Stone Cold Murder (Mill at Sonning)

It’s 7pm when the phone rings on the reception desk at the Langstrath Country Hotel in the Lake District. There’s no one about to answer it, for the hotel is closed for the winter, and newlywed proprietors Olivia and Robert Chappell have already retired upstairs – to save on heating and lighting bills, no doubt. Eventually Olivia appears and picks up the phone, but the line goes dead.

Then there’s a loud and insistent banging on the front door. Outside is Ramsey, who claims to be a very experienced climber. He has got caught in a sudden storm, he says, and could he possibly have a room for the night? Robert – who seems charmingly naïve – welcomes him in. He doesn’t question Ramsey’s story, or ask why an experienced climber would be out after dark in January, without even a backpack carrying emergency supplies. Olivia is far less convinced, however: her eyes radiate hostility towards the newcomer.

Thus begins James Cawood’s Stone Cold Murder. As copious drinks are poured in the hotel’s wood panelled front hall (atmospherically created by designer Tony Eden), the reason for Olivia’s nervy behaviour becomes apparent: her ex-lover is a seriously nasty piece of work, and she is terrified that he is still pursuing her. "Of course he isn’t after you," says husband Robert as he sits there, comfortable and complacent in his woolly cardigan. But in the first truly gasp-worthy moment of the evening, it becomes apparent that Robert is very much mistaken.

Cawood presents Stone Cold Murder directors with a considerable challenge. Murder is always committed in full view of the audience, so you know whodunit. And as time goes on, the play increasingly concentrates on stripping away often predictable false identities. The challenge, therefore, is to maintain the initial high level of tension right until the end. In this Mill at Sonning in-house production, highly experienced director Sue Wilson does this extremely well.

She’s aided by a uniformly excellent cast. Elinor Lawless and Elliot Chapman develop the rapidly changing relationship between hotel proprietors Olivia and Robert with great conviction, while Paul Brendan keeps you guessing about the mysterious Ramsey’s true identity. Meanwhile, Nick Waring comes excitingly close to going over the top as Olivia’s dastardly ex-lover Sam Stone.

Stone Cold Murder may not be the greatest thriller ever written, but this production certainly keeps you on the edge of your seat. You’ll leave pondering a question too: are diamonds a girl’s best friend – or her worst enemy?