Book-loving snoops solve library mystery
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Trapeze artist “Ariel Swinger” (Shana Ziolko-Marting) talks to a Maryville Public Library patron Thursday during “Murder Under the Big Top,” an interactive mystery drama that kicked off this year’s adult reading program.
It was a night straight out of an Agatha Christie novel: the circus comes to town, the big top is filled with all sorts of strange characters whose lives are shadowed by dark secrets, backstories and hidden motivations.
Lies, deceit, bitterness and suspicion hang heavily in the air. Then, a corpse turns up — the earthly remains of someone who has died of extremely unnatural causes.
Such was the scene Thursday evening at the Maryville Public Library during “Murder Under the Big Top,” a role-playing drama during which both actors and the audience scoured the stacks for clues while seeking to answer that eternal pulp-fiction question, “Whodunnit?”
“Murder Under the Big Top” served as the kickoff for this year’s third annual adult reading emphasis, during which library patrons signed up for the program turn in the title of every book they read, with each title counting as an entry in a drawing for prizes donated by local merchants.
The more you read, the better chance you have of winning.
Kelsey Noble, who organized the mystery night, said the event, which attracted about 60 people, was intended as a festive way to get people excited about the adult reading program, which runs through March 20.
“It’s all about having fun,” she said. “It’s a great way to get people into the library.”
After a bit of socializing and snacking, murder mystery participants were welcomed to the scene of the crime by mustachioed circus owner “Harold Hargrove,” played by Northwest Missouri State University drama student Rachel Kirby.
Hargrove, a man on the move, is eager to make his circus into one the nation’s top attractions, but he has suspicions that “all sorts of underhanded stuff is going on” and is not above bending a few rules himself.
Other characters — that is suspects — on hand to help thicken the plot included Hargrove’s scheming wife, Matilda; ringmaster Boomer Jackson; Ruby the Clown; Nick Dagger a knife-throwing specialist; Cat Levens, the lion tamer; and trapeze artist Ariel Swinger, whose promotion to the center ring is cloaked in suspicion and jealousy.
Then there were the cops: security man Payton Protection and Agent Swift of the FBI, who was at the circus to investigate something no one seemed to know much about.
Not that Swift had a shortage of options. As the evening played out, skullduggery, blackmail, extortion and theft loomed behind every bookcase — and that was before they even found the body.
“Everyone’s a detective tonight,” Noble said. “That’s the beauty of it. Everyone has a chance to solve the murder.”
Adding to the atmosphere was a display of books available at the library by some of country’s most popular creators of detective fiction, including the late Robert B. Parker of “Spenser” fame, “Lincoln Lawyer” novelist Michael Connelly, Janet Evanovich, and Rita Mae Brown, author of the Sneaky Pie Brown/Mrs. Murphy mysteries.
Over the last couple of years, the growing adult reading program at the library has evolved into a social as well as a literary event, and upcoming gatherings associated with program include the following:
• A family movie screening at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, featuring the Cirque du Soleil performance film “Dralion.” Refreshments will include popcorn and goldfish crackers.
• A “book speed dating” event at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, during which readers age 18 and above will be asked to bring a favorite book and tell others why they enjoy it. The goal is for all participants to leave with a new reading list.
• A selected book discussion set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 14. Between Feb. 1 and Feb. 14, library patrons will be asked to vote at the front desk for either “The Night Circus,” a tale of magical realism by Erin Morgenstern, or “Palisades Park,” a work of historical fiction by Alan Brennert.
The winning novel will be made available for checkout and discussed during the March 14 gathering.
For more information about the adult winter reading program, call the library at 660.582.5281.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
He may look innocent, but Ruby the Clown, AKA Daniel Boyt, was one of the leading suspects during Thursday’s “Murder Under the Big Top” mystery night at the Maryville Public Library.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Northwest Missouri State University theater student Rachel Kirby, in character as circus owner “Harold Hargrove,” sets up the plot during Thursday’s interactive murder mystery event, which officially opened the Maryville Public Library’s third annual adult reading program.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Maryville Public Library patrons enjoys snacks and conversation Thursday before participating in “Murder Under the Big Top,” a murder mystery drama hosted by the Maryville Public Library.
