Prescription for Murder

Murder Mysteries are as English as a cup of Yorkshire Red tea with a Sainsbury’s Custard Cream biscuit. While that may seem puzzling to some Americans, it should be everyday terminology to those familiar with Miss Marple, Midsomer Murders, and Rosemary and Thyme – all wonderful British television shows. However, Magenta Theater’s October murder mystery, “Prescription for Murder,” is lacking one important element – the detective. Audiences are left to their own devices to try and decipher the covey of clues covertly interjected by playwright Norman Robbins.

Bere Knighton (pronounced Berry Nye-tun), a quaint village in northern Devon, is the setting for Dr. Richard Forth’s tumultuous relationship with his oft-ill wife, Barbara, his cloying ex-girlfriend, Julia, and a bevy of local residents. The ‘plot thickens’ with the arrival of a handsome stranger who claims to have known Richard’s second fiancée – a woman Richard swears does not exist. Barbara’s health worsens, as does that of others around her. Is someone trying to kill Barbara and those who get in the way?