Another year, another stupendous, confounding, murderous caper for the community to solve! Fairhaven Association welcomes you to join in its third annual Dirty Dan Mystery Weekend, collecting clues and interacting with various characters and Fairhaven merchants to solve a mysterious murder written by award-winning author Jes Hart Stone.
An Original Mystery
“A year ago, I was invited to be one of the actors,” says Stone. “It was a blast and I had so much fun.”
As an author, Stone focuses on mysteries and thrillers, so writing the Dirty Dan Mystery Weekend murder was a perfect challenge. “They told me they wanted something from 1890-ish, and it had to deal with Fairhaven,” Stone says. “I did a bunch of research and I realized that the first train that came into Fairhaven came in 1890, so I thought what if there was a murder the first night the train came? And that’s how it started.”
The scene of the murder is set during a relentless downpour and as rain sluiced through the streets, an extravagant gala was afoot, with dancing and laughter. Unbeknownst to the partygoers, when the train left the station, it rolled over the body of Mr. Nelson Larrybees, a very important man in the community.
With just his bowler hat left in a puddle at the drenched train station, the question of who killed Mr. Larrybees remains.
The Clues
Actors will take on character roles of folks such as London Jack, Myrtle Buttinski, and Miss Pearl.
“This is so much fun,” says Stone. “First of all, all of the actors are volunteers, and they are really good. They could be professional. They all have great parts. It’s loosely scripted — more of an improv for two days — and they all have clues.”
The aforementioned clues will be nestled around Fairhaven and each actor has the coveted knowledge of where those clues may be. “They all have a reason why they might have been the murderer and they all are pointing fingers at other people,” Stone says. “When I did it last year, I saw families, dogs, and even people on dates. It brings out that community spirit and all the fun.”
Join in the Fun
Dirty Dan’s Mystery Weekend will commence April 29th at 10:30 a.m. with check-in beginning at 9 a.m. — go to the HUB located at 1106 Harris Avenue inside Finnigan’s Alley. Local sleuths can collect clues until 5 p.m. on the 29th and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the 30th. The culprit will be announced at 1:30 p.m. on April 30th on the Fairhaven Village Green.
“Nobody knows who did it — not even the merchants or the Merchants Association,” says Stone. “The actors don’t know, either. Friday night there is a cast dinner, and they will get a few stage directions. Saturday morning, they’ll get a few more from me, and then the same thing again on Sunday. They will not know until the very last second.”
The mystery weekend is sponsored by Village Books and Paper Dreams and involves 25 different businesses throughout Fairhaven. Registration is open until the first day of the event. Opening remarks from the constable will be heard on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the train station, and from that point on detectives can amass their clues, ask questions, and ponder suspicions to solve the sad end to Mr. Larrybees.
Dirty Dan Day
After the announcement on Sunday, Fairhaven will be celebrating Dirty Dan Day, a FREE event held on the Village Green. There will be live entertainment by the Song Wranglers, a pie eating contest, a fish toss, an 1800s costume contest, and more! Registration for the pie eating contest is now open and folks interested in the costume contest should contact the Fairhaven Association at event@enjoyfairhaven.com.
Sponsored
