In this installment of the "Murder, She Wrote" mysteries, we encounter the case of the murdered publicist. The primary in this story is Cindy Blaskowitz who goes to Nashville at the wishes of the CCC in hopes of becoming Cabot Cove's first country music superstar. When a song gets taken by anothe...
This was my first of the Murder She Wrote series. I am a long time fan of the old TV series. The book read like the series. I can almost see Angela Lansburg as I read this book. Like many of the TV episodes, this one starts off innocently enough. Jessica Fletcher is on vacation in Bermuda. ...
Fletcher Chapter Eight “Let’s see. Cliff and Nanette bought the house from the Ballards. They were from away and only lived in the mansion for twenty years. The Ballards had purchased the house as a vacation property from a family by the name of DeSelle, who owned it for two generations. Before t...
@page { margin-bottom: 5.000000pt; margin-top: 5.000000pt; } Chapter Seven After a few hours of fitful sleep, I was up, showered, and dressed by six. I went downstairs where it looked like a number of my travel companions had also found sleep to be difficult. They milled about the lobby, some wit...
Truman said from the backseat. “You’ve got time to sightsee if you want. It’s not even ten yet.” “How do you know the time?” I asked. “You don’t wear a watch.” “I cheated,” Truman said. “I looked at yours.” “You don’t wear a watch?” Seth said, carefully backing the car down the driveway. “Threw i...
Helena and continuing north until we reached Calistoga. For some reason, I expected a town out of the old west, with saloons, wooden sidewalks, and tall cowboys in large Stetsons sitting around in front of a jailhouse. The name Calistoga had that ring to it. Instead, we drove down Lincoln Avenue,...
Don’t jerk the controls. Just a little nudge here, a slight turn there, and the plane pretty much flies itself.” I gently, tentatively placed my hands on the control yoke of the single-engine Cessna 172 and moved it an inch to the left. The plane responded by starting a slow turn. “That’s it, Jes...
He insisted upon a CAT scan of my head, which was negative, and an X-ray of my shoulder, which also didn’t show any serious damage—“a strained muscle” was the diagnosis. As I waited in one of the examining rooms after I’d been told I’d been discharged, I glanced at a clock on the wall. It was alm...
It was Seth who broke the silence. “How do they know it’s the gun used to kill Lennon?” he asked. “The bullet’s still in Lennon’s brain. They’ve got to match it with the weapon, and that’ll take time.” “That’s right, Doc,” Amos said, “but how much of a coincidence is it that Chester’s got a han...
Just because the ceiling is leaking over here don’t mean that’s where the pipe is at.” The plumber tucked his hands behind the bib of his overalls and rocked back on his heels. Melanie rolled her eyes and made a face at her mother. “I just want to know can you fix it?” Mrs. Goodall asked. “I reck...
The Glacial Queen accommodates eighteen hundred passengers and eight hundred crew, which might seem like too many people with whom to spend a week in a confined space. But the ship is huge, and I knew from previous cruises that once aboard, people seem to disappear into a ship’s recesses except w...
He struggled to get out of the large, comfortable chair, his arthritis in evidence, and I reached him before he stood. I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You are here,” I said. “Ayuh, I certainly am, Jessica. Pleasant evening?” “Yes, pleasant enough, and interesting, although I’m not sure why.”...
Amazing how a tiny, poor country can manufacture such incredible talent. It’s a great way to climb the ladder. Let’s give it up for our neighbors south of the border—um, south and east of the border. They produced a helluva shortstop.” A discernible hush fell over the already quiet room, only t...
I tried to open the lock on the nearest door but couldn’t. My mind ran as fast as the limo, conflicting thoughts and fears bumping into each other, anger coming to the fore one moment, replaced by heart-pounding fear the next. Most prevailing was the sense of hopelessness, of impotency. There was...
Come to think of it, I hadn’t taken a vacation anywhere in a long time. My travels always seem to have a business purpose, with an occasional day or two thrown in for rest and sightseeing. Some of my friends from Cabot Cove make a yearly trip to the Caribbean, or to the Bahamas as a respite from ...
F. There’s gotta be a thousand books on that set.” “Probably more like three or four hundred, but I agree it’s a lot of books to look through.” Tiffany had dropped me at the sheriff’s office and I’d waited more than an hour for Mort to return. Jacob...
I thought I might have trouble sleeping with so many thoughts rattling around in my brain, but that hadn’t happened. The first thing I did upon getting out of bed was to e-mail George Sutherland in London to let him know that he’d be staying with Seth. I wasn’t certain how George would react. Whi...
Fletcher.”The hotel’s night-duty engineer was holding a burlap bag that contained my earlier bed partner. “They’re pretty common, and totally harmless, although I’m sure it gave you quite a start.”“You’re a master of understatement, Mr. Gonzales.”“It was probably just looking for some food or wat...
But as we neared the dilapidated building, I could detect the flicker of candlelight through a downstairs window. A half dozen cars were pulled up onto the property, parked in haphazard fashion on the mostly dirt lawn, as if their drivers had been too rushed to consider parking in neat rows. I wa...
The acreage once used for grazing and corrals had been sold off piece by piece until the original homestead stood alone in the center of a patch of dry land, surrounded by developments of new Colonials and Tudors with green lawns and blacktopped driveways. The cab made a right turn under the wood...
Jill called out. After Mme Poutine’s shocking statement Craig had run to the phone at the front desk to call for an ambulance and the police. I’d decided to see for myself if Chef Bertrand were indeed dead or if his paramour was exaggerating. “He may have suffered a heart attack,” I said. “Perhap...
But Patricia prevailed. Five minutes later, he followed her into the living room. He wore jeans, ankle-high military-style boots, a blue sweatshirt with gold figures on it that looked like some sort of military ranger group’s, and a blue baseball cap worn backward. “Robert, you know Sheriff Metzg...
But in that brief time away from my suite, I received seven phone calls. Four were from media people; my respite from them evidently had ended. Seth Hazlitt called from Cabot Cove to say he was coming to Boston the next day to do some shopping, would be staying at the Ritz-Carlton, and would get ...
“Not today, Mara. Spring has sprung and I’ve sworn off blueberry pancakes. Bikini season’s just around the corner.” “You wear a bikini?” Mara asked over her shoulder as she drew coffee from a stainless-steel urn behind the counter. “No. My girlish figure has never been girlish enough to run the r...
I awakened startled. I hadn’t realized that I’d drifted off. “What was that?” I said, straightening in my seat. “Mr. Blevin has invited everyone to the club car for a welcoming cocktail, courtesy of the Track and Rail Club,” Jenna said. “I’m sorry to wake you, but he asked specifically that you c...
I suppose the term “office” could be applied to it, although “closet” came more to mind. The closets in my cabin were significantly larger than her working space. “It’s cramped, I know,” she said. “A proverbial understatement. Tell you what, Ms. Jenkins. If you’ll tell me how many words you want ...
They were gathered in the living room, chairs from the kitchen carried in to supplement the seating. I left Chief Rivera in the vestibule and went in search of Olga. Maria Elena met me in the hall, balancing a tray of drinks and a bowl of cookies “Word travels fast, doesn’t it?” I said to her. He...
Mort asked after we’d found Seth and brought him into the garage. “Looks like he took a misstep and fell in. Obviously a drowning accident, right?” Alexei lay on the concrete floor next to the pit from which Mort and Jeremy had hauled him. “Hard to tell,” Seth said, kneeling by the body. “The sca...
“Brie!” Stella Bedford had linked arms with me while Jimbo Barnes aimed his digital camera in our direction and clicked the shutter. “That looks good,” he said, squinting at the tiny screen on the back of the camera. “Are we both smiling?” she asked. “Take another one, just to be sure.” Stella hu...
Karl Westerkoch said, “Damn,” and pushed the door open a crack, allowing the sound of the pelting rain to reach inside. Ivelisse Vasquez stood motionless, her face blank. Seth wrenched open the door and ran out into the downpour. I followed. He knelt over Vasquez and placed his fingertips against...
Godfrey Reynolds said, his eyes following Alicia as she wound her way around clusters of guests while sipping from a martini glass. “Betterton needs to keep a leash on that one.” Alicia’s long hair was caught up in a loose ponytail with soft curls dangling next to her cheeks. She was wearing what...
A plastic bag hanging from a radio knob held balled-up wax paper from a variety of fast-food places. Two empty cans of Coke occupied the cup holders in the console. “It looks like you do a lot of eating on the run,” I said, hoping it didn’t sound like criticism. &nbs...
“Good morning, George.” “Wake you?” “I was half awake. Now I’m all the way there.” “Lovely evening.” “Yes, it was. I hope two consecutive nights in a sushi restaurant won’t permanently upset your digestive tract.”. “Not at all. The tempura was as good second time around as it was first. Ready for...
The large yellow sunflowers on the mid-calf-length white dress she wore perfectly matched her blond hair and seemingly sunny disposition. Her smile was wide and genuine; there was a sweetness about her that was palpable. The young man, named Paul, standing next to her was not so sanguine. He was ...
he asked the minute I picked up the phone. “You’ve heard about Ms. Forbes.” “Of course I have. Hans Muller called to tell me. You were there?” “Yes. Not when she was killed. Muller called me and—it doesn’t matter. It’s horrible.” “Hans says the police are treating him as though he’s a suspect.” “...
“Would you like to tell me about that little scene the class just witnessed?” Eli shrugged. “I’m curious to know why you raised the subject,” I said, stuffing my papers into my briefcase. “It wasn’t just a hypothetical case. If you have reason to believe Professor Newmark’s death was anything oth...
I said to Morton Metzger, sheriff of Cabot Cove. He and Seth Hazlitt had called my room upon their arrival, and I’d suggested we meet in the bar. “Yes, Jess, I am. This is no vacation. I’m here on official business.” I turned to Seth, a familiar warm smile on his face. “Seth, how wonderful to see...
And the rumrunners’ud bring down the whiskey from Canada and drop anchor just beyond the three-mile limit.” Spencer Durkee sat on a folding metal chair outside Nudd’s Bait & Tackle, his fishing cap pushed up high on his forehead and his gnarled fingers working to loosen a knot in a length of ...