The stage set is well designed and visually pleasing. The storyline engages but acting is variable. Clive Mantle and Katie McGlynn are strong performers, holding the stage with presence and good comic timing. Giovanni Fletcher shouting rather than having a controlled use of voice is distracting.

I saw this at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham with two friends. We are all fans of Peter James' character Roy Grace and gave Read all of the books. We were really looking forward to seeing Giovanna Fletcher and George Ranisford on stage but we're disappointed by the two lead actors. This was akin to an am dram production with both actors shouting and over acting. The noises from and attention given to "baby" Noah meant the action was very stop start. Only in the second half with the appearance of the excellent Clive Mantle did the drama begun to pick up. Definitely not a great experience, especially as we had paid £40 per ticket.

Really disappointed. Shouting from the 2 lead actors was very irritating. The whole thing seemed ridiculously bad I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I expected much more and was relieved once it had finished

I have enjoyed the past theatre plays by Peter James but this one was very disappointing. The first half was a bit boring and the story took ages to get going. Acting wasn’t great either, I felt it was a bit too loud with shouting voices. I was hoping the second half would’ve been better, but the best bit was when it ended…

Good story line however the first act dragged on and was hard to keep engaged, second act saved it however, a good third of the actors didn’t come on stage until half way through second act. Set design was great and excellent use of the stage. Two lead acts were shouting and really extending their voices but it was still hard to hear. The over extenuating the words ruined the whole play for me. It felt like a mimick / college play rather than a professional tour and made the dialogue sound very sarcastic. I was sat in the fifth row of the stalls and was still having to listen carefully to the words because despite them shouting and overextending their words, it was still difficult to hear. I have no idea how anyone in the circles or gallery could hear. They should have had microphones. A shame as it had the potential to be a fantastic show. Hopefully they can implement some changes for future performances ie using mics

We were so looking forward to this. Having read some of James’ books, watched the series and seen last year’s play in Worthing we had high expectations. But, from the very beginning it was disappointing. Actors not able to carry their voice effectively resulting in panto style dialogue and over acting. What should have been a thriller felt more like a comedy with poor timing. George Rainsford’s Grace having plenty of time to crack the baddie over the head with the bottle but instead waiting for the next line to be delivered. While an important addition to the story the baby just served as an annoyance interrupting the action. The French host was the outstanding performance in the first half. Overall this seemed very Am-Dram and I would not recommend.