Thrills with your dinner?

With a background in more serious theater, Aisner admits he was clueless at first about the audience appeal of mealtime murder mysteries.

“I was the kind of person who hated murder mysteries,” Aisner confessed. “I thought these murder-mystery dinner shows were more of a party game than anything else.”

But when the South Ukiah Rotary Club came up with the idea of doing the shows as a fundraiser, Aisner got caught up in the process of casting actors and working with them in rehearsal to develop their characters.

Only part of the show is scripted. As actors interact with the audience, they improvise, based on Aisner’s written characterizations and coaching.

“Everything clicked. Guests can’t tell the difference between the script and the spontaneous parts,” he said. “You really feel you’re watching this story unfold.”

To heighten the feeling, diners were divided into small groups and sent around the Parducci grounds to hunt for clues previously planted by Aisner and his company. One clue was Aisner’s suitcase, filled with props. But he inadvertently had left a real receipt for a recent stay at a bed-and-breakfast inn in the suitcase, too.

That sent all the would-be sleuths off on a false trail for awhile, Aisner added with a laugh.