A suspense-filled crime classic

On a rainy night in London, two Oxford undergraduates, Wyndham Brandon and Charles Granillo, commit a murder. Not out of passion, or hatred, or fear, but simply to prove that they are clever enough to get away with it. Because without a motive that connects them to the crime, how will they ever
be caught?

But murder alone is not enough for the urbane Brandon, who convinces his highly strung partner to join him in an elaborate and gruesome challenge. The body of their victim is placed in a large chest in the centre of the drawing room. The same drawing room in which, later that evening, the victim’s family and friends will gather for a previously arranged dinner
party . . . 

As the guests arrive, the two students have to test their ingenuity - and their nerve - to the limit. But will any of the newcomers become aware of the terrible game that is being played and discover the dark secret in the centre of the room? Is there just one visitor with a nose for murder?

Inspired by the infamous Leopold and Loeb case, this taut psychological thriller by the author of Gaslight is once of the most celebrated crime dramas of the last century. Premiered in 1929 and memorably filmed with James Stewart in 1948, this chilling depiction of an apparently motiveless murder is a masterclass in suspense, stretching the audience’s nerves - like a rope - to breaking point . . . 

“ . . . coils round the audience like a boa constrictor mercilessly tightening its grip . . . cruel and brilliant.”
The Daily Telegraph

“ . . . terrifically tense . . . creates a sort of dramatic pressure cooker” The Independent