Watching – Murder She Wrote

I’m a fan of mysteries, particularly the Cozy Mysteries genre.

• The protagonist is usually an amateur at sleuthing
• Graphic detail like violence and explicit sex is off screen
• The setting is usually in a small community

Though not definitive of the genre, I’ve found most of them to play fair with presenting the evidence even if the final clue that brings it together is usually because of a random side remark. For me, Murder She Wrote is probably where it began for me (with an honorable mention to Quincy M.E. that I watched in reruns as a child and developed my love of forensic science).

Murder She Wrote (1984 – 1996)

It might not have started the trope but it certainly can be cited as the definition of a Cozy. Jessica ‘J.B.’ Fletcher, widowed English teacher turned mystery writer turned sleuth. As the seasons (12 overall) went on and her home turf of Cabot Cove ran out of murderers to ferret out, Jessica traveled cross country and overseas for book promotions and visiting an ever expanding array of nieces, nephews, cousins, and of course the recurring nephew Grady Fletcher who wound up repeatedly as the chief suspect in multiple murders. Her relationship with the local police varies from case to case, from viewing her as an interfering busybody to a respected detective in her own right.

Watching a series from the 80s and 90s, there are a number of things you might expect that might not age well, but for the most part, I’d say they did well. Some things like casual smoking you just don’t see anymore. When travelling beyond Cabot Cove, the cast featured it’s fair share of racial diversity in major roles without too many of them being stereotypes. LGQTB+ representation was almost entirely absent to the best of my recall (season 1 featured a drag club but subverted by having it featuring a straight performer), you didn’t find it in too many other series at the time and even then usually portrayed as that dread secret. Computers and related tech get used as plot points in later seasons (though some portrayals are better than others, like use of modems compared to s10ep5 A Virtual Murder but to be fair there were computer games that did use live actors and film similar to this).

Youtuber Pushing Up Roses has an entire playlist dedicated to reviewing some of the more exception (good and bad) episodes of Murder She Wrote. I agree that the earlier seasons were better than those that followed later, but its hard to find a series that doesn’t suffer from that in the long run. One season served as a testing ground for spin offs, including the short lived The Law & Harry McGraw with Law & Order regular Jerry Orbach. The list of guest stars ranges from those regulars on every other show in the 80s to stars just starting out (George Clooney, Courtney Cox, etc.) to sit com regulars (René Auberjonois, Gregory Sierra, etc.) to former stars of stage and screen that had previously worked with Angela Lansbury like Len Cariou and Rue McClanahan. There was even a cross over with Magnum P.I.!

My personal head cannon has a two-parter episode of Castle that of course features Rick Castle as a J.B. Fletcher fan, with episode one ending in a cliff hanger that Fletcher solves and episode two where Rick comes to the rescue (his show after all). If nothing else, it would be something to see Jessica / Lansbury sitting there at the writer’s poker game.

Meanwhile, Jamie Lee Curtis has confirmed that she’s going to star in a Murder She Wrote reboot! Fingers are crossed that it’s good for at least three to five seasons, returning to Cabot Cove with Seth and the Sheriff and all the road trips to the extended family (if there isn’t a nephew Grady appearance, I’ll be quite disappointed).