Murder, she wrote
54 primary works • 66 total works
Book 1
Promoting her latest book brings bestselling mystery writer Jessica Fletcher to New York for Christmas. Her schedule includes book signings, restaurants, department stores...and murder?
It all begins with a sidewalk Santa staring at Jessica with fear and recognition. Behind the beard is Waldo Morse, former drug smuggler and the most notorious citizen of Cabot Cove, Maine. Jessica hasn't a clue as to how he ended up as a street corner Saint Nick, but she agrees to meet him at two o'clock the next day.
Jessica shows up with her camera, but in no time at all Santa is dead. While the police are strangely slow on their feet, and the dead man's wife uncommonly fast on the run, Jessica decides to do what she does best: strategically snoop around and graciously outwit the pros on both sides of the law...
Book 4
Cabot Cove, Maine's most famous mystery author is excited about promoting her new book in glamorous San Francisco. Jessica can't wait for drinks and dinner on Fisherman's Wharf, a ride on the cable cars, and a romantic rendezvous with Scottish policeman George Sutherland. She doesn't know that solving a murder may be penciled into her agenda.
Actually, a visit to a women's prison is already on Jessica's schedule, and afterwards she finds a mysterious diary slipped into her bad. Its poignant contents make her suspect a beautiful inmate has been unjustly convicted of killing her husband. Soon Jessica is questioning witnesses throughout the Bay Area, from a restauranteur in a Sausalito mall to a female impersonator in the Castro district. But death is waiting on the Golden Gate Bridge—and Jessica may find out how risky love can be...
Book 5
Jessica is off to Boston to help her eccentric lawyer friend, Malcolm McLoon, defend a tycoon accused of fratricide. Her uncanny sleuthing talents will come in handy when the two old acquaintances dive into the case with their characteristic vigor.
But when the defendant's girlfriend—and his only alibi—is found dead in her apartment, the case takes one more murderous turn for the worse. Is someone out to make sure the accused gets convicted? Jessica has her suspicions, especially when the jurors become victims of deadly accidents. With only her gut feelings at work for her, Jessica must outwit the tenacious prosecutor and find the real culprit—before the killer finds her...
Book 6
Jessica has come to the elegant Hamptons on Long Island's gold coast for a sinfully sweet spell in the sun and a chance to indulge her secret burning passion: painting. In this place where the arts flower and artists flock, she finds a sketching class where she can try to make her dreams of da Vinci-hood come true.
But Jessica has only a brief time behind an easel before she finds herself under the gun to solve a mystery as tantalizing as its victim. A lovely young model lies like a corpse on the studio floor, and Jessica needs no painter's eye to realize that her look of death is no pose. Soon, Jessica finds herself involved in a case where a mysterious masterpiece, a mountain of money, a mourning millionaire, and a slightly mad painter lead her down a twisting trail of illusion and confusion...
Book 7
Scotland's most celebrated witch, executed long ago with a pitchfork through her heart, is said to haunt Inspector George Sutherland's family castle in the village of Wick. It's an intriguing tale and after a British book tour, Jessica accepts Sutherland's invitation to bring her Cabot Cove friends to the heather-covered Highlands. Indeed, after "roamin' in the gloamin'" with the handsome inspector, she spots a spectral woman in white in the gloomy castle. But Jessica's blood runs cold when she later finds a local lass executed in the same way as the legendary witch.
Something is very vile in Wick. It's a case of evil, greed, and murder that pits Jessica Fletcher against a killer from this world—or maybe the next.
Book 8
Book 9
Book 10
Jessica Fletcher is planning to spend a cozy holiday in Cabot Cove. But when Rory Brent—the man who played St. Nick at the small town’s yearly Christmas Eve celebration—is found shot to death on his farm, there will be no peace on earth until his killer is found. Snooping into Cabot Cove’s past for a motive, Jessica is determined to deliver the killer before Christmas. The trouble is, the next sound she hears this silent night may be a scream—her own...
Book 11
Book 12
Book 13
Book 14
It's late October in Cabot Cove, and as Halloween approaches, something strange is in the air. The arrival of a self-righteous, fire-and-brimstone spiritual medium has some townspeople on the lookout for curses and evil omens; a reclusive, eccentric woman has others whispering that she is a real-life witch; and the upcoming annual Halloween party has Jessica Fletcher frantically searching for the perfect costume.
Then the whole town ends up spooked when the alleged witch ends up dead in the graveyard, and everyone at the party is a suspect. Jess takes it upon herself to stir through a witches' brew of motives—and concocts a scary scheme of her own to make sure a guilty ghoul doesn't get away with murder...
Book 15
Jessica Fletcher is visiting California wine country while doing research for her next book, and invites her old friend, Scotland Yard detective George Sutherland to join her at a cozy Bed and Breakfast. No sooner do they arrive than they find the valley abuzz over the murder of a waiter at the restaurant owned by infamous ex-Hollywood heavyweight Bill Ladington. Ladington’s blatant womanizing and involvement in a bitter vineyard land dispute have already marked him as a dubious character—and a possible suspect.
But when Ladington turns up dead himself from a supposed “suicide,” Jessica knows that a murderer is on the loose—and with a little help from George, she must try and bottle up a motive for murder from an extensive list of less-than-vintage suspects...
Book 16
Arts critic Wayne Copely is desperately searching for the fabled recordings of New Orleans jazz legend Little Red LeCoeur. But when he hears that his old friend Jessica Fletcher is in town, he’s more than happy to take a break from work and give her an insider’s view of the festival. Unfortunately, her jazz lesson and his search are tragically cut short when he turns up dead next to the grave of an old voodoo queen. And when the cops pass off the bizarre event as a mere ‘accidental death’, it’s up to Jessica to get to the bottom of it...
Book 17
Book 18
When her old friend Martha decided to get married in Las Vegas, Jessica Fletcher made the trip to watch her walk down the aisle. But what were the odds that she’d be back two years later—to watch Martha stand accused of her husband’s murder?
Jessica’s never been one to gamble, but she’s willing to bet that Martha isn’t guilty. Martha’s husband was a high-rolling Las Vegas local with three ex-wives and plenty of jealous acquaintances. After joining Martha’s defense team, Jessica combs through the man’s past to find the real killer. But as the media attention grows—and Jessica is interviewed by the news anchors of Court TV—the stakes are raised, and Jessica learns how to play for keeps.
Book 19
Celebrity mystery writer Jessica Fletcher is riding out Schoolman College’s first tornado in over sixty years. As a visiting professor, she is there to teach a creative writing class. But after two men choose to brave the tornado rather than take shelter and one of them is found dead—Jessica finds herself nagged by the question: Why?
The local police rule Professor Newmark’s demise an accident. But Jessica thinks that someone on the sleepy midwestern campus has been taking lessons in murder. For starters, Newmark feared for his life at the time of his death. Was he just an eccentric academic—or was someone really after him? For persistent Jessica, there is no shortage of clues—or suspects. In fact, hidden behind Schoolman’s ivy-covered walls are secrets that even Jessica could not have imagined…and enough motives for murder to produce more than one campus body.
Book 20
The suspects gather in the Starlight Express dinner car, and it's up to Jessica to do some unplanned sleuthing before everyone's plans are derailed by death.
Book 21
With the help of a feisty group of young-in-spirit retirees, Jessica must track down the clues and find out who prescribed the fatal treatment...
Book 22
