Having been for many years an ardent fan of Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, Inspector Morse and even that tiresome little Belgian prat, your reviewer was delighted to learn that his favourite theatre company, the Berden Drama Group, was to stage a Murder Mystery evening.  So on a recent Saturday we presented ourselves at Berden Village Hall where we discovered that there was not only a theatrical treat in store but also a gustatory experience, as the evening involved both a play and a dinner, whose delights will be reviewed by my colleague May Faschler.  [Unfortunately this review has had to be held over for lack of space – Ed].

This production “Murder at the Manor” is in the classic mould of country house dramas.  The testy old squire (Peter Patrick) and his dippy wife (Marion Martin) are planning his forthcoming birthday party, aided and somewhat abetted by creepy butler Arnold (Andrew Harrison) and maid Millie/ Molly/ Mandy (Sylvia – “When I’m cleaning windows” – Cockram), dashing younger brother MP Nigel (Philip Scatchard) who keeps dropping in to test the whisky and – “whose daughter am I anyway?”  Briony (Anna Horry).

Of course there is a corpse at the end of Act 1 and a Detective (Janine Jackson-Barr) who spends the next two Acts trying to unravel the intricacies of the plot. The fickle finger of guilt points at each of the characters in turn in a mind-blowing series of twists, turns, clues, herrings both red and blue; in fact, all the usual suspects.

The production was much enhanced by the inclusion of three newcomers to the Company, whose talents so amply complemented the vivid performances of Berden’s tried and tested Thespians.

I cannot reveal the ending as I believe there is some talk of a transfer to the West End or at least somewhere west. But wherever it goes to, this production could not be better served than by Producer/ Director/ Dogsbody Sue Burton,  Set Designer/ Builder / Sound Engineer Stephen Griffiths, Lighting Bods Andrew Nelson and Richard Little (showing off their splendid new toys) and the unstinted support and help of the Social Club Committee.