Why CLUE is the Perfect Mystery

The Setting

Setting is such an important aspect of any murder mystery story, and Clue utilizes one of the most popular types of settings for this genre. It’s a locked room mystery. Locked room mysteries really amp up the tension because the murder happens in a closed setting where no one can escape. That means someone amongst the characters is most definitely the murder. And all of the other characters are likely in danger.

In Clue, seven strangers are invited to a dinner party at a secluded New England mansion. After it’s revealed that one of the guests — Mr. Boddy — has been blackmailing the rest of the guests, the lights go out, and when they’re turned back on, Mr. Boddy is on the floor, apparently murdered. Someone in the room is guilty of committing the crime, but who? No one will be leaving the mansion until the murderer is found out.

The Suspects

Because Mr. Boddy was blackmailing all of the guests, every last one of them is a suspect. Upon arriving at the mansion, they’re given the pseudonyms Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White, Mrs. Peacock, Mr. Green, Professor Plum, and Miss Scarlet. And then of course, there’s the butler Wadsworth and the maid Yvette. Neither of them are above suspicion either.

This set-up makes for an interesting mystery because each character legitimately feels like they could be the murderer. And every time you’re about to write someone off as clearly innocent, a turn happens in the story to bring them all back under suspicion yet again. This is actually surprisingly difficult to accomplish for a lot of murder mysteries. Even for the murder mystery novels that do feature a large cast of potential suspects, one or two often end up becoming the main suspects pretty early on. Or one seems like such an obvious suspect that it becomes clear it can’t possibly be that person. The beauty of Clue is that all eight of the main characters are real suspects, all the way to the very end of the movie.

The Tension

Yes, for a successful murder mystery, there needs to be a murder. But that can’t be where the tension ends. From the very beginning of Clue, the stakes are raised, and they just keep getting higher as the story continues. After Mr. Boddy is murdered, Wadsworth informs the guests that he’s called the police and law enforcement will arrive at the mansion in 45 minutes. That gives everyone exactly that much time to solve the murder. So right away the clock is ticking.

The tension doesn’t end there, however. As the characters investigate the house, revelations are made, secrets are discovered, and, yes, more people end up murdered. Certainly a murder is necessary to get the ball rolling in a murder mystery, but the stakes must be raised throughout the story to keep viewers (or readers) interested, and Clue is able to accomplish that expertly.

The Ending(s)

Another thing you probably remember about Clue even if it’s been a while since you’ve seen the movie? The endings. There are in fact three different endings to the movie. When Clue was originally released in theaters, each theater received a different ending to the movie, meaning you couldn’t be sure which ending you were going to see, even if you’d seen the movie before.

What to Read if You Love Clue

Sure Clue is a silly comedy movie based on a board game, but as a murder mystery, it really works. And dare I say it works a lot better than a lot of mystery novels do! But if you love Clue, and you want to read books that check some of the same boxes, there are plenty of books — both classic and new — that you should put on your to-read list.

It’s clear that Clue takes some of it cues from classic Agatha Christie whodunnits. Books like Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None feature a large cast of suspects in locked room situations. The classic middle grade novel The Westing Game also has major clue vibes, with a large cast of characters working together to solve the mystery.