The Detective’s Demise The Musical - The Fancy Room, Just the Tonic at the Caves - Review

Ben Stone is a detective inspector, praised, celebrated, young and at the top of his game. But he’s ready to leave it all behind, much to the shock of his friends and family. As they gather for his murder mystery themed 25th birthday party, the candles are not the only things getting snuffed out. Ben suspects that someone in his circle is lying, and plots to stage his own murder to find the foe, but a black out, a brief moment, and Ben is dead for real in the chair.

The third in a line of shows brought to the fringe by Grownup Playhouse, The Detective’s Demise is a musical whodunnit, a closed door mystery where someone in that one room must be the killer, set to the soundtrack of clever, witty and at times highly layered numbers.

With only the briefest of twenty minute gaps between the two, Tom Rolph leaps from playing the Prince in Charming to playing Ben Stone here. And you can rest assured that despite becoming the victim in the opening scenes, this isn’t job done for him. He appears throughout in flashbacks as the mystery unravels and sometimes looms in the background like a spirit of doom looking over anyone who has wronged him. A commanding performer. Nora Shields plays detective Penelope Puck, forced to try to solve the crime. A bumbling over excited detective on her first big case who earns giggles throughout.

James Taylor’s Alex Stone, the brother of Ben, seems more concerned about booze and cake then the fate of his brother whilst Will Barlett’s fellow detective inspector Sam Bird, firm in the belief that he should have Ben’s job, tries to interfere with the investigation. Amy Langton-Smith plays Ben’s wife Kate, but is she more interested in him or his money? Time will tell. Naomi Park plays Lucy Stone, Ben’s step sister who is perhaps a little too interested in him, all whilst her boyfriend Joe played by Cameron Slade laments his life forever forgotten in the background.

The songs are impressive, and performed very well throughout from ballads to comedy double acts. The story, at times, is a little confusing, with it unclear whether Ben has really met an untimely end or not, but this could be a creative choice to keep the audience guessing. The last 15 mins felt a little hurried as everything was explained, even with the additional 20 mins to the running time, leaving things a little bit unfinished perhaps. And those who have seen another Grownup Playhouse show Escape Room the Musical may see some similar themes and ideas being explored here with Detectives Demise.

Overall, this is an enjoyable musical murder mystery with fun characters and great songs. And with a little bit of tweaking to the story development and pacing, it could really take off.