AS my press seat was in the jury box, I have no hesitation in delivering my verdict on this latest site-specific production from York-based company Theatre Mill – one of the best pieces of theatre you’ll see this year.

Who would have thought I’d say that about a play by Agatha Christie, a writer many regard as oldfashioned and outdated.

But this not only has a cracking story but the added benefit of being staged in the spectacular council chambers, which prove the real star of this courtroomset thriller.

Of course, you can hardly go wrong with a legal drama.

Barristers always seem like frustrated actors who dress up and perform as much as any thespian in front of the similarly bewigged judge.

This is director Samuel Wood’s best – so far – sitespecific production for the enterprising Theatre Mill following The Importance Of Being Earnest in the Mansion House and a Sherlock Holmes story in the Treasurer’s House and Ripley Castle.

Christie too must take a lot of the credit for writing such an enthralling drama that grips from the very start.

Leonard Vole is charged with the murder of a wealthy elderly woman he has befriended. He protests his innocence but will his wife (who being both a woman and a foreigner can’t be trusted) give him the alibi he so badly needs when she steps into the witness box?

David Bowen’s QC Sir Wilfred Robarts and Clive Moore’s Mr Myers QC verbally spar to great effect as the witnesses, including Pam Hilton’s prickly Scottish companion, take the stand.

Andrew Dowbiggin’s accused seems a perfectly ordinary chap caught up in a murder of which he says he’s innocent. But no wonder he looks worried as Rachel Logan’s cool, calm and collected wife Romaine gives her evidence.

Plus, there’s a late appearance by a mystery girl and a post-trial twist that I suspect few in the audience saw coming as the guilty person is caught – court? – in the last act.

  • Until April 20. Performances Wed-Sat, 7.30pm. Matinees Thurs, Sat and Sun, 2pm. Tickets from York Theatre Royal, 01904-623568 and yorktheatreroyal.co.uk