INTERNATIONAL best selling crime novelist Peter James has had his work produced for the stage for the very first time as The Perfect Murder, which spent 15 weeks at No.1 in the book charts, is adapted by award winning writer Shaun McKenna.

Victor Smiley (Les Dennis) and his wife Joan (Claire Goose) have been married for a long time. But Victor secretly loathes Joan and is getting attention elsewhere. And Joan is bored stiff by Victor, whose irritating ways are driving her mad. The marriage has reached a crisis point and Victor decides there is only one way to get Joan out of his life forever ... but he’s about to get a nasty surprise. As young detective Roy Grace starts to investigate his very first homicide case, he begins to fear that nothing is quite as it seems.

The Perfect Murder stars Les Dennis, who recently starred as King Arthur in the West End in Spamalot and Claire Goose, who starred in the BBC hit series Waking the Dead and Casualty as well as ITV’s The Bill and most recently SKY TV’s comedy-drama Mount Pleasant.

They are joined by Gray O’Brien, Steven Miller as Roy Grace, and Simona Armstrong, who the public took to their hearts in BBC’s How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria.

"Ever since I was a small boy when my parents first took me to the theatre, I dreamed of one day having something I wrote appear on the stage," said Peter James, "and this wonderful, extremely funny, and in parts very scary, adaptation of The Perfect Murder is truly a dream come true. And I do not think we could have a more perfect, murderously wonderful cast!”

The Perfect Murder is at Malvern Theatres from Monday to Saturday, February 15. To book, call the box office on 01684 892277 or visit malvern_theatres.co.uk