ATP Is Murder Tax Deductible?

Aged to Perfection (ATP), OTP's Senior Readers Theatre, presents Is Murder Tax Deductible?

By Katherine Beeson

In the offices of Dett and Merring, Accountants, murder is afoot. One partner mistakenly identified as the dead man continues to play out the ruse along with the office secretary, Bella, and foiling the other characters and the police until Detective Bartholomew sees through the obfuscation, learning the secrets each is hiding behind. All is not what it seems nor who they seem, and long-time vengeance plays out with whacky consequences and twists. It’s a lighthearted murder mystery in the Agatha Christie cozy tradition.

Katherine Beeson (Playwright) is a free-lance print journalist from Wisconsin. She has a degree in History from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. She is married to Steve, a pharmacy manager, has three grown children and lives in Greenfield, Wisconsin. She is a former docent at an art museum and currently is a debate judge for high schools in the area.

Beeson has written three plays - “IN LIEU OF FLOWERS,” “IS MURDER TAX-DEDUCTIBLE?” and “THE CUPCAKE KILLER.” She has been acting and directing since 1993.

“IS MURDER TAX-DEDUCTIBLE?” was presented as a workshop in fall of 2012 and as a full- scale play by a small community theater group, The West Allis Players, in spring of 2013. It received a great review by a local theater critic and made a profit for this group of almost $3,000.

The play was inspired by Beeson’s own accountant and friend, Brian Dettmering, who tends to get very crabby and over-worked at tax time. Her original premise was to feature a short- tempered accountant but then she figured out that it was more fun killing him off - theatrically speaking. The two accountants’ names - Dett and Merring - are a shout-out to this man.

The fact that this play is set in 1951 means that technical detecting advantages were not available to the police and many plot twists are possible. The comedic lines in the play keep things light and provide characters with funnier reactions while keeping them true to the story as well as believable people.

Don’t miss this delightful presentation of readers theatre. There is no admission charge, though free-will donations will be gratefully accepted to support the activities of ATP/OTP.