
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.
Feeling professionally threatened, detective Magnum (Tom Selleck) resists Jessica's efforts to prove he was framed.
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 (Chad Everett) has been killed.
Jessica probes the murder by poison of an ex-colleague's understudy (Ann Turkel), after the leading lady (Eleanor Parker) is unable to go on at a small-town theater.
Jessica comes to the aid of a shy poet (Thom Bray) who is the prime suspect when his tormentor (Barry Williams) is found dead.