Tuesday, Los Angeles, California

Murder She Wrote was an enduring hit television classic that ran for twelve seasons (1984-1996). Veteran movie actress Angela Lansbury starred in the show, playing a widow, Jessica Fletcher who lives in a small, bucolic Maine town. She becomes a successful mystery writer in her retirement and soon an amateur detective. And in each episode she became entangled in yet another spectacular murder investigation. And in every case she is the one investigator who cracks the case, often against the instincts of the law enforcement professionals.

What became curious and darkly humorous to viewers was the staggering number of murder investigations this sweet little lady became entangled in over a dozen years. How many murders did Jessica Fletcher stumble upon? One estimate is that there were 800 murders in her home ton of Cabot Cove alone during the dozen years that Jessica lived there. That is essentially 50% of the entire town that was victims of murder! And Jessica was able to solve every one of them.

It begs the question, might not the first suspicion be on Ms. Fletcher herself as a serial killer?
What strained credulity is that, unlike her European sleuth counterparts like Sherlock Holmes, Hurcule Poirot and Miss marple who were actively sought out as crime investigators, Jessica seemed to happen upon the murders without expecting to or to become involved. Yet there she was every week, fully engaged in a murder that the police either could not solve or had come to the wrong conclusion.

Why We Watch

Jessica’s sweet, matronly demeanor seemed to sanitize and defang the brutal ugliness of human depravity and homicide. She enabled us to view stories rooted in the most base human behavior but in a way that was scrubbed and gloved for Sunday service. She also brings a vivd contrast between the good and the evil in humanity.

By coming to know and care about sweet little Jessica, it helps us reject the cruelty and meanness of violence. She gently shakes her head in disapproval of the jealousies and hurt feelings that lead some to act out in aggression. If there is one sound that describes Jessica Fletcher’s reaction to human depravity, it would be the simple tsk, tsk!