Murder, She Wrote

Retired English teacher Jessica Fletcher is in for a surprise when her nephew Grady tells her that he found a manuscript she wrote and showed it a friend in the publishing world. Jessica's mystery novel soon becomes a bestseller and she soon finds herself in New York on a whirlwind promotional tour that ends with a murder.Production Notes: This season contains the first opening segment.

When a supposedly dead businessman, disguised as a handyman turns up on Jessica's doorstep, she soon discovers that he was swept overboard his yacht the previous night during a hurricane following a fight with his daughters. When she returns home to get some answers from her new "handyman," she promptly discovers his dead body, Jessica aids Sheriff Tupper in his investigation to see which of his daughters hated him enough to want him dead.

Jessica meets up with her niece Victoria in San Francisco before her wedding to a young man named Howard. When Victoria confides in Jessica that she fears Howard may be cheating on her, they soon discover he's a performer at a local drag club. Things take a surprising turn when the club owner is found dead and Howard is the prime suspect.

Jessica travels to Hollywood in an effort to stop a sleazy producer from turning one of her novels into a steamy film. When the movie mogul turns up dead, she is horrified to learn that she is the chief suspect.

While visiting a friend in the South, Jessica discovers that backstabbing among family members is pretty common when her host is found dead and has left his estate to his beloved dog as a result. Furious about getting nothing, the man's family begin looking for a way to break the will in an attempt to get their hands on his money. When the dog's caretaker is found dead and the dog appears to be the likely culprit, Jessica begins to suspect that the jilted heirs are working together to get what they think is theirs.

While in Seattle for a series of lectures, Jessica is drawn into a dangerous case involving young secretary David Tolliver accused of killing his wealthy older lady friend Allison Brevard.

Jessica and the police are baffled by a seemingly driver-less car that suddenly appears in Cabot Cove and runs down a visitor who had fired local inventor Dan O'Brien.

While visiting relatives in Kansas, Jessica gets caught up in the plot of scheming theme park owner who wants to turn her novel into an attraction at her park. After she politely turns him down and he ends up being murdered inside his self-locking private office, Jessica is propositioned by the police to help find the culprit.

In Boston, Jessica attends a special performance by a Soviet Ballet Company with her friend Leo Peterson. When she discovers that Leo's niece, a prima ballerina, and her husband defect the same night a security guard is found murdered, she has to prove the pair's innocence while helping the FBI and KGB agents find the actual killer.

Jessica gets talked into going to a well-known and disliked hypnotist's show at a popular night club by her editor's assistant. Not long after she arrives, the hypnotist gets murdered in a locked roomful of journalists, who happen to be under the man's spell. The baffled police have no shortage of suspects and soon turn to Jessica's assistance in solving the crime.

After the congressman representing her district suddenly dies of a heart attack, Jessica is asked to temporarily fill in, until a replacement is elected. While in Washington, she soon discovers the dark dealings of the political arena and that serving in elected offices can be murder.

Jessica investigates the attempted murders of a legendary Broadway actress and her talented daughter, due to star in a new musical production. But as Jessica uncovers the truth, her own life is put in danger.

Jessica arrives early in New Orleans on a book tour and spends some time as a tourist in the French Corner. On the night her host takes her out to a night club for the final performance of a popular Jazz band before relocating out of state, the leader drops dead, apparently from a heart attack. However, at Jessica's prodding, the police discover he was actually poisoned and there were several people, including several bandmates, who wanted the man dead.

Jessica goes on a cruise with her niece Pamela, who has just been released from a sanatorium where she was recovering from the suicide of her husband Johnny. However, on board the ship Pamela is the victim of a terror campaign, and then another passenger is found dead.

Jessica investigates the death of her friend Diego Santana, a famous painter. But which of his friends and family had a killer's motive?

Jessica is working on a new novel that is based on actual murder case that happened years before. When the private investigator she hired to look into the case is murdered in his office, she and the investigator's partner, tough guy Harry McGraw, reluctantly team up to see which of his cases lead to his death.

Jessica inherits part of a professional football team, and soon discovers that the sport can be murder. When a fellow co-owner is found dead following a team party and the star quarterback is the prime suspect, Jessica has her work cut out for her to prove his innocence.

Jessica meets up with a poet friend in San Francisco for a special literary awards banquet. While at the party the poet gets into a scuffle with an author who claims to have wrote the "definitive" novel about the Vietnam War. When the author is later found in his room and his manuscript missing, the poet is the prime suspect. Jessica then sets out to prove to the police that her friend is innocent of the crime.

While on their way to a Sheriff's convention is Boston, Sheriff Tupper and Jessica find that their bus has to take a detour to a small roadside diner due to bad weather. However, they can't leave a murder investigation at home when one of their fellow passengers is found dead on the bus and have to find out who wanted the man dead.

Upon her arrival in Texas to give a deposition, Jessica gets in a small accident that results in her leg being broken. Not long after being taken to the hospital, she soon discovers that the politics on the administration level can be murder when the hospital's chief of staff is found dead at home the guilty party lets a nurse working at the hospital take the blame for the crime.

Jessica arrives at a popular California desert resort town to visit an old friend and her family for the weekend. It doesn't take long for her to become involved in a murder investigation, when her friend's ex-husband was found murdered in an apparently locked room in his estate. Jessica soon discovers that the suspect list is lengthy since he had several enemies, and some of the people who wanted him gone were family.

Jessica is in Wyoming for the funeral of an old friend and soon gets involved in a murder investigation when an old business associate who arrived for the funeral, claiming to be the rightful heir of the deceased's property, is found murdered in the barn. As Jessica begins to wade through the clues, she soon discovers that the rancher's old army buddies and brother all had their reasons for wanting the man dead, and those reasons included a secret involving the rancher's daughter.

After receiving a letter from a friend, foretelling her death, Jessica decides to masquerade as a wealthy recluse in order to investigate her death on the tropical island where her death occurred. Upon arriving, she gets some unexpected help in the form of British spy Michael Haggerty and the local inspector.

When a real estate developer, known for using substandard building equipment, is found dead at a site outside of Cabot Cove where he was planning on building a high-rise hotel, there is no shortage of suspects who wanted to see the man dead. Jessica soon has her work cut out for her in trying to convince an FBI Agent that a peaceful environmental protestor is innocent in the crime while proving to Sheriff Tupper that another set of skeletal remains that have been found at the construction scene don't belong to a Revolutionary War hero.

Jessica's niece, an actress in a daytime drama, becomes a suspect when the head writer for the show is murdered.

Crime writer Jessica Fletcher is about to receive a special award at Grenshaw College when she finds the proceedings interrupted by a murder.

Jessica hurries to London upon learning that her cousin Emma (Angela Lansbury in a dual role), has passed away unexpectedly. Upon her arrival, Jessica learns that Emma faked her death and is asking for her help in finding out who wants her dead.

When a friend of Jessica's expresses concern that she's losing her sanity, the sharp-eyed sleuth downs her pen and rushes to help. It soon becomes clear that things are not what they seem - is someone out to swindle the family fortune from under her nose?

While staying at a lakeside inn, Jessica investigates the drowning of a championship swimmer.

Jessica must help her niece, a jockey whose first victory is followed by charges of murdering the horse's owner.

On the night Jessica fills in as a night school teacher in a women's prison, she is forced to investigate what lead to a prisoner uprising following the death of the prison doctor. As her investigation progresses, she soon discovers the politics behind the everyday running of a prison can be deadly – especially after another prison employees is found dead.

After Amos decides to retire early, Cabot Cove gets flooded with dozens of poison pen letters, in an attempt to cover up the surprising murder of a young woman who owns the land that a historic lighthouse is located on. With the help of a visiting travel journalist, it's up to Jessica to aid the new sheriff, Harry Pierce, in figuring who the culprit is.

Jessica investigates when murder fells a local Navajo Indian guide who opposed an archaeologist's desecration of tribal lands.

While visiting her nephew in New York, Jessica runs into a former student, Elizabeth Gordon, in town for a cosmetics convention. Visiting her apartment, Jessica finds Elizabeth murdered and her portrait defaced with lipstick.

It's a bad day for the jurors when Jessica is the foreperson of the jury hearing the case of a man claiming self-defense in the death of an enraged husband.

A new themed diner opened just off the interstate in Cabot Cove, drawing the praise of the town's residents and the ire of a competing diner owner. However, when a visiting diner ends up dead and several other diners getting sick from apparently food poisoning, Seth and Jessica help Sheriff Tupper wade through a long list of suspects to find out what their motive was for the poisoning.

Jessica and a colleague named Ames Caufield are on their way home from a literary conference when their car breaks down in a small, southern rural area. While waiting for the car to be fixed, they check into a local inn run by a former student of Ames. Later that night, the woman's son becomes the prime suspect when the sheriff discovers the local bully is found murdered. While working to prove the young man's innocence, Jessica soon discovers the reason why Ames is so quick to want to help has to do with a past romance he had with the young man's mother.

Jessica's old high-school teacher causes friction amongst her family when she revises her will and leaves her entire estate to a TV evangelist. After a confrontation with her son and grandson, Carrie is rushed to hospital suffering heart complications and dies shortly after. However, when she discovers a syringe containing cyanide by Carrie's bedside, Jessica suspects foul play.

At the request of Richard Bennett, a friend and a popular actor, Jessica Fletcher goes to an auction to bid for the diary of a dead woman whose journal was stolen on the night of her death. Jessica soon discovers that many more people are intent on getting their hands on the diary but before any bids are made, Bennett is found murdered and the diary goes missing again.

Jessica is attending the funeral of Henry Vernon, when the service is interrupted by the departed's ex-lover, who insists that he was murdered and did not, as it was claimed, die of a heart attack.

Jessica Fletcher is disputing the inclusion of her short story in a girlie magazine when she finds herself confronted by the murder of the magazine's owner.

When a tennis star is killed by a bomb planted in his girlfriend's car, all the evidence points towards the girlfriend and her sister, although the sister has since died in a plane crash.

Jessica goes to New Orleans to check on a distant cousin during Mardi Gras. Upon arriving at Cal's rooming house to fulfil the aunt's request, she finds a party in full swing, a party-goer murdered, and Cal being the prime suspect. Despite not knowing her distant cousin that well, Jessica sets out to prove the man's innocence and find the real killer.

Jessica is spending her holidays with an old friend, Lloyd Marcus. His daughter is found murdered in her house and her husband Donald becomes the prime suspect.

When Jessica's niece receives a gift from her supposedly dead grandfather, she asks Jessica to find him. The trail leads to a circus with more mayhem behind the scenes than in the arena.

Jessica's long-missing brother-in-law Neil Fletcher, who has been working under an alias with the Carmody Circus, has confessed to the murder of circus manager Hank Sutter. Jessica is convinced that Neil is innocent, and that he is covering up for somebody else.

Retired police lieutenant Barney Kale insists upon reopening a 10-year-old murder case which he had never been able to solve. Heading to the murder scene, a lakeside mountain resort, Kale gathers together all of the likely suspects, including Dr. Seth Hazlitt. When a new murder occurs, it appears obvious that there is an hidden agenda related to the revived investigation, but whose agenda, and why?

While in Washington, D.C., Jessica gets involved in one of Michael Hagarty's cases when an East German musician who is working as a political spy, looks to defect to the United Kingdom. While Jessica tries to make sense of things, she and Michael try to sort things out when one of the operatives working with the defector ends up murdered. Little do they know it somehow includes Jessica's concert-going escort and some time spent in South Africa by both men in the past.

Jessica's niece Victoria soon discovers that the high-powered world of Advertising can be murder when her boss is found dead inside his office and, thanks to her fingerprints on the object used to kill him, is the prime suspect in his death. As a result, Jessica goes to work with the police detective to prove Victoria's innocence while finding the actual killer.

A group of young treasure hunters come to Cabot Cove looking for sunken treasure but after one dies and the other is arrested for her murder, Jessica gets involved both to clear a young man she believes is innocent and to help an old friend she knows tends not to be.

A veteran reporter who suffered a heart attack says his best medicine would be the removal of his publisher. Jessica gets involved after the man ends up dead.

Magnum has been arrested for murder and it's up to super sleuth Jessica Fletcher to prove his innocence and find the real killer before it's too late.Part 2 of 2. Part 1 is Magnum PI S07E09

Jessica reluctantly agrees to a television interview for an old friend but is surprised when a different reporter arrives to conduct the taping; a boat explosion leads everyone to believe the journalist has been killed.

Two actor friends of Jessica's are due to appear in a revival of the play which launched their careers 30 years earlier, but when one of them finds threatening notes on stage, she stands down in favour of her understudy, who dies of cyanide poisoning. Jessica, as ever, decides to investigate.

Jessica is approached by her old friend Dorian Beecher, a shy poet, who begs her to help him. Dorian wants her to impersonate his mum in order to impress his boss, the father of his true love Sarah. Jessica learns that Dorian has been ridiculed for claiming to have seen a headless horseman on his previous visits to Sarah's house, and when his chief tormentor is found decapitated, Dorian is the prime suspect.

A London-bound plane is the setting for the murder of an heiress's bodyguard and the theft of a valuable necklace.

While bedridden, Jessica overhears a telephone conversation between two men who are plotting a murder.

Jessica tells the tale surrounding her newest novel, a music student who accuses his professor of plagiarism, only to be accused of his murder when he is found dead in his office on campus.

A lying TV consumer advocate is killed and suspicion lands on one of the clients whose products he maligned.

Thanks to her latest run-in with Harry McGraw, Jessica discovers that she now is the manager of a down-on-his-luck prize fighter who is looking to retire following his next fight. And while getting a crash course on her new endeavor, she has her hands full trying to clear Harry in the murder of a shady fight promoter.

Simon Thane is a celebrated artist living in Cabot Cove. For the last several years, Thane has jealously guarded his favorite painting, which he has never allowed to be seen publicly. Jessica becomes involved in the story when Thane is murdered and his prized painting stolen, leading our heroine to conclude that the mysterious work of art may contain a clue as to the killer's identity.

Someone is found dead after the engagement party for the offspring of two estranged comedians.

Jessica investigates when her nephew, a junior executive for a large accounting firm, is charged with tax fraud and the murder of his boss.

Jessica investigates when an old friend is killed in a car accident in Idaho -- the man's widow believes it was an accident, but the victim's father is sure it was murder.

Jessica looks into a 30-year-old murder in a continuation of the story from the 1949 film "Strange Bargain."

While Jessica is recording some of her mystery stories for the blind, the sound studio's new owner is killed and the record producer quickly arrested. The police reveal that the producer's own blindness was due to a car crash caused by the dead man, but Jessica is convinced other forces are at work, and fights to prove her friend's innocence.

Murder is around the corner when Jessica travels to Paris to attend the premiere of an old friend's fashion collection.Production Notes: This season contains the second opening segment.

A coach's retirement, a stranger's arrival and deadly practical jokes cause Jessica to re-examine a 20-year-old murder.

An attorney asks Jessica to testify for a colleague accused of murder on circumstantial evidence in Quebec.

Jessica arrives at a convent to visit an old college friend who is now a nun. While enjoying their visit, the pair soon gets caught up in a murder investigation when a fellow nun, who is the convent's unofficial record keeper is found dead of an apparent suicide. At her friend's urging, Jessica promises to get to the bottom of what happens and soon discovers that her death is connected to a young woman who sought refuge at the convent years ago, her dying father, and the city's mayor and his wife.

When Jessica and several other members of a company board are invited to the chairman's country estate, everyone is considered a suspect when their host is found murdered. When the police discover that everyone only arrived to find out who will the victim planned on naming the next chairman, only to be betrayed by him, they turn to Jessica for help in trying to find out which jilted board member wanted power bad enough to kill for it.

Jessica Fletcher's cousin Emma, a dance-hall performer who bears a strong resemblance to the crime-writer herself, is forced to investigate the murder of a wealthy friend.

In order to solve the murder of the wife of one of Cabot Cove's deputies, Jessica and Sheriff Tupper get drawn into beauty shop gossip. Through the course of their investigation, they get a big surprise when they discover the deputy has been having secret liaisons with several single women in town.

In Los Angeles to promote her new novel, Jessica learns her latest mystery has been appropriated by an unscrupulous Hollywood producer.

After being notified of her sister's death, a friend of Jessica's gets hit by a car, and almost loses her life. Fearing that both events are connected, Jessica takes it upon herself to travel to the small town in Oregon, where Charlotte had a thriving hotel called "Garden of Eden" while posing as her grieving sister. Upon her arrival she sees that things aren't what they appear, especially after Charlotte was swiftly cremated and several people wanted to take control of the hotel, including the less than honorable sheriff and town doctor.

When an Algonquin Indian named George Longbow crashes a town party, he hands Mayor Booth a land grant that claims he and his people own the land that Cabot Cove was founded on. Suspecting that Mr. Longbow's claims are false, the town leaders turn to the local expert on Indian History for insight. However, when the professor confirms his claims, several business owners fear an impending development project will no longer be able to proceed as plan. At this point, when the leader of the project is found murdered with a spear in his chest, Jessica has to prove George is innocent in the crime.

While staying in an opulent hotel courtesy of Grady's fraternity brother Gary, Jessica becomes embroiled in a fight to clear Grady of a woman's murder that is tied to Gary's past.

When Amos's sister Winnie abruptly arrives in Cabot Cove with the news that she left her domineering husband, Amos, Seth, and Jessica have their hands full when they arrive in town looking to bring Winnie home. Things get tricky when Jessica hosts Amos, Winnie, and their in-laws for dinner one night and Winnie's husband ends up murdered. When it looks like Winnie is the prime suspect, Jessica has to figure out who the true culprit is.

Jessica Fletcher is invited by astronomer Dr Leonard Palmer to witness the reappearance of a comet unseen for over a century, but soon finds herself involved with bodies other than heavenly ones, and murder to boot.

Seth's family is touched by an ancient curse attached to the history of a ruby.

Jessica is shocked when famous playwright Eugene McLendon proposes marriage, confiding in her that he doesn't have long to live and would like to spend his last few months with her. However, there are more shocks in store for Jessica when Eugene is arrested for the murder of his embezzling business manager.

When Jessica overhears the confession of a dying hit man, she becomes embroiled in a case of international intrigue and must use her infallible crime writer's instincts to solve the murder of a government official.

Jessica heads to wine-growing country to help wealthy vintner Salvatori Gambini celebrate his 75th birthday. Unfortunately, Gambini's fractious family isn't in a celebratory mood, and the festivities come to a grim climax when a corpse is found in the wine cellar. In her efforts to solve the mystery, Jessica is heartbroken over the likelihood that she might have to turn an old and cherished friend over to the authorities.

Following the death of an eccentric recluse of Cabot Cove, Jessica is appointed as executor of the woman's estate. As she begins the daunting task of cataloging the contents of her home, Jessica gets roped into helping Sheriff Tupper in the investigation of the murder of the local unscrupulous antiques dealer who was found dead inside the woman's house. They soon discover that an old legend of Benedict Arnold spending time inside the old house may have played a part in the man's death.

At her nephew's suggestion, Jessica invests in Alice's Farm, a trendy New York restaurant, but when one of the owners is found dead in a freezer, Jessica uncovers a crime network behind the operation.

Jessica is called to the Showdown Rodeo in Saskatchewan to visit her niece who is doing the rodeo circuit, but a mysterious fire at the local hospital leaves the rodeo physician dead and Jessica finds herself involved in a murder investigation.

When the feud of two drama critics ends in murder, Jessica has a full cast of suspects, including the surviving critic.

When Jessica agrees to write campaign speeches for her friend Kathleen Lane, she becomes involved in an accusation of adultery which ends in death.

When Jessica is arrested for murder, secret agent Michael Haggerty and her nephew Grady conspire to keep her safely in jail while they seek the real killer.

Jessica attends a fund-raiser for a New York publisher, and he is found dead, and his wife's diamond necklace is missing from his safe.

Following Sheriff Tupper's retirement, his replacement quickly has to adjust to small town life in Cabot Cove when a fairly new resident, Mr. Penroy, is found dead and buried in the yard of the spinster sisters he was renting a room from. Irked by the fact that everyone suggests that he turn to Jessica for help in discovering how he died, Sheriff Metzger tries to convince the town that he'd be able to do the job on his own. However, things don't go as planned when a second body is found in the same fashion as Mr. Penroy and Sheriff Metzger reluctantly has to turn to Jessica for help.

While waiting on Grady before enjoying a skiing vacation, Jessica and members of the U.S. World Cup Ski team gets stranded at a lodge with a killer when the womanizing star of the team and two other guests are killed during a massive snow storm. As a result, Jessica and a retired NYPD Lieutenant have to work together to find out who the killer is amongst the guests.

When a West Virginia mine owner is murdered, a former student of Jessica's is the prime suspect. When she arrives in the town to help Molly prove her innocence, Jessica runs into numerous roadblocks when the residents refuse to help and the fact that several people wanted him dead. They just have to wade through the evidence to find out who the killer is.

While researching her latest novel, Jessica almost becomes a casualty in the bombing of a jewelry store. It later turns out that the store's owner has been murdered and the priceless Queen of Tara tiara has been stolen. Forming an uneasy alliance with a pair of wisecracking "Cagney and Lacey" style female cops, Jessica follows the trail of clues to the home of a famously reclusive actress named Siobhan O'Dea.

During the Korean War, Frank Fletcher, late husband of mystery writer Jessica Fletcher, was forced to bail out of the "Dixie Damsel", a crippled C97 cargo plane. Now, 36 years later, the wreckage of the "Dixie Damsel" has been found--with the remains of a murdered man inside! An Air Force inquiry is established to determine if Frank Fletcher had committed murder, prompting Jessica to team up with her old friend, retired pilot Lee Goddard, to clear her husband's name and find out what really happened.

After Frank's old Army buddy convinces Jessica to visit his ranch on her way back to Cabot Cove, a psychic's dire predictions put a large damper on party festivities when he predicts that the daughter-in-law of Jessica's host will die in a fiery death. However, Jessica soon discovers that the psychic and the intended victim has a past that can't be overlooked, especially after a murder does take place.

Jessica's nephew Grady Fletcher and his fiancée Donna Mayberry have decided to get married in the home of Donna's parents. With Jessica on the guest list, can murder be far behind? Not likely: This time the victim is Mr. and Mrs. Mayberry's fanatically fastidious housekeeper, who is "done in" with her own meat thermometer!

Sheriff Metzger investigates when Vivian Proctor, one of Cabot Cove's best-liked and busiest housewives, is implicated in the murder of a well-known womanizer who has been found dead in a cheap motel. Although Vivian is widely regarded as the "perfect" wife and mother, her keys and a lurid personal note have been found next to the body of the victim--and she refuses to explain why. It soon develops that Vivian was leading a double life...and it falls to her friend Jessica to help untangle Vivian's web of lies and find out who the real killer is.

Just before attending the funeral of an old friend, Jessica makes the acquaintance of young Rick Banner, former college roommate of the dead woman's long-lost son Peter. When Rick hears a song written by Peter, the ball starts rolling for a onslaught of intrigue, ill will and murder predicated on the fact that the missing Peter will fall heir to millions should he ever make a return appearance. Jessica's fellow sleuth on this occasion is rumpled, clownish Chief Underwood.

A derelict is found dead in a New York alley. At first glance, it appears that the dead man succumbed to alcoholism, but the other clues--including several conspicuously missing items--don't add up. Jessica Fletcher teams with ulcerated NYPD lieutenant Hanratty to make sense of the case, leading both sleuths to a group of disreputable doctors.

Jessica is suspicious when the appearance of the ghost of a long-dead witch burned at the stake coincides with the release of a book on the very subject.

Jessica travels to Moscow to attend the International Artists and Writers Conference. No sooner has she arrived that someone steals her purse--and when the police catch up with the thief, they find a role of microfilm amongst Jessica's belongings. Immediately, the KGB accuses our heroine of being a spy--which doesn't anger her quite as much as the subsequent murder accusation leveled at an old friend.

Jessica takes a sentimental journey to the New Hampshire campus of her old alma mater. Alas, her favorite English professor Leon Walker is in no mood for a reunion: Discovered at the scene of a young girl's murder, Professor Walker has already confessed to the crime, claiming that he killed in self-defense. Jessica does not believe this confession any more than she believes the subsequent confession made by a young student with whom the dead woman had been involved.

Travelling to Hollywood in the company of elderly writer Walter Murray, with whom she is slated to collaborate on a movie script, Jessica makes a brief stop at a seedy motel-diner. Later that evening, Walter is found dead in his motel room, leaving behind a tape recording detailing the events leading up to his demise. In a series of stunningly photographed black-and-white flashbacks, Jessica learns that on the previous evening, Walter had been reunited with a woman whom he hadn't seen in 19 years--not since he killed her abusive husband!

When a former student of Jessica's writes a steamy book based on the residents of Cabot Cove, several of Jessica's friends are less than thrilled about the publicity they start to receive. When someone eventually winds up dead as a result of the book, it's up to Jessica to remind her neighbors that there's a difference between fact and fiction when trying to figure out who the killer is and why they wanted the victim dead.

At the recommendation of Jessica Fletcher, a young editor heads to Montana, there to organize the unpublished manuscript of the last novel written by a celebrated, recently deceased author. Unable to make heads or tails of the author's notes, the editor concocts a readable volume from his own imagination. Just as he is poised to tell the world that he, and not the late author, penned the novel, the editor is murdered and from here on in, it's up to Jessica to solve the crime.

While visiting Boston, Jessica runs into her former neighbor John Winslow who brusquely insists that he's never seen her before in her life. Quickly dialing up Winslow's wife Maude, Jessica is informed that John died two weeks before! To solve this mystery, Jessica capitalizes upon her friendship with gruff-but-lovable Boston P.I. Harry McGraw.

Jessica heads to the baseball stadium to visit her nephew, up-and-coming ballplayer Johnny Eaton. Soon afterward, the team's new TV pre-game hostess is murdered, and a startled burglar is arrested for the crime. So what has this to do with Jessica? Well, it seems that the hapless burglar is nephew Johnny's best friend.

Jessica Fletcher crosses swords with rival mystery writer Eudora McVeigh Shipton. Envious that Jessica's star has risen while hers has fallen, Eudora publicly declares that she intends to murder our heroine! But when Eudora shows up in Cabot Cove, she couldn't be more friendly or effusive towards Jessica. In fact, Eudora is even bearing a gift...a basket of big juicy apples.

Jessica is still contending with her witchy rival mystery writer Eudora McVeigh Shipton. Although the duplicitous Eudora confesses that she has stolen the notes for Jessica's latest novel, she denies that she tried to do her rival in with a poisoned apple and even more emphatically denies murdering the detective who has trailed Eudora all the way to Cabot Cove. The two amateur sleuths decide to briefly bury the hatchet and solve the mystery provided that Eudora can be trusted any farther than she can be thrown!

Jessica is detoured from a scheduled book tour after encountering MI6 agent Michael Haggerty and he convinces her to pose as his wife in Greece.

When a visiting priest at Cabot Cove's Catholic Church hears the confession of an individual who just committed murder, he finds himself in a sticky situation when another person is arrested for the crime. Realizing the predicament he's in, he turns to Jessica for help in uncovering the identity of person who actually committed the crime so the innocent man can be set free without breaking the confidence of the confessional.

Jessica narrates a story from 40 years ago when another female mystery writer helped to solve a mysterious murder aboard the Queen Mary.

In Palm Springs, Jessica teams up with the local chief of police to figure out who killed a local investor and what happened to a large amount of money.

Jessica narrates the story of an ex-football player turned private eye who investigates the murder of his old teammate with the help of a savvy pooch.

Jessica's acquisition of an old bureau at a rummage sale unleashes a chain of events that leads to the death of a local volunteer fireman in a furniture store.

Voodoo black magic is the apparent cause of death of her host, leaving Jessica to figure out the truth while visiting an old friend in Jamaica.

Jessica is drawn into an appropriately melodramatic situation when a renowned opera singer is accused of murder in San Francisco.

On a dark and stormy night on a remote island, Jessica finds herself in the middle of a wealthy family squabbling over the inheritance of a millionaire.

Jessica narrates the tale of a police detective sent to teach a university criminology class and challenges his students to solve a real homicide.

Scandal abounds during election time in Cabot Cove when the Mayor is reputed to have a secret wife who comes to confront him with murderous results.

Jessica's latest novel is about a bumbling down on his luck private detective sets out to prove a recently found dead John Doe in a small Southwestern town are the remains of his beloved uncle, who skipped town years ago. However, upon arriving to claim the body, he and his girlfriend get caught up in helping the sheriff solve a murder.

Following the murder of a womanizing landlord who was hated by several people in town, a newcomer to town named Marla who works at a local shoe factory is accused of the crime. Suspicious that something is afoul, Jessica offers to help the woman out 2 ways: one by taking care of her son while she's in jail, and to prove she didn't kill the man. However, with several lies about where she was at the time of his death, things are stacking up against Marla, resulting in Jessica having her work cut out for her.

Jessica learns that high finance can be murder when she arrives in New York to talk about her portfolio and discovers her stock broker has been murdered and his secretary is the prime suspect. Doubting that the secretary and her boyfriend had anything to do with the crime, Jessica starts to investigate and discovers her stock broker hasn't been doing his job on the up and up and some shady business partners are actually the ones responsible for his death.

Jessica learns that real estate deals in Beverly Hills can be murder when her niece Victoria is the prime suspect in the murder of a client whose exclusive contract she held was about to expire. As a result, Jessica promptly starts butting heads with the police lieutenant in charge of the investigation when she tries to get him to search for other suspects who would have a better motive than Victoria.

Murder occurs at the reunion of a variety show, site of a similar crime 25 years earlier.

A show cancellation coincides with a network executive's murder.

Jessica's friend, police Lt. O'Malley, and his rookie niece solve the case of a businessman's wife's apparent suicide.

Jessica's friend, former jewel thief Dennis Stanton, solves a high-society collector's coin theft and murder.

Jessica's cousin is left waiting at the church when her fiancée is murdered in a similar fashion to a murder 15 years ago for which her brother was blamed.

Grady and his pregnant wife are tending Jessica's house in her absence when an old seaman is killed in her front room.

Upon receiving a letter from longtime friend and MI-6 Agent Michael Hagarty, Jessica reads about his latest adventure that takes him to Palermo, Italy that involves several double and triple crosses involving a young widow in her attempt to fleece her Mafioso in-laws.

A foiled prison escape results in the death of the prisoner who attempted to break out. As a result, Jessica is sued by the convict's daughter for his death and for what she deem his wrongful conviction, since Jessica's involvement in his criminal trial sent him to jail for life.

Jessica tries to exonerate a temporary employee accused of her husband's murder.

Dennis Stanton tries to clear a man of charges he murdered an unscrupulous divorce attorney.

Jessica reopens a 16-year-old murder case at the urging of a dying author who felt injustice was done.

Jessica's night at a political fund-raiser turns to murder.

The owner of a new, hot fitness club in Cabot Cove has secrets that lead to murder.

Out on parole, Jessica's former publisher tries to woo her back into the fold.

An alleged Twain manuscript begets greed, deception, arson, and murder.

Jessica gets enmeshed in feuds, infidelity, and murder in Nashville.

Dennis Stanton investigates when a prominent pianist's wife is murdered shortly after the pianist's hands are badly burnt.

A quiet dinner out for Seth and Jessica ends abruptly when he is forced to care for an injured Mafia kingpin. Will Seth and Jessica survive?

Dennis Stanton must prove his innocence when he is accused of murdering a flames estranged husband.

Sheriff Metzer defies political pressure and arrests an ambassador's son for various charges. Later, the son is found dead and Metzger finds himself charged with murder.

A fan, posing as Jessica, is arrested and later murdered.

An IRS-plagued woman may have killed her informer husband.

A clash between Kentucky Thoroughbred breeders leads to murder.

The presumed dead perpetrator of a 20-year-old bank robbery resurfaces, then is murdered.

A shy ventriloquist is suspected of murdering a ruthless comedy club owner.

Following an explosion at the school site that an architect designed, he is accused of setting the blast and then ultimately killing the jobsite manager when the manager was accused of unsafe and shoddy work on the job. The architect's mother is frantic to get the cops to uncover bribery in the city manager office and to find who really caused all the commotion at the job site, so she tries to convince Jessica that her son is the fruit of an affair she had with Frank while serving together during the Korean War.

Jessica is passing through Pennsylvania to promote her newest book. However, when her publisher's liaison's car breaks down on the outskirts of the Amish area, she learns that he comes from the area and is "shunned" from the local Amish community. When one of the church leaders is discovered murdered in his barn, Reuben is the prime suspect when it comes out that he and the victim had a volatile past. To prove that he is innocent, Jessica has her work cut out to prove someone from the normally non-violent Amish community may have wanted the overly-strict man out of their lives permanently.

The poisoning deaths of three customers point to the local diner owner.

A writer is murdered after sending Jessica a manuscript exposing a kidnapping scam.

Jessica heads off to New York to begin teaching and has difficulty finding an apartment. She finally gets one that she likes, only to learn that a murder recently took place in the apartment complex and that someone desperately wants something that is inside her apartment. She's relieved when Seth comes to New York to check up on her, and enlists his help in cracking the case.Production Notes: This season is when she goes back to work as a teacher, this time in New York City. The opening segment is the third one and has the scenes shot outside of the thought bubble, and would continue to be this way from now on.

A professor and ex-cop challenges Jessica to a race to solve a series of campus muggings.

A murdered writer leaves a devoted sister, a grieving husband, and a tangle of secrets for Jessica to sort.

Mort's brother Wayne is released from prison and arrives in Cabot Cove, looking to prove that serving time has changed him for the better. However, after Wayne's boss, a fishing boat owner, is suspected to be killed at sea, Wayne is the prime suspect. As a result, Mort turns to Jessica for help in keeping his perspective while trying to solve the crime.

Jessica trades in her typewriter for a computer and Michael, one of her students, takes her to the company where he works to get setup. When one of their programmers is murdered, Michael is arrested. A missed phone call is the key.

Jessica probes a 20-year-old unsolved murder after attending the funeral of a New Orleans jazz great.

When a friend is charged with murdering her abusive husband, Jessica tries to help.

While in Las Vegas for a Mystery Book Convention, Jessica agrees to check on her agent's daughter who is currently working at a local casino while going to college. Upon arriving, Jessica soon gets caught up in a murder investigation when Susan's boyfriend, who was accused of skimming some money while working as a card dealer, becomes the prime suspect when his boss and another man are found dead. Suspecting that he's innocent, Jessica sets out to find the actual killer.

Jessica is the first women to speak at a function at an all-male club, then a member is murdered.

Jessica finds herself mired in a case of international espionage when she unknowingly acts as the go-between between spies and Russian Trade Ambassador Yuri Lementov, who tries to pass an encrypted note from his homeland to the U.S. government. When Lementov eventually ends up murdered, Jessica winds up in a tight situation especially when her friend and British spy, Michael Hagarty gets framed for the murder. She then has to team up with a Washington, DC police officer to prove his innocence and find the real killer before they escape.

Jessica unravels the death of a ballerina after she dances a ballet that has killed everyone who has tried it.

Cabot Cove's community theatre is putting on a play about the local story about a purported witch who was burned at the stake. When a new resident named Mariah Osborn auditions for the role of the accused, Cabot Cove's residents suspect there's more to her than meets the eye and as a result, Jessica is moved to investigate what's going on. As a result, she soon discovers that Mariah has a past connection to several key Cabot Cove residents.

The would-be producer of the movie adaptation of Jessica's latest book dies.

Jessica probes a Monte Carlo murder for which her hotelier friend is a suspect.

Jessica gets involved in a British Intelligence operation's cover-up of a double agent's murder.

An actress neighbor involves Jessica in her husband's murder.

Jessica tackles the mystery of a man who apparently migrated from Ireland to New York for the sole purpose of taking revenge on an old friend of hers, but is killed himself.

When a patient of Seth's gets treated by a new doctor in town, he is less than thrilled at the prospect of having competition in the form of a younger, more tech savvy doctor who he claims has little experience. When that patient later dies of an apparent misdiagnosis on Seth's part, Jessica fears that foul play may be at play instead medical malpractice and sets out to prove that her hunch is right.

The noise and costumes of the Mexican "Day of the Dead" fiesta make it hard for Jessica to identify a killer.

Martin Tremaine (played by Darren McGavin), a playwright haunted by his wife's suicide, loses another family member to murder.

Jessica intervenes when Seth's long-lost Army buddy is accused of murder.

Jessica plays a real-life version of her own murder mystery board-game when the toy company she's working with becomes the scene of the crime.

While attending the premiere of a film adapted from one of her books in Milan, Jessica searches for the killer when the producer is murdered.

One of Jessica's former students is murdered when he returns to Cabot Cove to write a book exposing new information on a 30-year-old town scandal.

Jessica is mistaken for someone else and kidnapped at the airport. When the woman she is mistaken for is killed, Jessica finds the murderer.

While being visitors at an estate in Ireland, Jessica and her friend are convinced that their host's demise is not from natural causes.

Jessica inadvertently gets caught up in a libel/slander lawsuit when a cartoonist uses her likeness in his comic strip is copied that names high profile individuals in various illegal activities. As a result, Jessica and Stan Hatter have to work together with the police to find out is who is behind fake cartoons.

Jessica helps the sheriff of an old Western town solve a murder that is connected to a legendary stagecoach robber's long-lost treasure.

Michael Hagarty needs Jessica's help when he tries to prevent his estranged daughter's engagement to a man who is later found dead.

The father of Jessica's editor disappears with one hundred and fifty million dollars.

The future son-in-law of a prominent Cabot Cove family is suspected in a shooting.

Jessica records one of her novels for the blind and, while at the recording studio, is invited to a taping of a rock video. When a murder happens during the taping, Jessica tries to find the murderer.

The community center of Cabot Cove is getting ready to produce a play with retired actor David North. What follows is interrupted rehearsals and a murder in town.

A not-guilty verdict in the murder of a community activist leads to threats of violence.

When an aging private investigator that Charlie Garrett knew in Chicago is found dead in a Florida town, he and Jessica inadvertently get involved with solving his murder while trying to figure out whether he is connected somehow to the assassination of President Kennedy.

While on a book tour, Jessica agrees to guest on a local radio talk show that has feuding co-owners. When a murder takes place, Jessica helps sort out the tangled webs of confusion to bring the killer to justice.

Jessica must unravel the reason behind the murder of a popular florist.

Jessica helps a neighbor in her New York building who has a phobia about leaving her apartment since she saw her mother murdered five years ago.

Two murders result when the CEO of a defense corporation tries to save his company by illegally selling leftover components.

Jessica agrees to help clear a former research assistant of killing her new employer, despite the fact that the woman is a pathological liar.

Jessica helps solve a murder when the only witness, a local delivery boy she has befriended, becomes the prime suspect.

While on a cruise, Jessica helps an old friend, now a ship's security chief, investigate when a woman is found dead in the cargo area.

Jessica becomes involved in an internal police investigation when a colleague is left for dead in an accident in which a rookie policeman is killed.

Jessica investigates the murder of a visiting romance novelist's assistant, who was having an affair with the writer's publisher husband.

Jessica's trip to Hong Kong is interrupted by the murder of an American businessman negotiating a merger with a Chinese tycoon.Production Notes: This season has the fourth opening segment, one that includes a desktop computer, and printer in the opening segment. Also they reshot the scene of her putting the pages in the binder. It now points towards the other direction.

When Jessica agrees to help preserve a historic brownstone, she winds up trying to clear her editor of the murder of an opposing developer.

While restoring her house in Cabot Cove, Jessica worries that her contractor is preoccupied by the remodeling of another house until the project is put on hold when the client is found murdered.

Jessica comes to the aid of a promising young reporter when he is suspected of murdering a rival magazine's unscrupulous publisher.

Jessica happens on a computerized clue to a murder while writing a mystery story for a friend's interactive video game company.

A racehorse trainer is murdered as he is on his way to expose a racing fraud.

While visiting Ireland, Jessica searches for clues when a widowed friend's son is suspected of killing an American relative.

Jessica returns to Cabot Cove to discover why her accountant is not paying her bills.

One of Jessica's best-selling mysteries makes her the target of a lawsuit by a man who was tried and acquitted for murder.

When Jessica is called to London to rewrite the stage adaptation of her novel, she must prove her actress friend innocent of killing a producer.

While on a brief layover in a small Canadian mining town, Jessica finds herself pulled into an investigation when an explosion at a mine leaves an executive and an employee of the mining company dead and the prime suspect is a First Nations activist who was accused of stealing some dynamite the night before. Working with the Territory's Tribal lawyer and a RCMP cop, the trio set out to prove the young man's innocence.

While serving as the celebrity guest on a New York cooking show, hosted by renowned chef Bernardo Bonelli, Jessica gets drawn into an intriguing murder investigation when a new restaurant, when Bonelli is found dead on its opening night. While the police are certain that they have the murderer, Bonelli's assistant who invested a large amount of money in his restaurant and held an insurance policy on her investment, Jessica is certain that the young woman is being framed by a local mob boss. However, when the mob boss is then gunned down outside the restaurant, Jessica has to find out how both murders are connected.

Jessica comes to the rescue when a friend's sculpture is used as a murder weapon.

While planning a surprise birthday party for Seth, Jessica gets involved with a murder investigation when a hitman from Chicago appears to be killed by a local fisherman. Things then get trickier when it appears her friend Charlie Garrett is also somehow involved in the crime.

In New York, Jessica's publisher Edward Graham seems to be cracking up following the death of his wife. But was a fall from the top of the building suicide or murder?

Jessica's teen writing class has two promising students, Alida and Chris. But when Chris' loan-shark stepfather turns up dead after pursuing Alida and fleeing a hit-and-run, Chris is the prime suspect.

Jessica has worked to have Larkins sold to a museum, but an embezzled pension plan leads to a rival bid and murder.

After arriving at Seth's office and discovering it in disarray and the good doctor nowhere to be found, Jessica and Sheriff Metzger fear the worst – especially after finding fresh bloodstains at various spots in the office. Their relief at finding Seth perfectly safe soon turns to befuddlement when a mysterious man turns up dead in the nearby woods. Upon investigating, they soon discover the man's connection to a local businessman's past in Boston, and that with the recent influx of newcomers to town; they have plenty of murder suspects.

While visiting a friend in Texas, Jessica attempts to help the owner of a small trucking company clear his son of a murder charge.

Jessica searches for the truth when a legendary maestro is found murdered and an innocent man is charged with the crime.

The arrival of a traveling carnival in Cabot Cove coincides with a rash of burglaries and the murder of the troupe's owner.

In Los Angeles, to research an animal park, Jessica finds the employees trying to protect themselves in the middle of a skimmed-funds scandal. Then an amoral publicist turns up dead.

Jessica's investigation of a novelist's kidnapping leads her into the dark world of diamond smuggling and murder.

Jessica discovers a letter from George Washington that leads to a hero's disgrace and a director's murder.

Jessica's vacation to Honolulu becomes chaotic when the son of her host vanishes during a hotly contested U.S. Senate election.

When a newspaper columnist becomes the target of a crazed gunman, Jessica's advice to be careful is ignored.

In a friend's apartment, Jessica and her friends are amused and then puzzled by the strange drama unfolding on TV.

Charlie Garrett is in luck when Jessica is in Martinique for her vacation at the same time he is accused of murder.

The mysterious deaths of a winery matriarch's son and a rival vintner lead Jessica into a world of greed and betrayal.

Jessica searches for a link between the town bully's death and the death of the woman he was having an affair with.

The taping of an infomercial by Jessica and two fellow novelists is plagued by problems including the mysterious death of an audience member.

Jessica helps a Russian police officer capture the elusive mastermind behind the theft of a Faberge egg.

The pervasive stench of death looms over Jessica and Seth's visit to his cousin's South Carolina plantation.

Jessica takes a trip to Egypt to finalize a cultural exchange program and ends up searching for a killer and a stolen artifact.

An opera singer tries to make her debut before a stalker can fulfill his promise to kill her.

When a brilliant scientist fakes his own death and is then actually murdered, Jessica sets the record straight when the wrong man is arrested.

Homicide haunts the release of a restored movie, and Jessica investigates the current crime and the 1960 murder that prevented the original release.

Jessica's excursion into the world of the fashion elite in Paris leads to murder, sweatshops and smugglers.

The townspeople of Cabot Cove are concerned about a massive development on their shore and it is further complicated for Jessica since the firm employs her nephew Grady.

It seems that more than schoolboy pranks are going on between a Cabot Cove prep school and its rival.

While Jessica is enjoying her stay at a fishing lodge in Ireland, she finds out the owner is beset by a consortium that wants to buy his land for a strip mine.

A domineering father forces a teenager to play beyond her desire and she suffers emotional problems.

Jessica uses her head to weave through the makeup and hairspray concealing the murderer of a financier at a beauty salon.Production Notes: This season includes the fifth opening segment. This time they add a laptop computer to her collection.

Jessica is fired up to find the murderer of her friend's husband, but private detective Charlie Garrett is unwittingly putting out the flames.

When Jessica arrives in Gila Junction to visit her friend Norma, she happens across the local sheriff/mechanic when he receives a call regarding Norma's car being found in the desert as a result of an apparent accident. After they discover her with a sprained ankle, Jessica soon is told by Norma that she suspects that someone targeted her because of an investigation she was conducting at an old, abandoned military base near town. When several residents end up murdered, Jessica reluctantly agrees to help investigate what's really going on and soon discovers it has to do with a string of highway robberies.

Jessica travels to New Orleans to research a new novel, but gets caught up in a series of voodoo killings.

Jessica immerses herself in the medical profession when a young nurse is accused of murdering two patients to whom she was providing home care.

A haunted spirit and antique smugglers are just a few challenges Jessica faces on her Irish vacation.

Jessica is trapped in the rat-infested dungeon of an ancient Irish castle, but uses her ingenuity to get rescued and find the treasure and a murderer.

Jessica is doing re-writes for a movie that is beset with both artistic and financial problems. When the stunt man dies doing a car jump scene, the director is charged with murder. It is up to Jessica to find the real killer.

Charlie Garrett's outrageous bid at an auction arouses Jessica's suspicions after the artist becomes the subject of a homicide.

Gary and Larry's Frozen Stuff accountant is found dead. Shortly thereafter, $750,000 earmarked for Jessica's Literacy Fund is found missing. It's up to Jessica to find the killer.

After being subpoenaed to testify at the Grand Jury probe of a brokerage house, Jessica is charged with contempt. Released on a technicality, she has to dodge further subpoenas while finding out who killed the man they think she talked to.

Jessica's delivery to a motorcycle racer in Japan speeds up a series of events that result in the death of another racer.

Desi Ortega and his Latin group have a single climbing the charts until Max Daniels wants to own the group. When Daniels' assistant turns up dead, has someone in the group struck back?

Seth's organizing a fundraising concert to save an endangered forest near Cabot Cove. When the headlining musician is murdered during a practice session, Jessica helps the local sheriff investigate who may have wanted the man dead.

When an assistant editor at Jessica's publishing house starts working on editing a new manuscript, she is chilled at the prospect that the author of the story was the person behind her kidnapping that occurred years before. Not long after the author is found killed in his hotel room, Jessica sets out to prove that the young woman is innocent – which will be difficult because the police found her in the room at the time of the murder.

When the producer of a popular television show about a group of friends is found murdered after announcing some major changes to the show, each star is considered a suspect. It's up to Jessica to find out who is behind the murder and to see if the show's stars are actually innocent.

One of Jessica's children storybook characters is being adapted into a cartoon character and she arrives at the television studio to see how things are going. She soon gets pulled into a murder investigation when one of the studio backers is murdered and the puppet based on her character is used as the murder weapon.

On vacation in the Tetons, Jessica encounters jewel thieves and a man from her Army vet host's past.

Jessica has to solve two murders to clear the name of her old friend Deputy Andy, who becomes a suspect when a murder weapon is found in his car.

In Australia, Jessica may be the legal owner of a valley that the sheepherders and miners are arguing over, and may be the cause of the disappearance of Jessica's lawyer.

Jessica investigates when a wealthy yachtsman is murdered two days before a big race, and the daughter of his rival is charged with the crime.

When Jessica's new landscaper - who happens to be dating Seth's visiting niece Amy - winds up dead following a motorcycle accident, Amy is certain that his death was no accident. Following the death of a local lawyer, Jessica suspects that both deaths are somehow connected, and that a local bully named Les Franklin is somehow linked to the deaths of both men.

A switched packet of amateur-written stories involves Jessica in an international plot to steal a biological-weapon virus.

A radio station's new manager is murdered after changing their format from classical music to hard rock.