A VILLAGE hall will become a crime scene this Thursday when a theatrical group lifts the curtain on a murder mystery in Churt.

It doesn’t take a detective to work out who the Churt Amateur Dramatic Society (CADS) are paying homage to with Agatha Crusty and The Village Hall Murders.

The plot centres on Crusty, a best-selling crime novelist who is also pretty adept at solving crimes.

Nothing seems untoward when she accepts an invitation by her sister-in-law, Alice, to join her for a few days in the sleepy village of Chortelby.

But it’s not long before she gets caught up in a series of murders which seem directed at members of the All Saints Village Hall committee.

Fingers are pointed at everyone from Toby the vicar and Eleanor, chairman of the committee, to Harry the caretaker and identical twins Olivia and Oliver Truscott-Pratt during the show.

And with an investigating officer as incompetent as DI Twigg struggling to make a breakthrough, there are plenty of laughs to be had as the bodies start to pile up.

Agatha Crusty and The Village Hall Murders is packed full of wit and very funny scenes with the discovery of a body in the village hall water butt being one of many highlights.

But it’s also a genuine murder mystery with an ingenious plot which will tax the audience’s little grey cells at the same time.

Shows will take place at 7.30pm nightly from October 31 to November 2 in Churt Village Hall, tickets are £11 from Miscellanea or www.cadsonline.co.uk