Thinking of having a party, but tired of the same old themes? Try a Mystery Party. It gives all the guests a chance to be in the lime light!

Young or old, party-goers will get a kick out of dressing in costumes and acting out their parts. Plus, everyone loves a good mystery and even the suspects can try to solve the case.

If you're feeling adventurous, you can write your own script and cast of characters. If you're too busy taking the Hub pages Challenge, you can buy a Mystery online. They come in a wide variety of stories, everything from your classic millionaire murder to medieval misdeeds.

Once you decide on which mystery storyline to debut, it's time to cast the characters. Will it be the usual suspects or use it to break the ice with new friends? Either way you're in for a night of fun that will have people talking for weeks.

The host should cast the characters using their own judgement, taking into consideration each guest's personality and how comfortable they will be in their role.

Invitations should be sent at least two weeks in advance and should include the guest's character sheet. This will give them time to think about costumes, if needed, and how their character should act. It will also give you time to recast their part, if they are unable to attend.

Most mysteries need at least 8 to 10 players for it work well. Some allow you to add on as many as you need. However, the price goes up with the number of players.

 Decorations and props that go along with the theme of the storyline will add ambiance and certainly set the mood for your guests to get into character. You may want to take this into consideration when you're deciding on a mystery.

Some mysteries have the crime happen before hand, and others take place during. The victims have no idea that they end up a statistic, and the culprit has no clue what they've done until the mystery is solved. Everyone gets to play detective and try to put the clues together.

Most mysteries will run 2 hours depending on the activities and how dramatic your guests become. As host you can decide to serve dinner if it fits into the story, or take a break between sessions.

Once the culprit has confessed, it's time for the prizes. There are three main prizes to be awarded but each can be broke down into more specific categories if you want to give out more prizes or awards.

• Best Performance (Most Dramatic, Stayed in Character, Joker, etc.)
• Best Costume (Over All, Most Original, Funniest, etc.)
• Best Detective

Mystery night might become a tradition in some circles. Host the first one and maybe one of your guests will host the next one.  Get the gang together for something more dramatic than game night and see how many closet hams come out of the closet!