Mystery at Mr. Grim's Mansion (Murder Mystery-style Game)

[05/05/2024: I'm testing a new murder mystery. E-mail me (contact@englishcurrent.com) if you want to test it for free - Matthew]

This is a murder mystery-style activity designed to get students engaged, thinking critically, and most importantly, speaking.

Class time: 60-90 minutes

No. of students: 4-11* (*You can make more characters, but this increases the time it takes for interviewing. For larger classes, divide them into two separate groups.)

Level/Age: This activity was written for intermediate to advanced ESL levels at junior high school age. It has been well-received with adult ESL students as well, however.

Preparation (20 minutes)

• Cut one character card for each student.

• Print one map and one interview sheet for each student

• Cut out the small room cards. Put the 8 p.m. cards in one envelope (or pile), and the 8:30 p.m. cards in another.

Basic Idea Behind the Story

The twist in this story is that it is not a murder mystery; rather, it is just a mystery. The students are told that Mr. Grim has died and they must figure out how he died. Naturally, they assume he's been killed. Later, in the end, they discover that he’d had a heart attack after coming across a lost cobra in his house.

The first part of the activity has students question each other in order to get background character information, possible weapons, and motives.

The second part requires students to ask each other what rooms they were in (a map is provided) before and after the murder.

The story contains elements of the game Clue (or Cluedo).

In this file, you will find:

• Instructions on how to execute the activity (of course)
• 11 Character cards (of which three characters are mandatory)
• A map of the house (give one to each student)
• An interview worksheet (give one to each student)

The 11-page file is in Microsoft Word (.DOCX) format so you can make edits to the character cards to suit your needs.

If you have any questions, please reach out on TPT. If you enjoyed the activity or have feedback, please write a review of the product (by doing so, you earn free TPT credit!).

All the best,

Matthew Barton | Creator of EnglishCurrent.com