Free PDF + editable BoboCreate template

The Missing Ledger: A Free Printable Murder Mystery Game for 4–6 Players

The Missing Ledger is a complete murder mystery dinner game you can host tonight for free: four to six guests, about 45 minutes, and a solution that is proven by the evidence, not simply announced.

Download the free PDF Download the editable .bobo

Both downloads are the free edition. The .bobo file opens in BoboCreate Desktop.

The editable file imports in BoboCreate Free 0.3.19 or later. It uses one of Free's three design places, and its own artwork does not count toward your three uploaded images. Older versions of the app need BoboCreate activated to import it, so update BoboCreate first.

Cover: an open ledger with its back page torn out, a loose page, old books and a lantern, with a five-step quick start for the host

Host guide: which pages to print for 4, 5 or 6 guests, how the host can play too, and what to do if someone cancels

How to play: five rules and a floor plan of the bookshop with walking times to the stockroom

The six guests: owner, bookkeeper, author, rare-book dealer, café owner and book-club president

Two invitations per sheet with lines for the date, address, character and RSVP

Detective notes: a suspect table and a timeline grid from 8:44 to 9:05

Every page says who it is for in its footer, so you can sort the print-out without reading spoilers.

The editable file opens in BoboCreate, a free desktop design app for Mac and Windows: change the invitation details, a character’s name or pronoun before you print.

What the free template includes

Host quick start, print plan and read-aloud script
How to play, with a floor plan and walking times
Six character dossiers (two pages each)
Act 1 and Act 2 evidence cards
Detective notes and six ballots
Two invitations per sheet
A sealed two-page solution

Choose your guests

Rowan, Jules, Sasha and Avery are always played. Kit and Pat join for five or six guests; if they are not played, the host reads their Act 2 card aloud as a statement, so nothing the detectives need is lost.

Print and sort

Print on US Letter at 100%, single-sided. Hand each guest their two dossier pages folded: the second page stays shut until Act 2.

Run the evening

Read the opening, deal the five Act 1 cards, then the six Act 2 cards about fifteen minutes later. Everyone writes who did it and two clue numbers on a ballot before the solution is opened.

Open the editable template in BoboCreate

Download and install BoboCreate Desktop for Mac or Windows.
Download the free `free-mystery-missing-ledger.bobo` file.
In BoboCreate, choose Open or Import and select the file.
Edit the invitation lines, and any name or pronoun.
Export a PDF and print it at 100%.

Download BoboCreate for Mac · Download BoboCreate for Windows

A fictional death that happens offstage and is never described. No alcohol, food, costumes or acting needed. All names and places are invented.

Read the Bobotemp printable guide for the ready-to-print download and practical use instructions.