Is there such a thing as the perfect murder? Who knows because if there is we wouldn't know because the killer would have got away with it and remained undetected.

But with the first play adapted from one of his novels bestselling crime writer Peter James has concocted a delicious deceit that contains everything you need for the perfect theatrical murder mystery.

Take a married couple who've grown bored with each other. A prostitute with psychic powers. A lusty builder lover. And, oh yes, a body wrapped in bin bags in the freezer.

Ian Talbot's production delivers the required twists and turns of a good murder mystery as well as a couple of shock moments to make you jump. But Shaun McKenna's adaptation and a cast of familiar TV faces (Corrie, The Royal, Wild At Heart, Downton Abbey and Any Dream Will Do are all represented) also provide a surprising amount of laughs, some of the dark and ghoulsh ghoulish variety.

James's fictional detective Roy Grace (Thomas Howes) hovers on the fringe of the investigation as the inappropriately named couple the Smileys - Victor and Joan - plot to bring their unhappy marriage to an end.

Robert Daws and Dawn Steele have great fun as the squabbling couple whose bickering turns nasty with macaroons, cake and a hammer among their deadly weapons.

Gray O'Brien is builder Don Kirk (that's Don Kirk not Dunkirk) with a penchant for cockney rhyming slang and another man's wife. Simona Armstrong completes the cast as a prostitute whose liaisons with Victor Smiley become increasingly dangerous.

Until Saturday. Box office 0844-8713024 and online atgtickets.com/york

Steve Pratt