
Mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher - a down-to-earth, middle-aged widow - ferrets out the criminals in idyllic Cabot Cove, Maine, which apparently is the murder capital of the United States for the show's 12-season run. Though while traveling, she uncovers a fair number of killers as well.
Jessica hears the confession of a dying hit man who has just completed an assignment, only to find the victim isn't dead.
Jessica suspects heirs and employees when a corpse appears in an elderly vintner's (Eli Wallach) cellar.
After an eccentric recluse dies, arguments over a piece of historic Cabot Cove property and the contents of her estate lead to murder.
A rude maître d' (Dick Gautier) is murdered at the New York restaurant in which Jessica has just invested.