The Master turns sleuth and spy in this quintet of radio dramas
Actor, playwright, songwriter, director, author and star тАУ as far as we know, No├лl Coward never added тАШdetectiveтАЩ or тАШundercover agentтАЩ to his astonishing achievements. But could the intriguing gaps in his memoirs be hiding a thrilling secret life?
Design for Murder
In this wry backstage whodunit set just before World War II, Coward must put aside the play heтАЩs writing to track down a murderous psychopath in LondonтАЩs West End.
Blithe Spy
This Second World War espionage adventure finds Coward in New York, where he turns secret agent and uses his talent to amuse to help Britain battle the Nazis.
A Bullet at BalmainтАЩs
1948, and the celebrated playwright is in post-liberation Paris to take the lead role in his play Present Laughter. But the murder of a fashion-house mannequin provides a stylish distraction.
Death at the Desert Inn
1955. When $300,000 is left in a satchel in No├лl Coward's Las Vegas suite, itтАЩs the prelude to a baffling murder mystery, complete with Judy Garland, a showgirl, a Broadway agent, an unlikely croupier, and a US Congressman.
Our Man in Jamaica
1961. Reconciled to being out of fashion, No├лl Coward is determined to finish his first novel тАУ until his neighbour Ian Fleming sets him a challenge: become a spy once more to help destabilise Fidel Castro...
Written by Marcy Kahan and starring Malcolm Sinclair as Coward, Eleanor Bron as his devoted secretary Lorn Loraine and Tam Williams as his devoted valet Cole Lesley, these light-hearted thrillers see No├лl Coward solving crimes and foiling villains with his favourite weapon: wit.
Cast and credits
Written by Marcy Kahan
Starring Malcolm Sinclair as No├лl Coward, Eleanor Bron as Lorn Loraine and Tam Williams as Cole Lesley