Bret Jones, director of Theatre at Wichita State, has been fascinated with murder for a long time.

His book “Listener in the Dark” is a murder mystery set against the backdrop of an old time radio station, a passionate subject for Jones.

“I have been fascinated by it [old time radio] for a long, long time,” Jones said.

Jones said the plot is about a DJ at a small-town radio station who discovers that a recently murdered friend was tracking down missing episodes of an old radio show called “I Love a Mystery.”

“It’s about this man trying to discover who killed his friend, while also being about the lore of old-time radio,” he said.

Fictionalizing his own passions is nothing new for Jones, who has enjoyed an accomplished, rewarding career in being creative.

Among his many accomplishments are seeing his play, “The Isolation House,” run at the American Theatre of Actors in New York City and founding the Ancient Radio Players, an award-winning audio theatre performance group based out of Oklahoma.

In his time as theatre director at WSU, Jones has infected his students with his brand of passionate tenacity.

“There is no other program in Kansas that will give you the opportunity to work with someone who not only does theater, but other things like film and audio, and who will allow you to do these things while still working toward your degree,” Fine Arts senior Kyle Dilley said. “I’ve even been able to work with professional mimes.”

“Listener in the Dark” can be ordered through Amazon.com.