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Thriller/Mystery
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A Death Of Convenience by Ron Hutson(5m, 4f, 2m/f)At 'Elmdale', the country seat of Lord And Lady Chestle, one of the family is found dead. Since no one liked her very much, murder is suspected. But, if she was murdered, then how was she murdered? That is the problem that exercises the police. The play has a satisfying sting in the tail that nicely rounds off the script. |
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Alibi For Murder by Frank Williams(3m, 3f, 2m/f)Creating a fool-proof alibi for the protagonist is an important skill for successful writers of murder books, and writer Charles, wishing to murder his wife, thinks he has worked out the perfect alibi. He inveigles Richard to impersonate him, and then murders his wife in front of her supposed lover, David; having created all the clues that would point to David as murderer. David is sent to prison, Nicky, his sister is incensed, and Charles thinks he’s in the clear, but Richard finds out and blackmails him. Can Nicky right the wrong? Can Charles deal with Richard? What happens when, by chance, Nicky meets Richard? |
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Clean by Tim McArthur(3m, 3f)Most gay men have quite complex personalities, insecurities, acceptance issues in society, commitment issues in relationships and levels of parental guilt. How does this affect them in their search for the perfect partner? 'Clean' deals with a relationship that blooms and grows, but as it continues a darkness begins to show. Who has final control of the situation? Where does that insecurity come from? How far do you go to keep the power? |
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Dark Rhapsody by Norman Robbins(3m, 5f, 2m/f)Serena Dark and her new husband Conrad are hoping to rebuild their lives after a nightmare accident wiped out most of Serena’s famous musical family. Serena’s ex-husband wants to cash in with a book on the Dark family and wants information, which Serena refuses to give. Days later his body is found and whilst the police are investigating another death occurs. |
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Gold Frankincense And Murder by Bryan Darby(3m, 3f, 1m/f)Christmas Eve in Compton Gurney. Parishioners gathering for Midnight Mass are unaware that the parish priest lies ill in the hospital and the Bishop lies dead in the church. In a makeshift incident room adjoining the church, the investigating police are about to discover that some crimes are far worse than murder. |
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Mask For Murder by Frank Williams(3m, 2f)When a wealthy woman’s second husband dies of arsenic poisoning, she becomes suspected of both his death, and that of her first husband, when it is established that arsenic was involved in both deaths. She protests her innocence, and evidence does point towards another, but her son, her housekeeper and the young doctor next door have a hard time proving it. The play can be set anywhere between 1870 and 1930. |
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Murder Amongst Friends by Diana Raffle(2m, 3f)After discovering the body of her boyfriend, Julia Fraser seeks refuge at the home of her ex-lover and his wife. However, it’s not long before Julia makes a gruesome discovery and the finger of suspicion points to all those around her. Deeply bedded jealousies and revenge surface, as the plot twists to implicate the most unlikely suspect. Then the police make an arrest, and one man is left with the evidence to save his wife, but will he use it? Perhaps someone else’s set up is just what he’s been looking for, but will it save him or kill him too? |
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Murder By Default by Bettine Manktelow(2m, 2f)After a few unexpected deaths at a theatrical retirement home, one of the retired actor residents starts to suspect that the deaths have been stage managed to conceal the true reason behind them. Who is the mysterious Dr Sampson, why has nobody ever seen him, why does he only certify deaths in the middle of the night, and what part does the exceptionally helpful warden play in the affair? |
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Murder By The Book by Robin Jennifer Miller(3m, 5f)Rob and Jane run a creative writing retreat on an otherwise uninhabited island. Sounds idyllic? But when six guests arrive for a weekend’s course, it soon emerges that not all of them are there to write. A storm breaks and the writers find themselves cut off from the mainland, while a stolen manuscript, accusations of plagiarism and long held grievances add to the tension. Frayed tempers, old grudges and guilty secrets could possibly lead to…. murder. |
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Murder On Cue by Robin Jennifer Miller(3m, 6f: of which 2m, 4f are in their 60s/70s/80s) apx 105 mins, exc intervalMaple Lodge is a retirement home for actors where gossip and old rivalries sustain the residents as much as the dry sherry and shepherd's pie. Tensions are raised by an outbreak of anonymous letters. With the home cut off by snow and with the re-writing of a will and dark secrets emerging, murder is perhaps inevitable... (Note: Customers in the USA should use the re-titled, but otherwise identical, play: 'Murder At Maple Lodge') |
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Murder Weekend by Frank Williams(4m, 3f)Twenty years before, a young woman was murdered and despite a trial the culprit was never found guilty. Now, a group of murder re-enactment enthusiasts meet in an hotel to go over the case for fun. But maybe it’s not for fun? Maybe it’s deadly serious as one of them just might have been the killer. Set in the 1950’s the play is full of twists and turns with the true identity not revealed until the last page. |
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Poetic Justice by Ron Hutson(5m, 5f, 1m/f)The family are gathered to say farewell to the famous author Dillys Pettigrew who is retiring through ill health. Amongst the farewell cards is an anonymous poem, the content of which causes her such distress that she dies of a heart attack. What was in the poem and who sent it, and why must others die to keep the secret? |
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Practice To Deceive by Ann Gawthorpe & Lesley Bown(7f)A murder mystery with a difference as the audience can never be sure who killed whom. Set in the mid-1950s, 'Practice To Deceive' is about a group of middle class women who hold a committee meeting to make the final arrangements for a Christmas Bazaar When one of them collapses, is it a straightforward case of natural causes, or has something more sinister happened? A second mysterious death soon afterwards puts political ambitions in jeopardy and causes secrets to be revealed. |
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Psychic Connections by Philip Ayckbourn(2m, 4f)Set in the present day and in the eighteen-eighties in The Old School House in Cranleigh, Surrey. TV psychic medium Trisha Watkins hypnotically regresses Craig and Ollie to come face to face with their past life selves and past misdeeds. A blend of ghost story, detective and thriller, it’s a play that keeps the audience guessing to the end as to what’s real… and what isn’t. |
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School For Murder by Bettine Manktelow(1m, 5f) apx 110 minsThe scene is a lonely guest house in the Cotswolds where some aspiring writers gather for a course in writing a murder mystery. Their quest for fiction turns into fact when not only is there a mysterious disappearance but also an apparent murder. The phones are down, the lights are out, and a stranger is threatening the landlady. Is this really happening, or is it part of the course? |
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Stolen Identity by Ron Hutson(5m, 5f, 1m/f) apx 110 minsHarry Palmer is a burglar caught red handed by housewife Linda Mansfield who decides to use him for her own ends, which involves murder. He however has other ideas. Is he more than a burglar and what plans does he have regarding her friend Ann and husband Bernard? A barbecue with friends leads to a murder and a mysterious visitor adds to the confusion which it is up to the inspector to try and sort out with yet another twist. |
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The Constant Corpse by Norman Robbins(3m, 4f, 2m/f)When the Bodypartz agency clients are brought together in a country hotel for a celebration, things are not quite what they appear. Why has their agent not arrived and more to the point why is the despised head of a rival agency also at the hotel? A tale of intrigue, deception, attempted murder, and death, with an unexpected twist at the end. |
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The Death Of Me by Christine Foster(2m, 3f) apx 110 minsA fifty-something couple is horrified to find themselves suddenly dead - and wandering in limbo. When Eerie Voices give them permission to go back and relive their final hours to discover ‘whodunit’, their supernatural return becomes a race to unravel the truth in one last evening of love, confusion and murder before their time runs out... again. |
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The Diamond Necklace by Juliet Bagnall(6-8m, 3-6f) apx 110 minsWhen their friend goes missing Charles and Louise Maudesley suspect her husband. But he is being blackmailed by his cousin. And both of them are somehow involved with a dodgy nightclub being investigated by Scotland Yard. When the police fail to act, the couple turn detective, with deadly consequences. A 1950s-style radio thriller read on stage with live sound effects produced in front of the audience. |
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The Hidden Host by Ron Hutson(4m, 5f) apx 110 minsA murder occurs in a rented cottage, but it is too dark to see the perpetrator. The cottage is rented 2 years later on by husband and wife Daphne and Steve Bewers. Strange things occur during their stay, voices and falling objects and several people have an interest in what became of the owner of the property. Someone will stop at nothing to prevent the Bewers from finding her to the point of murder. |
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The Hound Of The Baskervilles by Conan Doyle adapted by Catherine O'Reilly & Tim Churchill(6m, 4f) apx 110 minsA brand-new adaptation of the classic Conan Doyle mystery - probably the most famous of all the Sherlock Holmes thrillers. The Baskerville family have long been haunted by the tale of a terrifying and spectral hound that wanders the bleak moors surrounding the ancestral home. Following the death of Sir Charles Baskerville, and the imminent arrival of the new heir, Sherlock Holmes is assigned to investigate. Does this Hound of Hell exist? Is it a supernatural entity that Haunts this cursed family? Or is there something far more sinister occurring that puts the new owner of Baskerville Hall in grave danger? |
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The Road Hill House Murder by David Morrison(8m, 5f, 1jnr-m)It is 1860, at Hill House in the village of Road, Wiltshire. A young boy’s body is found down an outside privy, with his throat cut. But who managed to abduct him from a locked house, and why? No-one has a motive, but many have something to hide. This play reveals the infidelities, jealousies and ruthlessness that existed within the middle-class society of Victorian England and caused the scandal of the age. This is a true story - these events, dramatised here, actually happened. |
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The Widow by Merlin Ward(3m, 6f) apx 110 mins'The Widow' is a contemporary gothic thriller with a beautiful heroine, a twisted antagonist, an ancient scandal and a long-dead victim still haunting the halls of a stately home. It is a gripping tale of thwarted ambition, unswerving maternal love, and a doomed romance that warms the heart and draws us into a rich story that will resonate long after the final curtain. |
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The Witch's House by Norman Robbins(3m, 6f) apx 110 minsWhen a struggling author decides to rent the same cottage of deceased well known horror writer are his motives really to try and gain inspiration for his writing? Will the history of the cottages previous owners have any bearing on events, or is the book “The Witches of Deepton”, just a figment of Sonia’s wild imagination? Where there any murders committed in the past and more to the point will there be in the future? |
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Three-Quarter Moon by Bryan Darby(2m, 3f, 2m/f)Today’s menu for a cosy family dinner… Starter: a friendly chat liberally sprinkled with doubts concerning a husband’s fidelity. Entrée: an angry outburst; a mysterious gift; an unexpected caller and an accident. Main Course: a revelation; a fight and a missing knife; drizzled with just a hint of fresh blood. To Follow: a police investigation leading to a terrifying discovery. Truly an unforgettable experience for all! But, cosy? |
| See also these Comedy Murder Mystery Plays... | |
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Murder Afoot! by Knut Naerum(5m, 5f)The action unfolds in the Drawing Room of wealthy factory owner Titus Platt’s rather stately home somewhere in 1930’s England. Titus is murdered and Inspector Bullock of the Yard is sent for. When he starts to investigate, there are many suspects: the son, Malcolm; his sister Penny; her fiancé Thomas; the maid, Livia; the house keeper, Miss Grimlish, and the mysterious new chauffeur, Dick Drake. When a man staggers in, bound and gagged, and says that he too is Inspector Bullock, there’s quite some explaining to do! |
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Murder With Ghosts by Simon Brett(5m, 4f)During a weekend house party at Quittendon Manor, the owner, Lady Cholmondley, tells a private investigator, Peregrine Villiers, that she believes she is about to be murdered. However, it is he who is murdered first. To his surprise, he returns to the action immediately, as a ghost. Since the other characters can neither see him or hear him, he can only watch, as other weekend guests get murdered and join him on the Other Side. Who is left alive at the end? Just one person and the ghosts know the answer! |
- A Death Of Convenience
- Alibi For Murder
- Clean
- Dark Rhapsody
- Gold, Frankincense And Murder
- Mask For Murder
- Murder Amongst Friends
- Murder At Maple Lodge
- Murder By Default
- Murder By The Book
- Murder On Cue
- Murder Weekend
- Poetic Justice
- Practice To Deceive
- Psychic Connections
- School For Murder
- Stolen Identity
- The Constant Corpse
- The Death Of Me
- The Diamond Necklace
- The Hidden Host
- The Hound Of The Baskervilles
- The Road Hill House Murder
- The Widow
- The Witch's House
- Three-Quarter Moon