Murder can be a dodgy business, especially when you are impersonating someone. At least that is what Martin Gaisford discovered after launching his Abingdon-based company Art Deco Murders three years ago.

Mr Gaisford, 47, a joiner by profession who has also enjoyed some success as an actor and a lookalike for Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, had decided to cash in further on his uncanny likeness for the great fictional Belgian detective by running murder mystery events.

All was going swimmingly until he landed a high-profile job on the Orient Express promoting Omega watches with tennis star turned model Anna Kournikova.

The resulting international publicity aroused the attentions of Christie's daughter, Rosalind Hicks, who tipped off Agatha Christie Ltd. Mr Gaisford was told to stop work immediately.

Mr Gaisford said: "I had been a victim of my own success. I went to see Matthew Pritchard, Agatha Christie's grandson, who runs Agatha Christie Ltd, and they said they wanted control over the material I was using in the murder mysteries."

But eventually a compromise was struck Mr Gaisford agreed to write out Poirot from his scripts but would continue making lookalike appearances as Hercule Poirot, with 20 per cent of his fee going to Agatha Christie Ltd.

"I was the only official Hercule Poirot lookalike, so I reckoned I could cover the expense."

In the first four months of this year, Mr Gaisford has made seven appearances as Poirot, boosted by a recent new TV episode that has revived interest.

But he has had to re-invent the murder mystery business to ensure Poirot has bowed out gracefully and a new set of characters has come to life.

The great detective has been replaced by the more dubious Det Insp Archie Bauls who works his way through a series of 12 scenarios with titles such as A Fete Worse Than Death, A Stab in the Dark and Party to Murder, all set in the fictional village of Thymely Over Actin.

They are presented in a Carry On style to the point where one reviewer said it was "like being mugged by Kenneth Williams."

But there is no deliberate vulgarity or bad language.

Mr Gaisford said: "The scripts are clean when they leave us how they are interpreted is up to the audience.

"I have worked for so many murder mystery companies that have used bad language. But if the material is strong enough, then you just don't need it.

"At a recent 50th birthday party, the actors received a standing ovation, which I had never seen at a murder mystery party before."

Other glowing acknowledgements have come from clients including fashion designer Stella McCartney, who hired Art Deco Murders as part of the celebrations leading up to her wedding.

Mr Gaisford said: "She was the best client we have ever had her party was appreciative and she even ordered a copy of the script for her wedding book."

The feedback was something of a relief for such a high-profile affair especially as Mr Gaisford had found himself performing in front of top actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

"I had to stop myself from thinking that here I was acting in front of the highest paid actress in Hollywood!"

But all the actors in Mr Gaisford's 85-strong troupe are members of Equity and have the ability to entertain and interact with the audience as well as follow the script.

Mr Gaisford is also expanding his empire under the umbrella company title of Art Deco Productions.

He has already staffed a number of events with comedy waiters and waitresses, one of whom poses as a lap dancer by trade, and another an ex-con fencing mobile telephones you get the drift.

Mr Gaisford said: "One of our people was thrown out by security three times, before they realised."

Another arm is murder mystery productions, held in a theatre with plenty of audience involvement. As a result, with plenty of acting work in between (last year he was in a production of Howard Barker's play The Fence at Oxford Playhouse, which he has been asked to recreate for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts), he has given up his joinery business, although it comes in handy for building sets and props.

Mr Gaisford said: "I just don't have time to be a joiner any longer, as I have to do every job with Art Deco Productions from marketing to printing.

"It is such a different frame of mind that sometimes I feel as if I'm living in the murder mystery world!"

n Art Deco Productions, call: 01235 525301, or see www.artdecoproductions.co.uk