Murder, She Wrote (season 1)

Pilot episode. (Airs as two separate episodes during syndication)
Jessica Fletcher, a retired schoolteacher from Cabot Cove, Maine, is shocked to find out that not only did her nephew send her manuscript to a publisher, but it's been accepted. Rushed to New York, Jessica is caught up in a whirlwind of publicity tours, book signings, and public appearances, but everything takes a turn when she attends a costume party in New Holvang and a private investigator dressed as Sherlock Holmes ends up facedown in the pool, shot. Jessica initially tries to stay out of things until her nephew Grady becomes the prime suspect, and Jessica decides to take matters into her own hands while fighting her attraction to Preston Giles, the first man to interest her since the death of her husband Frank.

After a terrible storm in Cabot Cove, Stephen Earl's four daughters tell Sheriff Tupper that their father died while they were out on the boat. Jessica is only mildly 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 women's 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 wade through the inconsistencies in the four Earl daughters' stories to determine who killed their father and why.

Pre-wedding jitters take on a new meaning for the fiancé of Jessica's niece when he's accused of a cabaret owner's murder.

It's lights, camera, murder when Jessica flies to Los Angeles to protest the movie adaptation of one of her novels, but when the producer ends up murdered, she unwittingly gets cast in the role of prime suspect.

Man's best friend gets a bad reputation when a fox hunter dies in a riding accident and the authorities try to blame the heir to his estate, his beloved pooch.

Jessica searches for clues hidden in rainy Seattle when her personal secretary is accused of murdering his wealthy girlfriend.

When a car with a mind of its own runs over a wealthy businessman, Jessica's very eccentric neighbor is accused of covering the tracks.

In a case of art imitating life, a disagreeable amusement park owner is found murdered after hiring Jessica to design the House of Horror.

It's the final curtain for a man found murdered backstage during the performance of a popular Soviet ballet troupe. The last appearance of Ethan Cragg who disappears from the show with no explanation and is never heard of again.

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 from a heart attack while performing onstage.

Jessica's niece is terrorized with reminders of her dead husband on a cruise intended to take her mind off her husband's recent suicide.

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

Jessica meets tough-as-nails Harry McGraw when they must pinpoint the motive for the murder of a private detective.

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.

After boarding a bus to travel to a convention in Boston, Jessica and Amos are forced to take refuge from a fierce storm at a remote diner where one of the passengers is discovered murdered.

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.

Jessica has to unravel the secrets and threats at the funeral of a friend in Wyoming.