Peter James is well known for his many novels featuring shady dealings with a few murders to keep his readers guessing to the end.
Gemma Stroyan, George Rainsford and Ore Oduba in Picture You Dead | Photo © Chris Bishop
Here Roy Grace is opening a cold case surrounding a lost masterpiece alongside his colleague Bella Moy.
There are many twists and turns throughout, no spoilers here, but suffice to say despite a few bodies along the way, the ending is yet another reveal.
Led by George Rainsford as Grace and Gemma Stroyan as Bella Moy, the script is in safe hands. The Kipling’s happen upon a lost masterpiece at a car boot sale, they employ a local ex con Dave Hegarty (Mark Oxtoby) to create a copy in order to protect their valuable find.
The art underworld springs into action follows an appearance by the Kipling’s on an antique programme; Stuart Piper (Ore Obuda) and Roberta Kilgore (Jodie Steele) are on the prowl to ensure the piece ends up in Piper’s private collection, regardless of method.
The script is fairly slow, the company work hard to instil tension into the piece, but there are moments that feel unbelievable and unnecessary. The homophobic attack on Piper many years before is entirely unexplored except for his trust issues; other strands are opened and not completely sewn up.
It is a good looking production with some great costumes for Jodie Steele as the resident assassin.
It is an audience pleaser and the relatively full house were caught up in the storyline resulting in audible gasps and collective jump scare during the obligatory thunder clap.
The show tours across the UK and is a good night out for any Peter James fans.
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Reviewer: Petra Schofield
