Robert Daws, Dawn Steele & Gray O' Brien to Star THE PERFECT MURDER UK Tour this Autumn

Having delighted and frightened audiences across the country from Bath to Glasgow with its darkly comic and thrilling storyline, Peter James' best-selling novel, The Perfect Murder is set for an extended run starring Robert Daws and Dawn Steele. Following nation-wide critical and audience acclaim, the autumn run of The Perfect Murder also sees the return of Gray O'Brien and opens at the Canterbury Marlowe on September 2nd 2014.

This is the first ever stage production of the work of international best-selling crime thriller novelist Peter James - who has sold over 15 million books of his Roy Grace series and been published in 36 languages - The Perfect Murder, which spent 15 weeks at No.1 in the book charts, has been adapted by award winning writer Shaun McKenna.

Victor Smiley and his wife Joan have been married for a long time. But their marriage has reached crisis point and Victor has decided there is only one way to get Joan out of his life forever... but he's about to get a nasty surprise... As a young Detective Roy Grace starts to investigate his very first homicide case, dark forces intervene and Grace begins to fear that nothing is quite as it seems quite as it seems in this entertaining dark comedy thriller.

Olivier Award winner Ian Talbot directs an all-star company in the autumn re-casting of The Perfect Murder. Having donned his white coat for eight series of ITV's 1960's hospital drama The Royal, Robert Daws, best-known to millions as Dr Gordon Ormerod, will play Victor Smiley. Robert's extensive TV credits have also seen him appear on screen as Sam Mountjoy in Roger Roger, Tuppy Glossop in Jeeves and Wooster and Roger Dervish in the award-winning Outside Edge. His extensive theatre credits include The Secret of Sherlock Holmes and Public Property in the West End and UK tours of Michael Frayn's Alarms and Excursions and David Harrower's Blackbird, the later of which also starred Dawn Steele.

Dawn Steele has starred in numerous hit TV series including the BBC's Monarch of the Glen, Sea of Souls and she played the hugely popular character of Alice Collins in ITV's Wild at Heart. Other theatre credits include the lead role in The Agatha Christie Company's production of Verdict and Dawn also starred in Noel Coward's previously undiscovered Volcano in both the West End and on tour.

They are joined by Gray O'Brien - who continues his highly acclaimed role as the loveable Don Kirk. Gray recently enjoyed an award-winning three years in Coronation Street and has also starred in the TV series Titanic, Peak Practice and Casualty as well as in the West End in Sleuth; Thomas Howes who played the much loved character of William the footman in Downton Abbey for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award and whose theatre credits include The Winslow Boy and the National Theatre Production of The History Boys and finally Romanian born Simona Armstrong, who the British public took to their hearts when she was discovered in the BBC's How do You Solve a Problem Like Maria and who now continues her excellent run in the role of Kamila.

Peter James has won numerous awards both in the UK and in the USA. In 2012 Peter won the coveted US Barry Award for Best British Crime Thriller. The Perfect Murder spent 15 weeks at No 1 and remained for 50 weeks in the iBooks Top 10. Peter has gone straight in at no 1 in the Sunday Times bestseller charts seven times in the last four years with his Roy Grace series - with his most recent Roy Grace novel, Dead Man's Time going straight to No.1 in the Autumn of 2013. His new novel, Want You Dead, is released this June.

Peter James commented on the first stage adaptation of his work: "Ever since I was a small boy when my parents first took me to the theatre, I dreamed of one day having something I wrote appear on stage and this wonderful, extremely funny - and in parts very scary - adaptation of The Perfect Murder is a dream come true. I am thrilled by the wonderful universal reaction the play has received from both fans of my books but also from those who have not read me before and once again I could not have hoped for a more perfect, murderously good cast, with which to continue this incredible run of The Perfect Murder on stage."

Shaun McKenna is an award-winning writer whose numerous credits include the award-winning Ladies In Lavender and the epic West End stage adaptation of The Lord of The Rings musical.

The Perfect Murder is produced by Joshua Andrews and Peter James, in association with Paul Tyrer and Jamie Clark at the Booking Office and completes its first run at Richmond Theatre this week.

THE PERFECT MURDER 2014 TOUR DATES

Tue 2 - Sat 6 September
CANTERBURY MARLOWE THEATRE
Box Office: 01227 787787
www.marlowetheatre.com

Mon 8 - Sat 13 September
SOUTHEND PALACE THEATRE
Box Office: 01702 351135
www.southendtheatres.org.uk?

Mon 15 - Sat 20 September
SHREWSBURY THEATRE SEVERN
Box Office: 01743 281281
www.theatresevern.co.uk

Mon 22 - Sat 27 September
BUXTON OPERA HOUSE
Box Office: 0845 127 2190
www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk

Mon 29 September - Sat 4 October
YORK GRAND OPERA HOUSE
Box Office: 0844 871 3024
www.atgtickets.com/venues/grand-opera-house-york

Mon 13 - Sat 18 October
EASTBOURNE DEVONSHIRE PARK
Box Office: 01323 412000
www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk

Mon 20 - Sat 25 October
AYLESBURY WATERSIDE THEATRE
Box Office: 0844 871 7607
www.atgtickets.com/venues/aylesbury-waterside-theatre

Tue 4 - Sat 8 November
CARDIFF NEW THEATRE
Box Office: 029 2087 8889
www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk

Mon 10 - Sat 15 November
BIRMINGHAM NEW ALEXANDRA THEATRE
Box Office: 0844 871 3011
www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-alexandra-theatre-birmingham

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