Hello, sorry my first post is a review, but these are my impressions of "Homicide".
My UK version arrived last Friday (along with a bumper package of the Outlaw effects back-catalogue) so I guess other UK buyers should be getting their copies now.
As I was at work when the package came, my wife opened it up and, after describing the Outlaw wallet etc, she said "Ooh, and there's an old book in an envelope". Point is, top marks to Rick for making the book appear externally aged. It really looks the part.
Coming from the South and having lived in Whitechapel (well, Stepney Green) for a while it made me smile to see the names and addresses of these poor victims.
After ingesting the instructions, it really is more or less ready to go "straight out of the box", but great thought should be given to how you are going to present this (as always). It could be played as a straight "mind-reading" trick, but it can equally be the centerpiece to a carefully rehearsed and appropriately scripted piece of theatre.
Most book tests allow the divination of a word, or sentence. At most, a paragraph. This is totally different. With the minimum of interaction with the spectator, you can describe the crime scene in as much detail as you think your spectator can stomach...
To start with, and almost opposite to most BTs, this screams "Prop!" - but not to it's disadvantage. You wouldn't expect to just pull this off any bookshelf, and it therefore benefits from the inherent curiosity-factor. (Incidentally, a spectator can look through the book quite safely and not tumble the secret).
This lends itself to a story-telling presentation, as there are many ways you could have come into possession of this book. Maybe an Uncle in the Police force passed it down to you, maybe you picked it up at a flea-market.
The book comes with an instruction sheet that gives you the bare bones and very much encourages the buyer to join the Homicide-owners forum. You don't have to join, but there are some good ideas and extra bits of business that you can add to the book to make it more your own.
I'm not a professional, so I won't be using this extensively, but I will pick my moments to share this. Like I said, I think a lovely piece of (dark) theatre can be created with this.
Highly recommended.
One last thought - after a spectator has chosen a crime, they could always write down the victim's name on a piece of paper... that goes straight into your favourite peek wallet...
