Murder Mystery Dinner at a Masseria in Salento: the Most Requested Team Building Evening
Of the team building formats we offer at Masseria Montanari, the murder mystery dinner is the one companies ask for most often, and it is easy to see why: it puts everyone at the same table, gets the quiet ones talking, and ends with a story to tell on Monday. This guide explains how it works with us, what sets it apart from a kit bought online, who it is for and how much it costs.
What it is, in a nutshell
A murder mystery dinner is an evening in which, between one course and the next, the group investigates an imaginary crime: there are characters, clues, interrogations, a culprit to unmask. Every participant has a role, or belongs to a team of investigators, and the game unfolds as dinner is served. You do not need to know how to act: you need curiosity, and a long enough table.
What makes it different here
The script is written to measure. Not a generic kit, but a story built around your group: the characters take their cue from roles in the company (without embarrassing anyone), the motive speaks of your sector, the lines refer to things only you understand. For an energy company the crime unfolds around a supply contract; for a studio, around a project that has vanished.
It is set in the masseria. The crime takes place among the real locations of the evening: the vaulted hall in stone, the garden with its olive trees, the wood-fired oven, the courtyard. The clues are really there to be found, and the darkness of the Grecìa Salentina countryside does half the work.
You are the only group. The masseria is in exclusive use: no other table, no other event, no closing time. The evening lasts as long as the story.
The dinner
It is the part people do not expect. A meat dinner with a **barbecue or a pignata cooked over the fire**: the pignata is the terracotta pot of Salento tradition, with meat and pulses cooking for hours beside the embers. The fire becomes part of the atmosphere and sets the rhythm of the evening: you arrive for the aperitivo while the embers catch, you investigate between courses, you finish with dessert and the unmasking of the culprit.
How the evening unfolds
- Arrival in the late afternoon, aperitivo in the garden and roles handed out. The host explains the rules in ten minutes.
- The crime and the first round of clues, with the starter.
- Interrogations and alliances between the tables, with the barbecue or the pignata.
- The accusation: each team presents its solution. Then the reveal, dessert and time to talk it over.
Total duration between four and five hours. For groups of 10 to 35 people; beyond that, the story splits across two rooms.
Who it is for
For companies that want a team building evening without the words team building: you work on communication, listening and collaboration without anyone noticing. For groups of friends and grown-up birthday parties, where the murder mystery dinner replaces the usual dinner. For anyone organising a retreat or a weekend at the masseria who wants one evening unlike the others.
How much it costs and how to book
The murder mystery dinner evening starts from 95 € per person, dinner and game included, with the masseria in exclusive use. Those who wish stay the night in the six lodgings (up to 16 sleeping places), with accommodation charged separately. At least two weeks' notice is needed, because the script has to be written. On the Companies page there is the form with the four questions we need; for private parties, the events at the masseria page describes the other options.
<!-- leggi-anche:auto --> Read also: Workation in Salento for small teams, Corporate retreat in Puglia, Team building ideas at the masseria.