
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 presumed-dead perpetrator (Donnelly Rhodes) of a 20-year-old bank robbery resurfaces, then is murdered.
Insurance investigator Dennis Stanton becomes involved in a murder case while delving into the disappearance of a shy ventriloquist's (Grant Shaud) dummy.
Things look bad when a married woman's keys are found by the body in a motel room, and she can't explain why.
Jessica investigates the reappearance of an heir who had been missing for over 20 years.