Murdered to Death 2012

Peter Gordon's 1993 play is an affectionate pastiche of the classic country house murder mystery with shoals of red herrings and a collection of readily recognisable whodunit suspects. The mistress of the house has a soft spot for a blustering francophobe Colonel, although his memsahib finally gets the better of them. Niece Dorothy discovers some hocus-pocus by a supposedly French art-dealer and his assistant, a lady of very considerable assets if rather questionable ethics. Butler Bunting enjoys some good lines and a good deal of his employer's best brandy. There is also a double murder case which Miss Maple (sic) and Wpc Tomkins do their best to solve in spite of some mortifying malapropisms and maladroitness from the aptly named Inspector Pratt. Gordon's tribute to the great Agatha offers a thoroughly entertaining couple of hours, sure to keep all amused by lots of double-entendre and a quick-fire Byzantine plot.