Joy Swift

Joy Swift
MBE
Born Joy Angela Swift
(1956-10-02) 2 October 1956
Blundellsands, Liverpool
Nationality British
Education Merchant Taylors' Girls' School
Occupation Businesswoman, writer and events organiser
Years active 1981–present
Website Joy Swift

Joy Angela Swift MBE (born 2 October 1956) is a businesswoman, writer and events organiser from Liverpool, who is best known as the inventor of the murder mystery weekend.[1]

Early life and family background

Born in Blundellsands, Liverpool, to Norman and Thelma (née Lake), Swift is the youngest of three children. Her father Norman was the fourth generation to run the family owned timber merchants business. Her grandfather Frederick Lake was a director of Everton F.C.. Swift was educated at Merchant Taylors' Girls' School.

Both parents and siblings played tennis for Lancashire. Swift's brother Tony was a squash player, who won national and international championships. He was chair of the ISRF Rules and Referees Committee from 1981-1991 and coached Canada's national women's team in 1981 and the national men's team in 1983, 1985 and 1987.[2]

Career

Swift went to college to study graphic design but she left to take up full-time employment at the Liverpool Echo. Swift left three years later to join a small chain of hotels. In 1981, she came up with the idea of an interactive murder mystery that would allow hotel guests to become sleuths.[3] Swift hired local actors to play the main characters and on 30 October 1981, she staged her first murder mystery weekend.

In 1983, Swift staged her first murder mystery weekend outside of the UK in New York.

In 1989, Michael Aspel hosted a televised interactive murder mystery set at a wedding called Murder Weekend, devised and written by Swift,[4] which invited viewers to solve a whodunnit to win a prize. The five episodes were entitled Dream Of Monks A-Coughing: A Funeral's In The Offing, Dream Of Gulls A-Screeching: Heed The Parson's Preaching, Dream Of Toms A-Snarling: A Quarrel With Your Darling, Dream Of Vipers Hissing: Your Favourite Dog's Gone Missing and Dream Of Yaks A-Mooing: Sign Of Your Undoing and were broadcast over three nights on ITV from August 18 to 20.[5] The cast included and David Delve, Eric Allen, John Hudson and Jason Salkey.[6]

In April 2007, Swift published her first paperback, The Joy Of Murder.[7] The book included a biography of Swift, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and a solvable whodunnit. In October the same year, Swift travelled to Egypt to stage four week-long murder mystery cruises billed as Death On The Nile.[8]

In November 2007 as part of Liverpool's 800th birthday celebrations, Swift created a solvable whodunnit for her local newspaper entitled The Great Echo Murder Mystery.[9] She wrote an historical plot that was printed each day as a two-page police evidence board of clues. Readers submitted their solutions in writing and 10 winners attended the denouement, where the murderer was revealed.

In May 2011, Litmus Films produced a six-minute segment for Japan's national broadcaster NHK about Swift and her murder mystery weekends.[10] Two years later, Swift wrote and co-directed a 90-minute interactive murder mystery for NHK, which screened on the channel over three nights.[11] Viewers attempted to solve a whodunnit at the same time as three studio experts.

Awards and nominations

In the 2001 New Year Honours, Swift was awarded an MBE for services to tourism as the inventor of the murder mystery weekend.[12][13][14][15] She collected her MBE from Prince Charles at an investiture on 2 May 2002.

In 2006, Swift collected a Prestige Award for Excellence in Tourism and Leisure Services at a ceremony hosted by Sefton Chamber of Commerce.

At the inaugural Independent Travel Awards, announced on 25 September 2015, Swift was nominated for the Reader’s Choice Award with David Attenborough, Patrick Leigh Fermor and Michael Palin.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "The Murder Mystery". Lancashire Evening Post. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "Tony Swift". Ontario Squash Hall of Fame. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "A case of murder most amusing". The Independent. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  4. ↑ "Joy Swift, Filmography". British Film Institute. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "Murder Weekend". UK Game Shows.com. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Murder Weekend. LWT's televised murder mystery game. 1989, presented by Michael Aspel". Jason Salkey. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Joy of Murder". ISBN Search. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "Latest Joy Swift plot for Original Murder Weekends". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "How to play The Great ECHO Murder Mystery". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  10. ↑ "Murder Mystery Weekends". Litmus Films. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "Mystery-Solving Tour: British Murder Weekends". NHK World Premium. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  12. ↑ "Honours for England: North". BBC News. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "The London Gazette, New Year's Honours List - United Kingdom, page S22". The Gazette. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  14. ↑ "New Year's Honours overlook hospitality". The Caterer. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  15. ↑ "Bee Gees add gongs to repertoire". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  16. ↑ "Independent Travel Awards". The Independent. Retrieved 25 September 2015.

External links

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