Having an Agatha Christie tale without a body and whodunit without a who or a what makes Love From a Stranger even more of a mystery - it's more of a whodunwhat than a whodunit.

A rarely seen thriller from the pen of the UK’s greatest crime writer, is in Canterbury this week.

Two young women have won a huge sum - Mavis plans to travel, while Cecily is finally free to marry her slightly dull fiancé - so they are letting their flat.

But then a strange man, Bruce Lovell, comes to inspect it. Cecily instantly falls for him and so ditches her fiancé to spend married life in a remote corner of the countryside.

The question is... how much of a mistake will the marriage turn out to be?

Director Lucy Bailey, who has had success with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare’s Globe, had not heard of the play when she was first approached by production company Fiery Angel about staging an Agatha Christie.

“What attracted me was the dark undercurrents and how relevant it is. The successful liar is what’s so fascinating to Christie. The story could happen any time. We are updating it to the late 50, but it could be set now."

Originally a short story, Philomel Cottage, was published in 1934 as part of the Listerdale Mystery collection.

Her stage version was never performed but rising star Frank Vosper, spied a lead role for himself and worked up a sharper version. A West End hit in 1936, it had a shorter run in New York but in March 1937, Vosper fell from a porthole and drowned.

The story fell into relative obscurity until last year when Lucy got hold of it.

Immersing herself in the most gruesome literature, films and TV dramas, she said: “The way Agatha Christie explores the mind of someone who has the capacity to deceive is truly exciting. She must have done so much reading about it."

Christie had a fascination for people and often listened to people in restaurants at neighbouring tables. She would also dictate her books without pausing, or making mistakes.

Lucy says this latest show will keep audiences guessing. "Audiences will go to the pub talking about it,” she said.

DETAILS

Love From A Stranger is at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury from Tuesday, April 3 to Saturday, April 7. To book tickets from £17.25 call 01227 787787 or visit marlowetheatre.com.