Jennifer Waddell ’97 graduated with a degree in English, not German. But don’t be fooled. Ask folks in Hof, Germany, and they will tell you she’s the playwright for the area’s hit murder mystery dinner theatre.

Waddell didn’t speak German or even know much about the culture when she was commissioned to write the play. She had to write three endings before everyone in the production was satisfied with the outcome. Audiences don’t seem to care.

The German press hyped the show before opening night, and hungry patrons turned murder mystery buffs have been selling out shows throughout the region every night since.

To add even more intrigue to the mix, the show’s producer decided not to cast all characters, but rather to let a municipal official from each of the production’s host towns take a stab at acting.

“The Mayor of Hof performed in my play on opening night,” Waddell says with a bit of a laugh. Although the play has been a hit, Waddell said she expects either fiction writing or law school are more likely than a sequel.

“Long term, I would like to write fiction, and law school seems like as good a way as any to build business skills and a great mystery writing foundation at the same time,” she says.