
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's discovery that Cabot Cove's Revolutionary War hero was actually a traitor results in a TV director's murder.

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

Jessica investigates when, during a visit to San Francisco, an advice columnist (Eileen Brennan) falls victim to a crazed gunman.

Accidentally tapped into a closed-circuit video surveillance system, Jessica's neighbor witnesses scheming, a robbery and then a murder.