The Company of Rebus - credit Nobby Clark

The entire Oxford Playhouse audience was discussing who the murderer was during the interval of Rebus: A Game Called Malice. Heated debates were taking place in the bar, whispered deductions in the theatre and shared observations in the foyer.

There was little point, because with famous crime novelist Ian Rankin at the helm, nothing is at it seems, and yet the tempo and pace had already been set, the plot swirling along at a rapid rate.

‘Everyone loves a whodunit, but by throwing his hat into the theatrical ring, Ian Rankin has once again proved himself a formidable contender’

We meet the potential killers at a lofty dinner party in a well heeled house in Edinburgh where their host Teresa Banham (Harriet Godwin) had devised an elaborate and over complex murder mystery game to spice things up a bit.

The Company of Rebus – credit Nobby Clark

Not that it needed it, the tempestuous dinner guests and their continual revelations enough to keep us on the edge of our seats from the get go.

‘the entire audience sat silently watching Ian Rankin’s favourite detective deftly analysing the situation, doing what he does best’

Take shady casino owner Jack Fleming (Billy Hartman) and his indecently young girlfriend and social media influencer Candida (Jade Kennedy). As his past starts to catch up with him, and their age difference and incompatibility become apparent, the cracks begin to show, Hartman’s menace and Kennedy’s ambition electrifying.

Billy Hartman (Jack Fleming) and Jade Kennedy (Candida Jones) – credit Nobby Clark

Abigail Thaw of Endeavour fame READ OUR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WIH HER HERE plays Stephanie Jeffries, a delightful and placatory dinner guest, whose job as a hard core defence lawyer proves to have severe consequences. And then there’s her ill-advised choice of dinner guest; former CID detective John Rebus (Gray O’Brien), whose prickly nature, indifference and personal demons make for an interesting evening.

Abigail Thaw (Stephanie Jeffries) and Gray O’ Brien (John Rebus) – credit Nobby Clark

Until the murder of course, when Rebus shakes off his slothful retirement demeanour and leaps into action, trapping the five guests in the dining room until he can work out whodunit.

Could it be the hosts Harriet and her disheveled husband Paul Godwin (Neil McKinven), whose respectable veneer hides a dissolving marriage and a closet full of skeletons?

Teresa Banham (Harriet Godwin), Gray O’ Brien (John Rebus) and Billy Hartman (Jack Fleming) – credit Nobby Clark

A pin could have dropped in the second half as the entire audience sat silently watching Ian Rankin’s favourite detective deftly analysing the situation, doing what he does best.

‘we can all play at being detectives, but when it really matters the sardonic Rebus is the best man for the job’

That Rebus was on stage rather than on paper only accentuated the tension, Rankin‘s first play proving as page-turning and suspenseful as ever, despite its curiously traditional staging, akin to an Agatha Christie set up.

Gray O’ Brien (John Rebus) – credit Nobby Clark

And what was delightful, was that when the cat was finally out of the bag, Rebus is given his moment in the sun, Rankin seemingly unable to resist giving Rebus centre stage to elaborate, ensuring that we appreciate his innate skill. “I know how to read a room’ he explains with his famously self-depreciating Scottish drawl.

this brilliant cast pull A Game called Malice along at such riveting speed, the dialogue fast, precise and continuous, never letting up as the suspense builds around them

Rankin’s point presumably is that we can all play at being detectives, but when it really matters the sardonic Rebus is the best man for the job.

Billy Hartman, Ian Rankin, Abigail Thaw and Gray O’Brien

But it’s this brilliant cast that pull A Game called Malice along at such riveting speed, the dialogue fast, precise and continuous, never letting up as the suspense builds around them.

Everyone loves a whodunit, but by throwing his hat into the theatrical ring, Ian Rankin has once again proved himself a formidable contender. A great night out at the theatre.

Rebus: A Game Called Malice runs until Saturday November 2. Book here but be quick because tickets are already scarce: https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/events/rebus-a-game-called-malice