MURDER, SHE WROTE

Cabot Cove, whose population must be decimated by now, is rocked by yet another murder.

Though she seems to attract as many murders as she solves, famous author Jessica Fletcher is beloved of her friends and neighbors. As she eats breakfast at the local luncheonette with one of them, Dr. Seth Hazlitt, they’re accosted by Evelyn Phillips, former editor of the local newspaper, who’s upset about the condition of Bertha Mae Cormier, an elderly woman apparently entranced by a much younger man. Concerned, Jessica looks into Bertha Mae’s relationship with her next-door neighbor, Martin Terranova, owner of a health-conscious exercise and meditation studio whose classes are popular with both men and women. Well-liked junk collector Oscar Cisneros is arrested after he’s found with one of Bertha Mae’s antiques, which Terranova accuses him of stealing, but Jessica and Sheriff Mort Metzger are far from convinced of his guilt. When Terranova is found crushed by a barbell, Jessica takes time from researching her next book to investigate this new murder. Working with the editor of the Gazette, who’s also quietly looking into a hot story of embezzlement that will shock the residents of Cabot Cove, Jessica does a deep dive into Terranova’s background and finds that he had a shady past with other well-off elderly women. But is that the only possible motive for his murder?

The redoubtable sleuth once again unravels several complex cases plaguing her beloved hometown.