Chicago 1941. Meet private eye Richard Stone, celebrating at his Christmas Even office party after beating the draft by way of a bribe. He's a disappointment to his secretary and main squeeze, Katie Crocket, whose brother Ben is fighting overseas; and his honest young employee joey Ernest is guilt-ridden over all the divorce-racket keyhole peeping. Worst of all, his equally sleazy partner, Jake Marley, was murdered a year ago tonight and Stone didn't bother solving Jake's ho-ho homicide.

During the dress rehearsal for a festive Christmas play in small-town Serenity, Iowa, star Louise Lamont topples over after a bite of prop pastry. Since the frosty actress had earned plenty of enemies through her offstage dramatics, the cast of suspects is longer than Santa's "Naughty or Nice" list. Prop mistress Brandy Borne and her diva-turned-director mother, Vivian-assisted by their savvy shih tzu, Sushi-must solve this fruitcake fatality before it's curtains for anyone else.

"Man in Purple" tells the true story of the one and only Norman G. Baker. Baker was born in Muscatine in 1892 and raised to be an entrepreneur from an early age. Norman was known for the fantastic nature of his plans and inventions, including calliaphones, radio stations, and finding a cure for cancer. His “cure” for cancer was an attack on the standard medical practices of his era and an early pre-cursor to holistic wellness practices and alternative illness treatments. The man was a fascinating piece of history, who made waves on the radio that were a precursor to modern-day personalities, such as Howard Stern. You couldn’t make up this story if you tried…

Edited from two dress rehearsals and a live stage performance, Encore for Murder is a Golden Age Radio-style production of the Spillane/Collins script produced in Owensboro, Kentucky, and Clearwater, Florida, starring Gary Sandy (WKRP In Cincinatti) as Mike Hammer.