A PARISH church in one of the United States’ most exclusive neighbourhoods has found a novel way to boost winter attendance: set a murder mystery.

The village of East Hampton on Long Island is taken over by crime writers and mystery lovers for Hamptons Whodunit, a four-day mystery and true crime festival, now in its fourth year.

The festival, which ran from 16 to 19 April, seeks to draw out-of-season visitors to an area that is hugely popular with tourists in the summer, but quieter in winter.

The Rector of St Luke’s, East Hampton, the Revd Dr Benjamin Shambaugh, told the Episcopal News Service that visitors love the church’s “Agatha Christie” vibes, where it feels like Miss Marple might walk through the door at any moment.

“Hang on! Is he part of the Hamptons Whodunit, or . . .”

He said that the event introduced the church to people from all over the country, and that the church partnered with the wider community to produce the event. In the summer, Dr Shambaugh said, the population of the area “more than doubles”, but the town’s winter and spring seasons were much quieter.

The festival offered dozens of different sessions over four days, exploring crime fiction alongside true crime stories.

Dr Shambaugh, a fan of crime fiction himself, said that the motivation was the telling of stories rather than gruesome murders. “It’s not really the murder or the mystery: it’s the storytelling,” he said, “and Jesus gave us a lot of truth by storytelling.”

The interactive murder mystery game at this year’s festival gave participants the chance to “collaborate with their favourite crime writers”, the festival schedule said. The next day, St Luke’s also hosted a crime-trivia night.

The church also offers more traditional regular community events, involving music, art, and a food pantry. “We try to be a centre for the community; so we do that with outreach,” Dr Shambaugh said. “We do that by serving various groups.”