10 Best Episodes Of Murder, She Wrote, Ranked

It's no mystery as to why "Murder, She Wrote" is always included on any list of the best detective TV shows. Airing for 12 seasons on CBS, it centered on mystery writer-turned-sleuth Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who solves crimes in the small New England town of Cabot Cove. Although it was centered on violent death, "Murder, She Wrote" was TV comfort food, as viewers delighted each week in the complex mysteries, small town flavor, and bevy of guest stars.

Like any great mystery series, "Murder, She Wrote" was defined by its lead investigator, and Jessica Fletcher is one of the smartest TV detective of all time. Because of her background as a writer, Jessica solves real crimes as though she were constructing fictional ones. The fact that she is also warm and inviting — as opposed to gruff and intimidating — makes her all the more compelling to watch. 

With 264 episodes of "Murder, She Wrote," there's no shortage of good candidates for its 10 best. In narrowing the list down, we hoped to choose episodes that best encapsulated what made it such a special show, from great celebrity cameos to intricately constructed whodunnits. Here are the 10 best episodes of "Murder, She Wrote," ranked. Consider this essential watching before the "Murder, She Wrote" movie reboot comes out.

Although many episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" transplanted Jessica Fletcher to some exotic locale, some of the best took place in her fictional homestead of Cabot Cove, Maine. Take, for instance, "Keep the Home Fries Burning," which finds Jessica, Sheriff Amos Tupper (Tom Bosley), and Dr. Seth Hazlitt (William Windom) trying out a trendy new restaurant in the Joshua Peabody Inn. When all the other diners get food poisoning, resulting in one death, Jessica suspects the culprit is a tainted jar of strawberry preserves.

The 14th episode of Season 2, "Keep the Home Fries Burning" is a perfect blend of the small town charm and clever sleuthing that made "Murder, She Wrote" such a great comfort watch. Part of its appeal comes from how effectively it dramatizes the petty rivalries between restaurant owners, chefs, and even local politicians can lead to a jar of strawberry preserves getting poisoned. As per usual with every "Murder, She Wrote" episode, this one has some great guest stars, including Anne Francis (famous for her role in "Forbidden Planet") as a snippy health inspector, and actor/comedian Orson Bean as a shady politician.

Small town gossip and feuds abound in the Season 5 episode, entitled "The Sins of Castle Cove." When Jessica's former student, Sybil Reed (Page Hannah), pens a thinly-veiled novel based on Cabot Cove, the residents are angered by how they're depicted. However, that's the least of Jessica's problems, as she's got to solve the murder of Miriam Harwood (Rosanna Huffman), whose affair with the local butcher and eventual killing by her husband were hinted at in Sybil's book.

One of the many pleasures of "The Sins of Castle Cove" is how it depicts the sniping that occurs when Sybil's book hits shelves. Rumors abound around town about who's who in the roman à clef, and there's understandably some resentment about one of their favorite daughters exposing scandals they've taken great pains to keep hidden. When a murder depicted in the book comes true, it calls into question the ethics of Sybil using fact for fiction, making this episode a fascinating examination of how much an author is entitled to someone else's story.

Episode 3 of Season 5, "Mr. Penroy's Vacation" introduced "Murder, She Wrote" fans to Cabot Cove's new sheriff, Mort Metzger (Ron Masak). Sheriff Metzger has his hands full when the dead body of Morris Penroy (Henry Jones) turns up in the flowerbed of the Appletree sisters, Lillian (Joan Leslie) and Helen (Teresa Wright). Luckily, Jessica Fletcher is willing to give the new lawman a hand, and suspects Mr. Penroy's murder had something to do with a robbery that took place in Boston years prior.

As played by Tom Bosley (who starred in one of the 15 best TV shows of the 1970s, "Happy Days"), Sheriff Amos Tupper was a fan favorite, so Masak had some big shoes to fill when he left the show after Season 4. "Mr. Penroy's Vacation" was a great introduction for the city cop who retired to Cabot Cove in search of a simpler life. It's great fun watching Metzger realize that Cabot Cove is anything but a quiet, peaceful town as he solves an "Arsenic and Old Lace"-inspired murder.

One of the great pleasures of "Murder, She Wrote" was seeing which old Hollywood stalwart would guest star, and "The Days Dwindle Down" is one of the cleverest uses of legendary actors the show ever concocted. Jessica is enlisted by Georgia Wilson (Martha Scott) to investigate a murder that her husband, Sam (Jeffrey Lynn), spent 30 years in prison for. Now that Sam is out on parole, his wife wants to clear his name, and Jessica suspects he might be innocent.

This Season 3 installment was a sequel to the 1949 film "Strange Bargain," which centered on a bookkeeper (Lynn) who gets roped into making his boss' suicide look like murder. Lynn and Scott reprised their roles, as did Harry Morgan as the retired detective who investigated the original crime. "The Days Dwindle Down" is a delight for film noir fans, as it takes an inventive twist on continuing the story of crime and punishment. It also features a great appearance by Richard Beymer, who would later play Ben Horne on one of the best supernatural horror TV shows, "Twin Peaks."

"Murder, She Wrote" has a bit of meta fun in this Season 7 episode. In "Who Killed J.B. Fletcher?," Jessica is on a book tour in Texas when she learns that local woman Marge Allen (Jane Withers) has been arrested while impersonating her. Things become even stickier when Jessica's impersonator is murdered, and she relies upon the members of her local fan club to help solve the crime since everyone else assumes she's actually dead.

"Murder, She Wrote" often shook things up by getting Jessica Fletcher out of Cabot Cove, and "Who Killed J.B. Fletcher" features some great local flavor and colorful guest stars. Withers is a highlight as the would-be Jessica Fletcher, who throws a wrench into the show's standard formula by making it difficult for the real Jessica to prove her identity. The episode's real pleasure derives from the book club members, which includes such veteran character actresses as Betty Garrett, Terry Moore, and Margaret O'Brien. It's great fun watching these women spring to Jessica's defense by using her own books as a guide to solving the mystery.

Jessica's romantic life wasn't often explored in "Murder, She Wrote," which makes "If It's Thursday, It Must Be Beverly" stand out amongst other episodes. This Season 4 installment finds Sheriff Amos Tupper bringing on a new deputy, Jonathan Martin (Rick Lenz), only for his new hire to get accused of killing his wife (Antoinette Bower). Upon further investigation, Jessica finds out Jonathan has been "servicing" several older women in town, and she soon finds herself accepting a well-deserved back massage from the murder suspect.

When we first meet Jessica Fletcher, she's a widow, and she shows no real romantic interest with anyone else. What is intriguing about "If It's Thursday, It Must Be Beverly" is that it explores how she might be swayed by the attentions of an attractive younger man. When she receives that back massage, it suddenly clouds her judgment about the investigation, creating a rare moment in which she can't behave objectively about a suspect. It's a shame that "Murder, She Wrote" rarely explored Jessica's dating life, as it would've undoubtedly created a slew of guest star opportunities.

Every great TV mystery show needs a good villain, and the two-part "Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall" has a superb antagonist. In Part 1, mystery writer Eudora McVeigh (the legendary Jean Simmons) travels to Cabot Cove intent on stealing Jessica's latest manuscript when she learns her books aren't selling as well as her rival's. Arriving with a basket of apples, Eudora finds herself embroiled in a double-murder investigation, and Jessica finds Dr. Hazlitt near-death in his kitchen.

In Part 2, Jessica discovers Seth has been poisoned, and believes Eudora's apples are the culprit. Eudora pleads her innocence, and Jessica believes her, suspecting the poisoned apples were actually intended for their owner.

Simmons earned an Emmy nomination for her performance as Eudora, which is full of camp menace and snarling glee. What makes her appearance so memorable isn't just how ecstatically villainous she is, but for what she says about Jessica Fletcher. Facing declining book sales and a failing marriage, Eudora lashes out at the woman who's outselling her — which causes Jessica to reconsider how her own life has turned out in contrast. Nearly losing her close friend, Dr. Hazlitt, further exacerbates this, making both parts of "Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall" an insightful look at Jessica's inner life.

"Murder, She Wrote" didn't often shake up the formula, so when it did, it made that episode stand out. That's certainly true of "Trial by Error," which finds Jessica sitting on the jury for a murder trial. The defendant, former race car driver Mark Lee Reynolds (Tony Bill), is accused of murdering a man because he was having an affair with the victim's wife (Doran Clark). But Reynolds claims he was acting in self defense, and Jessica implores her fellow jurors to consider all of the evidence before they reach a verdict.

An obvious riff on "12 Angry Men," "Trial by Error" has Jessica acting as the moral center for the other jurors, who understandably want to arrive at a verdict as quickly as possible. Yet the episode's real merit is in how it figures out a new way for her to solve a mystery. Whereas most installments of "Murder, She Wrote" find Jessica searching for clues, this one forces her to examine evidence that's already been gathered and reconsider it from a different angle. Her working to convince the other jurors of the defendant's innocence allows her — and the audience — to uncover the truth.

"Murder, She Wrote" took obvious inspiration from Agatha Christie, and "The Corpse Flew First Class" plays like one of her great mystery novels. In this Season 2 installment, Jessica is on a flight to London when the bodyguard of famous actress Sonny Greer (Kate Mulgrew, a.k.a. Captain Kathryn Janeway from "Star Trek: Voyager") turns up dead onboard. Sonny's expensive necklace has also gone missing, and a replica might hold the answer to the killer's identity — or does it?

With its confined setting and eclectic cast of murder suspects, "The Corpse Flew First Class" plays out like "Murder on the Orient Express" or "Death on the Nile," with Jessica Fletcher acting as Hercule Poirot. Like the best works of Agatha Christie, the episode keeps audiences — and for that matter, our lead detective — guessing up until the very end, as even the person who confessed to the crime can't be entirely trusted. It's also a surprisingly deft examination of classism, as the separations between first and second class onboard the airplane work as a microcosm for the rest of society.

Difficult as it may be to pick just one episode of "Murder, She Wrote" as the very best, you really can't go wrong with "Murder Takes the Bus." In the show's 18th episode overall, Jessica and Sheriff Tupper are on their way to a police convention in Boston when a storm forces their bus to make an emergency stop. While waiting out the weather at a roadside diner, one of the passengers, ex-con Gilbert Stoner (John Davis Chandler), turns up dead, and everyone's a suspect.

So much of what makes "Murder, She Wrote" a great series is contained within this Season 1 episode, and it's a wonder that the team behind the show cracked the code so quickly. "Murder Takes the Bus" has it all: a complex, Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery set within a confined space; a slew of memorable guest stars as suspects, including Linda Blair, Michael Constantine, and Rue McClanahan; and the pleasure of watching Jessica Fletcher crack the case through wit, cunning, and charm. With an episode this good in its first season, it's little wonder "Murder, She Wrote" ran for 12 years.