
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 future son-in-law (Sean O'Bryan) of a prominent Cabot Cove family is suspected in the shooting of a hardware store employee.

The owner of a Midwest radio station (Lyman Ward) is found murdered at a new transmitter site, and Jessica must weed out the suspects to find the killer.

At a dinner party with a gossip magazine editor (Penny Fuller), Jessica imagines the plot for her next novel.

The closing of a family-owned department store leads to a double murder in New York, and Jessica has no shortage of suspects in the crime.