Staging of Miss Marple classic A Murder is Announced at Nottingham Theatre Royal is a real mystery

A mystery indeed, A Murder is Announced left the audience at Nottingham Theatre Royal guessing right until the very end.

In peaceful Chipping Cleghorn, an advertisement for a murder is placed in the newspaper. Three shots fired in a dark sitting room unravel a deep web of lies and deceit, as it appears no one is quite who they say they are ­— and a dead man who nobody knows is known by everyone.

It falls to visitor Miss Marple (Sarah Thomas) to put the pieces together and catch the cold-blooded killer, with the aid of the humorous Inspector Craddock (Tom Butcher) by solving a crime with uncooperative witnesses who would much rather do their Saturday shopping.

Comedic relief is also found in Mitteleuropa refugee and hired cook Mitzi’s (Lydia Piechowiak) constant criticism of English food, blunt manners and outlandish rants.

As real identities are unravelled, accusations are made and a multi-million-pound inheritance is uncovered, it becomes clear that some people will do anything for money. ­— EG