THE world renowned murder mystery The Mousetrap from Queen of Crime Dame Agatha Christie will return to Mayflower Theatre in 2020.

Television star Susan Penhaligon (Bouquet of Barbed Wire, A Fine Romance, Emmerdale) will play Mrs Boyle during the run, from June 16 to 20.

Following the success of the first ever UK tour in 2012, the timeless thriller returned to the road by popular demand in January 2019, and has been earning standout reviews from critics and public alike.

Directed by Gareth Armstrong, the tour will visit more than 80 venues in total as it continues throughout 2020.

Now in its 68th year, The Mousetrap continues a record-breaking run in the West End where it recently celebrated its 28,000th performance at the St Martin’s Theatre. First seen in Nottingham in 1952 starring Richard Attenborough and his wife Sheila Sim, The Mousetrap went on to become the world’s longest running stage production following its West End transfer to The Ambassadors in 1952 and St Martin’s in 1973 where it has played ever since.

Susan Penhaligon (Mrs Boyle) is well-known for her role in the ITV drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire, as Helen Barker in the ITV sitcom A Fine Romance, and as Jean Hope in Emmerdale. She has toured the UK with stage productions including The Importance of being Earnest, Cabaret, Rehearsal for Murder, And Then There Were None, The Constant Wife, Verdict and Dangerous Obsessions. Stage credits also include Caste (Finborough Theatre), Murder on Air (Theatre Royal Windsor), Broken Glass (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Compliant Love (Palace Theatre) and The Cherry Orchard (Royal Exchange). Susan has also appeared on film in Top Dog, Citizen Versus Kane, Say that You Love Me, Say Hello to Yesterday and Private Road.

She is joined on stage by Martin Allanson (Detective Sgt. Trotter), Laura Costello (Miss Casewell), Steven Elliott (Mr Paravicini), John Griffiths (Major Metcalf), Edith Kirkwood (Mollie Ralston), Adam Lilley (Giles Ralston) and George Naylor (Christopher Wren).

The scene is set when a group of people gathered in a country house cut off by the snow discover, to their horror, that there is a murderer in their midst. Who can it be?

One by one the suspicious characters reveal their sordid pasts until at the last, nerve-shredding moment the identity and the motive are finally revealed.

Experience shuddering suspense and a brilliantly intricate plot where murder lurks around every corner and discovery why Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap has kept people guessing for so long.

Tickets are on sale now from 023 8071 1811 or mayflower.org.uk