be so bad at it that everybody could tell right away it was me," Paul said.
Then, the guests are sent on a scavenger hunt through St. Johns to collect clues.
"We leave envelopes at local merchants," Kjersten said.
They host these murder mystery parties three times a year with one in February and two in October. The next one is happening this weekend, and the last one the following weekend. They are both, unfortunately, already sold out.
On the bright side, the Offenbeckers will announce their 2023 dates on The Nordic Pineapple's Facebook page at the end of this month. Kjersten said they tend to sell-out within 10 days.
If 14 friends want to book a private murder mystery party any other time of year, Kjersten said they will do that too.
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