Mystery Weekend
February 27-March 1, 2026
Mystery Weekend
Bring your pen and parchment for a weekend of authors, novels, and secrets, for ‘Murder by the Book’.
Watch a mystery unfold before your eyes at Mohonk Mountain House, the birthplace of Mystery Weekends, now celebrating its momentous 50th anniversary! In the 1970s, Mohonk was the place where Mystery Weekends got their start. Performers act out each scene in front of you, and it is up to you or your team to solve the crime.
This year, we present a Mystery weekend with classic elements and all-new wrinkles to baffle and confuse. Highlights include ‘Murder by the Book’- a Mystery play in four acts produced by Murder Café, an original puzzle hunt by Greg Pliska, a tabletop escape room, live music, Sunday’s closing events, and more! Costumes and props are encouraged but not required.
$30 per guest to participate in Mystery Weekend’s events
What’s Included
Your stay at Mohonk Mountain House includes access to countless activities and experiences for guest of all ages, including our indoor pool, tennis courts, show gardens, and an award-winning spa. Discover all that Mohonk has to offer during your mountaintop getaway.
Entertainment
Themed Mohonk Signature Events, featuring live music and engaging performances, changing daily
This Year’s Mystery: Murder by the Book
A group of the world’s most celebrated mystery writers descends upon the secluded Mohonk Mountain House for what promises to be a weekend of inspiration and intrigue. Their peculiar hosts—lavish patrons of the literary arts —are eager to discuss their favorite methods of murder. But when one of the famed authors is discovered dead, the weekend takes a sinister turn. Accusations fly, secrets unravel, and tensions rise—as an uninvited guest crashes the party and another body falls. The masters of whodunit are quick to share their favorite means of murder by the pen, but they are slow to realize the line between fiction and reality begins to vanish… and not everyone will make it to the final chapter.
This Year’s Events Highlights
Mystery Weekend Hosts
Murder Café
Murder Café, our Program Host for the weekend, brings theater directly to you with an extraordinary mix of skill and talent. A professional repertory company, owned and operated by Frank and Kristen Marquette since 1998, Murder Café delivers original scripts, period costumes, one-of-a-kind production design, and marketing and publicity skills that ensure each event’s success. Their public shows are scheduled year-round throughout New York’s Hudson Valley and beyond. The Murder Cafe calendar includes fundraising events, company parties, dinners at resorts and historic sites, and entertainment for charities and Fortune 500 companies. Frank Marquette’s memoir, The True Story of Murder Cafe: How One Family’s Plunge into Mystery Dinner Theater Made the World a Better Place, is now available on Amazon.
Greg Pliska
Greg Pliska, a composer and musician, has been solving and creating puzzles since he could read. He is a puzzle writer and presenter for public radio’s “Ask Me Another,” and he now creates puzzle hunts for corporate and academic clients. His composing work includes the Broadway play Sylvia and acclaimed productions for New York’s Shakespeare in the Park. His recent work includes orchestrations for the film The Infiltrator, the CBS Evening News theme, and the new IMAX theme. Greg has created an original puzzle treasure hunt for Will Shortz’s Wonderful World of Words at Mohonk Mountain House for the last 12 years and brings a new mystery puzzle to the Mountain House for Mystery Weekend’s 50th anniversary.
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