The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Dinner Show - Portland, OR — Local services in Portland

What was supposed to be the highlight of a trip to PDX was honestly the biggest letdown and worst value for our money. I attended "Dirty Money" over V-Day weekend with my husband. He would have left 1 star, but I want to show some appreciation for the actors.

Pros: When food was being served, it came out with record timing. The actors seemed to be working hard. At times they were loud and explosive. Especially the actors who were "plants" in the room. They did well.

Suggestion: If the actors were mic'ed up while talking, it would have been an infinitely improved experience. For a relatively tiny investment in a sound system for the two detectives and a portable one for the "Rick" role and talking to guests during table interviews, I am confident others will enjoy the experience so much more. I also believe all my issues (with the exception of the food) would be assuaged.

Biggest disappointments: Very hard to hear the actors throughout the event (I'm in my 40s with excellent hearing). Rick tried to "shhhh" tables across the room from him but with little success. 12 tables x 8 people each = nearly 100 voices competing with the actors. Plates clinking. It didn't work! Please fix this; the reviews are abundantly clear. This was my first murder mystery experience ever. I was so freaking confused throughout the night! I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I guess a sheet of paper that had some questions was supposed to prompt me to mingle, but no one else was mingling. The awkwardness was on level with being the plus one at someone else's high school reunion. Food: When I sat down (and mind you, we were one of the first couples in the room), a plated salad was already at my seat and it was wilted and room temperature. Then the main course of chicken arrived - disappointingly a dry, grilled chicken breast on a few broccoli florets and diced potatoes. There was a roasted chili tomato sauce on top of the chicken that thankfully added moisture. Dessert was a generous yet stodgy slice of carrot cake while my neighbor got a berry tart. Neither of us had any say in the matter. When the mystery was finally solved, the culprit was a person that I had ZERO awareness of who I guess was in the room. Even though I was outgoing and mingling with others and asking the prescribed starter questions, I clearly had no idea what the heck was happening. I submitted a blank "guess" of who done it. Atmosphere - It's a basic hotel conference room. Nothing gave off "dinner detective" vibes except a few strips of "caution" tape affixed to the door as we were standing in line 10 minutes pre-show.

I was disappointed and distracted by some disorganization with table seating. Somehow two people at my table were seated at the wrong table, so there was some confusion. It was a distracting way to arrive. For the price and considering how many shows they do, it's reasonable to expect a relatively seamless execution.

If you're planning to go, I hope the dice roll and you have a better luck than we did. Seems from the reviews that this place is "hit or miss." I'm rooting for you to have a...

I have been to another group that does the same type of mystery dinner and it was fantastic, unlike this company. This company offered the worst meal (conference type plates of food) and had very bad actors. We were able to tell who was who by the 1st break. The service and venue were fair. It was my wife’s 60th surprise party with 12 guests. They divided use in two groups at opposite sides of the room. When we inquired as to why we couldn’t be closer, the person in charge disappeared and was not seen by us, until the show started. Once the show started, it was amateur hour and my wife was not at all happy. I paid $900.00 for this event, and we were incredible disappointed as were our guests. These same guest had experienced the other mystery dinner that I...

It was a fun event, definitely an introverts nightmare because you gotta talk to people at your table.

We had a great time, it was a fun show, however, one of the staff members was incredibly rude. We had forgotten to set our food tickets in view and one of the food runners in a blue shirt and glasses, yelled at us saying, "Do you guys want food or not?" In a completely condescending tone.

As we were pulling our tickets out, he then proceed to embarrass us further by saying, "Come on dude, we don't have all day." Absolutely wild that we were treated this was completely unprompted.

I highly recommend the show but because of that one experience near the beginning of the show, it really ruined a lot...