THERE’S murder afoot in a posh country mansion and a motley crew of suspects with motives to kill.

But who's got the most to gain from murder or the most to lose from their victims staying alive? The incompetent inspector doesn’t have any leads, although he should be on one the way he clatters around the crime scene like a clumsy Irish setter.

Had you not already guessed, Peter Gordon’s Murdered To Death is a rehash of the classic British whodunnit.

Treading a predictable path through the 1930s murder mystery genre, the production doesn’t have many surprises up its sleeve and at times its familiarity does breed contempt.

Compensating for its lack of originality, the production leans heavily on humour and while the comedy did seem rather contrived, the largely senior audience lapped it up.

Laboriously, Inspector Pratt (David Callister) peddles most of the puns and his character quickly grates. But Richard Tate (Colonel Craddock) is on fine form and you can’t help feel he and fellow stars Victor Spinetti (the butler), Elizabeth Williams (Ms Maple) and Christopher Elderwood (Constable Thompkins) carry this caper through its moments of mediocrity.

You don’t need to be Poirot to solve the mystery of Murdered To Death, which is really just a bit of familiar fun.

Familiar being the operative word.