
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 shares the plot of her new book, in which a law student (Shaun Cassidy) seeks the killer of an arrogant professor (George Grizzard) with many enemies.
Jessica pores through a long list of enemies and possible suspects when a janitor (George Takei) finds an obnoxious TV host dead in his office.