"Wish You Were Dead" by Peter James

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Roy Grace and his wife, Cleo and their new baby Noah, have left work and home behind for a week’s holiday in France. The website promised a grand house, but when they arrive the place is very different from the pictures; we've all been there. And it soon becomes clear that their holiday nightmare is only just beginning.

An old enemy of Roy, a lowlife criminal he had put behind bars, is now out of jail – and out for revenge. He knows where Roy and his family have gone on holiday. Of course he does – and they are in the perfect spot for him to pay Roy back . . .

Peter James has been lauded as the most successful modern day crime writer since Agatha Christie, and this is the sixth and latest in the stage adaptations of his best selling books.

George Rainsford plays DSI Roy Grace. Grace, as we all know, is never really off duty; his mind never switches off from work, even on holiday. It's Grace's history and friendship with Glenn Branson that eventually saves his, and his family and friends' lives.

Giovanna Fletcher plays Cleo. I loved Giovanna on "I'm A Celebrity", but, and this was just me, I found she needed just a bit more projection in her voice. Once I realised this though I did train my ears to tune in a bit more to Giovanna's bits, and this made it easier. That out of the way, I enjoyed the performance and there was a certain amount of chemistry between Cleo and Roy.

Kaitlynn Carter is the "nanny" the Grace's have taken on holiday with them to look after Noah. Kaitlynn's partner, Jack, is late arriving to the party; or is he there already? Loved the American accent and thought that Gemma Stroyan, who plays Kaitlynn was actually from over the pond, but no! Gemma is from Scotland but has that talent of mimicry that I admire so much. There is a bit of a shock moment with Kaitlynn, but that's for you to find out.

Alex Stedman plays Jack Alexander, who doesn't have that much of a script, but neither would you if you spend the majority of the play bound and gagged, locked in a secret room, somewhere in the chateau.

Clive Mantle plays Curtis, the patriarch of the gang who is out for revenge. I've been a distant fan of Clive's work, all the way back from the film "Party Party" through to "Casualty", so i really enjoyed his nasty side. The part could have been even nastier, character wise, but then I thought, well it doesn't need to be because he was under the impression that he had his fly in the spider's web, so nothing could go wrong, and that he was in charge. Well, we all know what happens when a baddie is in that frame of mind, don't we?

Rebecca McKinnis plays Madame L’Eveque, who welcomes the holiday makers, but one little foreign slip up, picked up by Cleo, casts suspicion over their host. I loved Rebecca's character play as Madame and Rebecca's other role, which I will also leave you to discover.

Madame has explained away her father in law as being in a wheelchair and practically helpless. we see Vicomte L'Eveque once when he warns Kaitlynn to leave. This character is played by Vince Mallet, but could this be a little extra mystery as Vince Mallet is an anagram for one of the others!!

Arriving late to the party is Brent, Curtis's son, who Curtis has invited in to do his dirty work for him. Brent is played by Callum Sheridan-Lee, who has only just graduated from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. What a way to show his worth with a character like this. Plenty of menace with just the right amount of unhinged maniac.

Leon Stewart reprises his tole of DS Glenn Branson, coming in at the end to save the day as the cavalry, complete with gendarme.

The set design, comprising of a rustic multi level French chateau, is the work of Michael Holt. Brilliant set which also has a few clues peppered around, and what I also love about this is that you have access to see in all the rooms on show, including a gauze wall where we can see where Jack is being held.

Directed by Jonathan O' Boyle, he has set the tension level high, but managed to drip feed us certain clues, which I am quite chuffed about as I picked up on them and could see what was to happen. For some that may spoil the enjoyment. For me it created even more excitement knowing that I had managed to foresee the inevitable.

The Lighting Design by Jason Taylor helped to create the tension with flickering lights and shadows, slowly revealing more clues.

As always, for me, the sound and light designs work hand in hand, especially for plays such as this. Max Pappenheim is the composer and sound designer, and with the crashing thunder, sweeping rain, classical music - which is always a sign that something will be soon going awry, both aural and visual senses were treated to a neve tingling sensory treat.

If there was something that always niggles me when there are "babies" involved, is that we get the sound of the baby crying or cooing, but when the baby is picked up, it's always lifeless. I know, it's only a doll, and I know that they can't use real babies but it detracts from the reality for me. There is no solution to this unless there are robotic babies available which will move and wriggle at the push of a button by the actors. If they don't exist, then they should do... maybe I could invent one!

That aside, I love a good murder mystery, and anyone who is being compared to the wonderful Agatha Christie is fine by me. I enjoyed it even more because I was able to pick up on the clues and use them to get ahead of what was happening at that time. Some wonderful tense moments and a couple of jump scares, so I was a very happy bunny. if you love this kind of play, then this is a class production you need to see.

"Wish You were Dead" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 4 March.