THIS is a ripsnorter of an Agatha Christie that leaves its more famous counterpart, “The Mousetrap,” for dead.

Almost perfectly constructed, the plot revolves around the exceedingly unpopular (except with women) Dr John Cristow, played with casual nonchalance by Paul Jackson.

When the doctor turns up dying from a gunshot wound on the floor of the country manor, pretty well everyone is under suspicion.

In the original novel, Hercule Poirot stepped in to solve the mystery, but Christie wrote him out of the play, replacing him with an odd couple,  Inspector Colquhoun and Detective Sgt Penny performed respectively by Kim Wilson and Alex Davies in a charmingly playful double act.

Elphick undoubtedly knows his Christie thoroughly and in this play  has ample scope to bring out the unusual depth of characterisation in the  script, so that each character captures our  interest and  sympathy.

John Maddock plays the dour butler Gudgeon with great restraint, Mark Bunnett creates a sympathetic character out of the awkward Edward, and Cheryl Browne almost steals the show as the dotty Lady Lucy. It is a strong cast that does its best with the English accents that  the play demands.

There were some confusing moments caused by the fact that some of the actors were cast well outside the age group of the character they represented.

The 1950s costumes were elegant and evocative of the era, as was the sound design by Tony Galliford.

Unfortunately, the set was a bit of a mishmash, constructed by a large team but without the level of finish that would have given a shine to this enjoyable show.

Despite this, “The Hollow” moves along at a cracking pace and provides a number daubing evening of entertainment.

We are not going to tell you whodunit, except to say that the revelation is a surprisingly tragic one.