
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.

A friend (Hurd Hatfield) asks Jessica to help two Soviet dancers defect, unaware one (George de la Pena) is a murder suspect.

A hypnotist (Jose Ferrer) is murdered before a host of would-be witnesses who all were in a deep trance at the time.

Jessica is asked to complete the last weeks of an expired congressman's term, and discovers politics is murder.

A former sorority sister asks Jessica's help in clearing the name of a respected college professor who has confessed to murder.