When Philip Fletcher made his debut in Simon Show's hilarious black comedy/mystery Murder out of Tune, he was failing as an actor - despite his own high opinion of himself - but brilliantly successful as a killer. Now in Bloody Instructions, Fletcher's acting fortunes have risen. He's been given the part of Banquo in an important staging of Macbeth, but he's still forced to play second fiddle to the brattish movie megastar, Richi Calvi, who's in the title role. Of course the two loathe each other, and of course everyone knows it. So when Calvi is found in his dressing room with a dagger between his shoulder blades, Philip knows he'll be the likely suspect - especially after he's picked to take Calvi's place in the play. When a second body turns up in Fletcher's bathtub - the critic who's just trashed his performance - it seems pretty clear someone's out to get him. Righteously indignant at being wrongly accused, Philip turns amateur detective - a role for which his life of crime has amply prepared him. Ironic, witty, and clever, Bloody Instructions offers a wickedly funny look a the theatrical world as well as an intricately plotted mystery - another triumph for Simon Shaw.

Genre: Mystery