
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.
The airplane Jessica's late husband bailed out of in 1952 is finally found, but it with a body inside.
Jessica and detective Harry McGraw (Jerry Orbach) investigate the murder of a Thoroughbred owner whose prize horse has sired two unplanned foals.
The presumed-dead perpetrator (Donnelly Rhodes) of a 20-year-old bank robbery resurfaces, then is murdered.
Insurance investigator Dennis Stanton becomes involved in a murder case while delving into the disappearance of a shy ventriloquist's (Grant Shaud) dummy.