Former English teacher Jessica Fletcher travels to New York to celebrate the success of her debut novel, but when an unwanted guest is murdered at a costume party, she wishes she'd stayed home.

After a terrible storm, Stephen Earl's four daughters tell Sheriff Tupper that their father died while they were out on the boat. Jessica is only midly intrigued; she finds Ralph, the older gentleman who has offered to work for food, much more intriguing, especially since it is obvious he comes from money. The womens' stories about what happened on the boat change constantly, but once Ralph is found dead and later found to be Stephen Earl, Jessica has to help Amos wage through the inconsistencies in the four Earl daughters storylines to determine who killed their father and why.

Jessica heads to San Francisco for the wedding of her niece, Victoria Brandon, only to learn that Victoria is having second thoughts because she suspects that her fiancé, Howard, is having an affair. Although Jessica and Victoria are relieved to learn that Howard isn't cheating but rather dressing up as a woman to perform at a nightclub, the relief is short lived when Howard is arrested for murdering his boss, Al Drake, who had been refusing to pay him. The police are convinced that Drake was shot during Freddy York's act, which doesn't leave a lot of time, but Jessica is determined to prove Howard's innocence.

Jessica's first book, The Corpse Danced at Midnight, is being made into a major Hollywood motion picture, backed by producer Jerry Lydecker. Jessica is furious to see how her book is being butchered by Lydecker and his crew. She heads out to Hollywood to confront Lydecker, but things take a turn when Lydecker is found dead on stage. Jessica ends up being the prime suspect in the murder, but luckily the officer in charge of the investigation believes she's too smart to be the killer and sets her up to find the real murderer.

While visiting her cousin at Langley Manor, a country estate in the South, a man dies during a fox-hunt under strange circumstances, and Jessica tries to find out what really happened.

While in Seattle lecturing at the university, Jessica is convinced that the young man she hired as her secretary is not a killer.

Jessica helps a most unconventional neighbor who is accused of murdering his former partner with one of his inventions.

Jessica is asked to help solve the "impossible" murder of a wealthy, and much disliked, amusement park owner.

While attending a special ballet performance, Jessica helps solve the backstage murder of a young dancer by a defecting ballerina.

Jessica's deductive abilities are in demand when a flamboyant hypnotist turns up dead, behind locked doors, in front of an audience of journalists whom he had put into a trance.

Jessica is assigned to fill the empty seat of a deceased congressman for a brief period of time and finds a great deal of political game-playing in Washington.

Broadway legend Rita Bristol and her daughter star in a musical produced by her son, not knowing that murder is lurking in the wings.

While in New Orleans, Jessica must solve the mysterious murder of a famous musician who died while performing onstage.

Jessica's niece is terrorized on a cruise intended to take her mind off her husband's recent death...or is he dead?

The life of a famous artist is threatened on what would be otherwise an idyllic Mediterranean island.

Jessica meets Harry McGraw and they figure out which one of three cases may contain the motive for the death of a private detective. One dates back 25 years.

Jessica suddenly must learn all about football when she inherits an interest in a professional team.

An unpublished manuscript is stolen and its author murdered during an awards convention.

Bus trips are not always as relaxing as they should be. In this case, one passenger had a one-way ticket.

Over Jessica's protests, she is taken to a hospital after a minor accident in the airport.

An unpopular show-business personality discovers that elaborate security systems are no guarantee of safety.

A Wyoming rancher leaves all to an ill-fated stranger, to the disgust of his disinherited daughter.

Jessica's vacation at a Caribbean resort is not solely for pleasure, but to investigate a friend's murder.

Plans to build a new hotel in Cabot Cove are put on hold when diggers discover an old skeleton that had been buried deeply that many of the townspeople believe to be the remains of Joshua Peabody. Not everyone is thus inclined though, and many people believe it's just a random dead body. But when Jessica and Amos head back to the dig site, they find there's another body there! Jessica not only has to find out who killed Wheatley, she has to help an old friend when his past comes back to haunt him.

While filming a soap opera in which Mrs. Fletcher's niece plays a part, a 'pretend' victim is really dead.

When Jessica is offered an honorary degree from Crenshaw University, she has no idea she's about to become embroiled in a murder. After the boyfriend of (in)famous writer Daphne Clover is found murdered, Jessica agrees to assist the chief of police, who has never had a murder case before, find out who the killer is. She soon has more on her plate than she bargained for when first Daphne's mother confesses, then Daphne herself confesses. Jessica realises the two women are simply trying to protect each other, and begins to look at the faculty at the university.

When cousin Emma's life is threatened, she plays dead and Jessica is summoned to London as the heir to the estate.

Jessica decides to pay a visit to her long-time friend Francesca, only to learn that Francesca, who is now married to a much younger man, is convinced that she is being haunted by the ghost of her first husband, Ross. When her new husband, Scott, turns up dead, the investigation reveals that he had been poisoned, and suspicion turns to Francesca. Jessica, however, is determined to prove that her friend did not commit the crime, and begins looking into the mysterious re-appearances of her dead husband.

While spending time at a lake, Jessica sees what appears to be a struggle and a woman falling from a boat into the lake.

Jessica goes to the races to watch her niece ride the winning horse. Then the horse's owner is murdered after a dispute.

Doing public service, Jessica becomes a hostage in a prison riot caused by anger in the handling of the doctor's murder.

When a woman is electrocuted in her bathroom, Amos chuckles that even Jessica can't make a murder out of it. Michael Dugby: Parker Stevenson. Harry Pierce: John Astin. Frederich Hoffman: Paul Benedict. Adam Frobisher: Christopher Stone. Edna: Evelyn Keyes.

An archaeological dig at the site of Coronado's City of Gold does not please everyone and a new corpse is dug up.

One of Jessica's former students is murdered and she takes a personal interest in the investigation.

It's a bad day for the jurors when Jessica is the foreperson of the jury hearing the case of a man claiming self-defense in the death of an enraged husband.

Jessica, Seth and Amos try out a new tourist-oriented restaurant, and murder interrupts their meal.

After their car breaks down after dinner with the governor, Jessica and her friend Ames Caufield find themselves in a small southern town just in time for local bad boy Ed Bonner to be found dead, and young Matt Burns, the son of a former student of Ames', ends up accused of the murder. At the behest of Linda Bonner, the victim's sister who happens to care deeply about the accused, Jessica takes a look into the murder, but hatred runs deep in this town and it's pure luck (and Andy Crane) that leads Jessica and Ames to the right answer.

Jessica must find the murderer of her close friend whose will is in contention between family and a popular evangelist.

A red hot diary of a sex symbol is to be auctioned and some of the bidders are ready to shed blood.

Investigation of a claim that the deceased was murdered leads the police to discover that the wrong body is in the coffin.

Jessica and Grady head to the home of publisher Christopher Bundy, whose publishing company owns the rights to Jessica's first short story. Jessica is quite upset, as Bundy's magazine is known for it's racy pictures of young women. While there, Jessica is pleased to run into an old acquaintance, Chester Harrison, and when Harrison is accused of murdering Christopher Bundy, Jessica vows to prove his innocence but runs into trouble when the family isn't interested in having their own skeletons dragged out of the closet.

Who was the intended victim when a tennis star is blown up in his girl friend's car?

At the request of aunt Mildred, Jessica agrees to stop by New Orleans to check on cousin Cal while on her way to Houston. No sooner does Jessica get to New Orleans then she is tossed into a Mardi Gras party where the host ends up dead, and Cal is accused of the crime. While attempting to clear Cal's name and reputation, Jessica delves into the world of cheating poker players, cheating girlfriends and vengefilled police officers while trying to convince a local lieutenant that Cal is not capable of murder.

After Julia Marcus Granger is found murdered during what seems to have been an apparent art theft, suspicion turns to her husband Donald, who, as a result, also ends up being suspected in a recent rash of art thefts where there were no fatalities. Julia's sister Sabrina is convinced that Donald didn't do it and begs Jessica for help. While looking into Julia's murder, Jessica realises that she has two completely different criminals on her hands, and someone tampered with the scene of Julia's murder to make it look like something else.

Jessica's niece receives a gift from her grandfather---a man long thought dead---which leads Jessica (Angela Lansbury) to a circus beset by accidents and murder. Part 1 of two. Neil Fletcher: Jackie Cooper. Edgar Carmody: Martin Balsam. Brad Kaneally: Greg Evigan. Katie McCallum: Pamela Susan Shoop.

Conclusion. Despite her brother-in-law's confession, Jessica refuses to believe he killed the circus foreman. Neil Fletcher: Jackie Cooper. Preston Bartholomew: Alex Cord. Edgar Carmody: Martin Balsam. Brad Kaneally: Greg Evigan. Katie McCallum: Pamela Susan Shoop.

A retired policeman decides to re-examine an old case he never solved in which Seth was a strong suspect.

Attending a concert in Washington, D.C., Jessica gets involved with two East German defectors and a murder.

An adman handling the account of a fast-food chain is murdered and Jessica smells something funny.

While diving for sunken treasure near Cabot Cove, a young woman is murdered.

A veteran reporter, who suffered a heart attack, says his best medicine would be the removal of his publisher who has turned a good paper into a yellow rag.

Jessica offers to help Thomas Magnum, who has been accused of killing a hitman with an unknown target.

The crossover starts on Magnum, P.I. S07E09 Novel Connection (I).

Jessica reluctantly agrees to do an interview for an old friend, Paula Roman, but is surprised when Kevin Keats, a journalist who had been doing a series of stories on an art dealer who was really a drug dealer, shows up to do the interview, complete with cameras and crew. After Kevin is presumed dead when a boat Amos chartered for him explodes, Cabot Cove explodes with press and paparazzi, and the citizens blame Jessica for all the problems it causes, demanding that she solve the mystery. Unfortunately, once Keats is revealed to be alive and well, the real question is who the true target was.

The murder of the leading lady's understudy disrupts rehearsals of a play starring two previously married, but now warring, actors.

The 'headless' horseman rides again, but his costume becomes more realistic.

Theft and murder of the courier occur on board a jet bound for London.

The phone wires get crossed during a storm and Jessica can't convince anyone that what she heard was real.

Jessica tells the tale of a composer accused of killing the professor who plagiarized his music.

A lying TV Consumer advocate is killed. Was it done by one of the clients whose products he maligned?

Jessica inherits a boxer's contract and her old friend; Harry McGraw is accused of murdering its former owner.

An artist is murdered and his prized painting is missing.

After the engagement party for the offspring of two estranged comics, someone is found dead.

Grady Fletcher is in big trouble when his boss, a specialist in tax shelters, is found dead and he is the main suspect.

First, the reform mayor dies in an ""accident"" and then the mayor's father is murdered after he demands an investigation of the ""accident"".

Thirty years ago, Sam Wilson was sent to prison for murdering his boss, Malcolm Jarvis. After finally being released, Sam goes home to his wife and now-grown son who is expecting his first child with his wife, Terry. At Georgia Jarvis' request, Jessica looks into the crime, and through flashbacks, Sam remembers when Jarvis had offered him $10,000 to make his suicide look like murder. While Jessica believes that Sam is innocent, she doesn't believe it was suicide, and asks Sam's son Rod, a police officer, to lend a hand.

During a short black-out in the studio where Jessica is recording a book for the blind, the studio co-owner is murdered.

Ooh la la! Jessica travels to gay Paris to spend some time with an old friend... and finds herself entangled in a case involving fashion, finance and murder.

A walk down memory lane is anything but pleasant for Jessica when she re-examines a 20 year-old case involving her close friends and former students.

Jessica goes to Quebec to testify at the trial of a friend who is accused of killing his wife and burning his house.

A terminally ill nun seems to have committed suicide which would be an unacceptable sin.

After the 'accidental' death of a tycoon, his associates battle for position to succeed him.

Cousin Emma in London has a new problem when someone serves her lover poisoned herring.

When Deputy Martin becomes a widower by murder, the investigation turns up some surprising activity.

The special effects used by a TV producer are a real bomb.

Hostility and other surprises await Jessica in a town where she's posing as her friend to investigate the rumoured murder of the friend's sister.

A resident of Cabot Cove threatens the Native American who claims to own the land, and later is found dead.

Grady gets into a spot again when he is found with the body of woman known from college days and now had been dating a frat brother who was married.

Somebody laced Mrs. Fletcher's chowder and Amos' brutish brother-in-law was in for the long sleep.

Jessica is thrilled to be visiting her niece Carrie and her husband Leonard, an astronomer dreaming of seeing a long-lost comet, but when Carrie's ex-boyfriend Drake Eaton is murdered in the home she's been staying in, Jessica has to prove not only her niece but also her husband innocent of murder.

Seth's family is touched by an ancient curse attached to the history of a ruby.

Jessica visits her old friend Eugene McClendon, who soon stands accused of the murder of an old friend, Jonathan Keeler. While helping clear Eugene's name, Jessica learns that her friend believes he is dying, and is surprised when he asks her to marry him so that she can look after his affairs once he's gone. Jessica agrees, but only so that they can expose Jonathan's true killer.

Jessica gets herself into a mess of trouble after overhearing the dying words of a professional hitman. When she investigates the murder of Adam Cosgrove, she soon discovers that no one seems to want to admit he's missing, let alone dead. With the help of a prickly police sergeant and a priest who isn't quite what he seems, Jessica discovers that the man who was killed was in charge of leading a top-secret government mission to protect a foreign diplomat, and that someone in the safehouse has gone to the other side.

The Gambini family gathers to celebrate the 75th birthday of the patriarch and a murder.

Someone wants the old historic house enough to kill for it and its supposed hidden treasure AND Jessica is executor of the late owner's will.

Somebody put the maitre d' on ice. Jessica wonders if she has made a bad investment.

Arson is intended to remove the Rodeo doctor and his patient permanently.

Two critics take opposite views of a play based on one of Jessica's novels, 'Mainly Murder'. One is suspected of the murder of the other.

The suicide of a campaign manager who is suspected of having an affair with a married woman excites the press.