Thank you so much for coming on one of my Original Murder Weekends, I am so delighted that you can join us for what is a most momentous occasion – our 30th birthday. It is amazing to me that we are still here, very much alive and kicking after so long. As well as thanking you for coming to the weekend, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the actors who have been with me along the way, without them and all their hard work and support, I wouldn't be here today!

Where have these 30 years gone since I invented the concept of Murder Weekends, it's absolutely flown by! With over 10,000 murders, more than 100,000 guests and now 113 plots, it's been anything but dull. I've travelled all over the world, we've had so much fun and met so many wonderful guests, it really has been a privilege and with plenty of laughs along the way, I can't imagine a better way to spend 30 years!

To celebrate our 30th birthday I wanted to write a very unique plot and so decided it should centre on Murder Weekends, something I've never done before as we've always denied knowledge of any such thing.

To explain for new-comers, each plot has a theme to it and the guests are encouraged to play along with the theme – it may be a wedding, a charity event or school reunion. I always ask the guests not to mention murder or Murder Weekends, as we want, as much as possible, to immerse ourselves in the realism of the theme. The murders happen to the characters within the theme and the actors never come out of character. But for this special plot I wanted to celebrate the wonder of Murder Weekends, without, as we normally do, ignoring it's presence. So I thought it would be great fun to create a parallel universe – that of the fictitious company Murder Unlimited!

You are invited to the 30th birthday of Murder Unlimited, an innovative company who 'invented' the concept of Murder Weekends, 30 years ago. Teri Sharpe was working for a chain of hotels when she came up with the idea and has been performing them around the world ever since. There are going to be no murders, everyone is just coming to have a big 30th birthday party! The actors will all be playing Murder Unlimited actors, who the guests will know and love. But don't worry, although Teri isn't planning any murders this weekend – someone else has very different ideas!

I thought it would be fun if you, our valued Murder Weekend guests, would pretend that you have been 'valued Murder Unlimited' guests who have come along to the 30th birthday party to celebrate along with Teri and all her actors.

Normally I explain – "Don't worry too much about the theme, it is almost incidental as it is just the hook on which to hang the weekend, provide the plot with characters and explain why a group of total strangers would meet at a hotel but, once the murders start, it quickly fades into the background as you turn sleuth to deduce the reasons and motives for a series of untimely deaths" But in this instance, the plot will be anything but incidental. The weekend and its characters form the basis of an interesting and almost real life experience, even more than the fictitious realism we always try to create. We hope you will enjoy playing along with the main characters in this one-off, birthday celebration plot.

On Friday we usually have a colour code, and I thought the perfect colours would be black for murder and red for blood – the room will look fantastic if we're all wearing these colours. You could wear a suit with red or black tie or perhaps a football team's shirt. You could dress casually in black jeans and black top with a red scarf or red pyjamas and black slippers; you could wear a red and black corsage on a red dress. It is totally up to you and we just want you to wear whatever you'll feel comfortable in, and hopefully something that you've found in your wardrobe so that you don't spend any money.

As usual, throughout the weekend, there will be themed games and quizzes with prizes for the winners (but not for 'Googlers'!!) - but they are not complicated just a light-hearted way to get you chatting to your fellow guests to break the ice and to alleviate the stress on your brains from trying to make sense of the dastardly deeds – after all if we were only sitting around talking about murder, it could get quite boring and depressing! But the games will be themed to the 30th birthday and of course 'en hommage' to all things Murder Mystery. Nothing is compulsory on Murder Weekends, so if you'd rather sit out a game, go for a snooze or visit the Incident Room to study the evidence then that's absolutely fine, we want everyone to enjoy themselves however suits them best.

On Saturday night we always have a themed party (stiff upper lip and all that, carry on regardless despite there having been at least two murders already!) and for this new plot we would like everyone to enter in to the Murder Mystery theme and to come as 'Murder Most Foul' – a fancy dress that illustrates your favourite, Murder Mystery film, book or TV programme. How about wearing all black and covering yourself with pictures of or solid black birds and come as 'A Murder of Crows'; wear a map of New York and come as Manhattan Murder Mystery; how about a well known song – wear some pillows spattered with fake blood and come as Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly". Just be imaginative and have some fun! Over the years we've found that the simplest ideas are often the best and many of our guests say that half the fun is creating their outfits before the weekend to get them in the mood. If you're stuck for an idea then please get in touch with Geri at our office and she'll do her best to give you inspiration, but please don't hire anything, we'd hate you to spend money unnecessarily, particular as the home-made ones always win the wine for the best creations. Whether yours is totally minimal or completely over the top, the fun is joining in.

The main reason for the Plot theme is so we can all role-play and get involved, which adds to the realism of the characters and consequently the plot - so please pretend you are guests of 'Murder Unlimited'. But don't ask when the murders are going to happen, cause as far as the hosts are concerned, there will be no murders!!

The Murder plot lasts for the entire weekend and the actors will be in character from the welcome reception on Friday night until the end of the summing up on Sunday. Over the course of the weekend there will be at least three murders in the complex plot, and so that no-one misses anything they are usually when everyone is together but Saturday morning is free and you won't miss anything by going out shopping or visiting the local places of interest.

We know you'll have a lot of fun, no matter how you decide to play the game, but for those of you who are keen sleuths and want to solve the crime, I have enclosed some tips to help. It is also a good idea to bring along a small notepad and pen to jot down conversations you overhear or evidence you think is important.

If there's anything that you're unsure of, please do not hesitate to ring us at the Murder Weekend office.

We very much look forward to meeting you on Friday at the Welcome Reception at 8.00 pm, before dinner at 8.30 pm. We hope you have a marvellous time and manage to crack the case, which will be solved when the Detective makes an arrest at 12 noon on Sunday.

* PLEASE NOTE: Could you let us know your full name and the names of any other guests in your party, as we need them for seating plans and to ensure that you are all sitting together.