On the heels of Once Upon a Murder, Mysteriously Yours... Mystery Dinner Theatre brings you Uptown Abbey, a funny spoof of the popular British TV Drama. In this story, Lord and Lady Upton, desperate to marry off their daughters, are running out of time and money. With no male heirs, they risk losing their estate and having everything turned Upside Downton. When a body is discovered, they soon realize that there is much more at stake. Luckily, Lieutenant Carumbo, who just so happens to be in the area vacationing with his wife, is on the scene to help solve the mystery.

Last Thursday, I attended the Mysteriously Yours VIP event for their first ever summer opening. Along with my friend, who drove in from Hamilton, I had the pleasure of meeting all of the colourful characters, including the, er... pretty Lady Edith. She had instantly taken a liking to Darren, one of the guests.

Here she is with her youthful-looking mother. Do you see the resemblance? No, neither do I. It's quite clear she died her hair blonde.

And allow me to introduce you to the Dowager Countess. She takes great pride in the family name and exudes an air of wealth and prestige.

Here is Carson, butler extraordinaire. Due to cuts in staffing, this hardworking and charming fellow is being run amuck opening and closing all 400 windows in the residence, serving guests, vacuuming, disposing of dead bodies and more. But he can still muster up enough energy to put on a winning smile.

I wish I had taken a photo of Lady Syvil, one of the Upton daughters, but she always seemed to be busily tweeting away, instagramming or updating her Facebook status on her newly acquired iPhone. You can find her on Twitter (or Twitta, rather) at @SyvilUpton. Of course, we cannot forget the clever Lieutenant Carumbo. He looks oddly enough like someone I've seen on TV...

Uptown Abbey is written by Ken MacDougall, producer Brian Caws and cast, MacDougall himself playing the role of Lord Upton. I haven't seen him since he was cast in Apprentice to Murder (You're Fired!) as the spitting image of Donald Trump. It was the first mystery dinner I had attended and was probably my favourite of all, especially since MacDougall nailed his role. Danny Wengle, who played Regis Fildin, returns with another fabulous impersonation. Birgitte Solem plays it safe as Lady Upton but I will always remember her fantastic role as Sue Polyester. We also see the return of Ian Ronningen, who performed as the valiant Sherlock Holmes in The Fine Art of Murder as well as Prince Charmin in Once Upon a Murder. I had the pleasure of sitting next to his sister who shared some interesting facts about the actor, like, for instance, this YouTube video of Ronningen performing a winning dance to Footloose as part of a talent competition. You have to check out his shorts!

The Chicken Lyonnaise stole the show, however. The meat was succulent and the red potato mash with caramelized onion gravy was sublime. Sending my compliments to Chef Rossy Earle!

We would like to extend a warm thank you to Mysteriously Yours... Mystery Dinner Theatre for having us back as their guests. Cheers to your 26th year!