Ever an astute observer of pop culture, Fran Drescher’s title character in the 1990s sitcom “The Nanny” once complained that the TV crime drama “Columbo” reveals whodunit in the first five minutes, and you spend the rest of the episode wondering which of Peter Falk’s eyes is made of glass. Of course, she’s right about the formula, while missing the point of this particular flavor of thriller: the drama lies not in working out the identity of the villain, but rather in watching them try to get away with murder.

The same holds true for “Dial M for Murder,” a play by Frederick Knott that was adapted into a 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film and is now playing at Drury Lane Theatre with an updated script by Jeffrey Hatcher. Early in the first act, we learn that Tony Wendice (Erik Hellman), a frustrat

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