"Murder, She Wrote" (Seasons 1 and 2)

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"Murder, She Wrote" is a cozy mystery series that aired on television from 1984-1996. Each episode is one hour long. As my interest in cozies has evolved, I finally decided to start watching it this year. The series stars Angela Lansbury as the amateur sleuth, Jessica Fletcher. She plays a widow and retired teacher who now spends her time writing mystery novels (and apparently solving heinous crimes committed in cozy towns).

The show's opening is an indication of the (very 80's) atmosphere of the show. We see Ms. Fletcher typing on her typewriter (we even see closeups of the typewriter as it's being used, which has a charm of its own), riding her bike, walking by the water, working in her garden, jogging, and sleuthing. This clearly shows that she's a writer living in a cozy town and sleuthing.

I am very impressed with this show and if every season is this good, I can see why it lasted more than a decade. Jessica Fletcher is a charming woman and makes an outstanding amateur sleuth. She lives alone in the cozy town of Cabot Cove, but she is well-known and well-liked by many. She has a lot of friends and she easily makes new friends. She is also very perceptive, often noticing details that even the authorities don't.

Not all of the crimes take place in the same town. Often in contemporary cozies, the murders take place in the town where the amateur sleuth lives and one has to wonder how cozy is this town really? In "Murder, She Wrote", Ms. Fletcher travels a lot. Now, I will say that murders seem to follow her wherever she goes, but at least they don't all take place in one town. Since she is so well-known and well-respected, she is usually asked to help with the investigations. This is a big difference from contemporary cozies where the authorities usually feel like the amateur sleuth is a nuisance (based on many the ones I've read and watched). It's a refreshing change to see them all get along in "Murder, She Wrote".

Whereas in contemporary cozies there is usually an ongoing subplot (most often a budding romance or love triangle), there is no secondary plot in "Murder, She Wrote". Each episode can be viewed without having seen any of the ones before it and the viewer wouldn't miss out on anything. Each episode is such that, with the exception of the two-part pilot episodes, the crime usually happens in the first 10-15 minutes. The rest of the episode is spent on solving the crime, up until about the last five minutes when Ms. Fletcher figures everything out and reveals her findings to everyone. Unlike in contemporary cozies, she does not put herself in dangerous situations at the end of the show without having someone or a team of people to back her up. 

As for the mysteries themselves, there wasn't any episode where I was able to figure out who committed the crime before it was revealed. Each mystery has viable suspects with motives, opportunities, and means. This is so frustrating for me when I can't figure out who committed the crime, yet it's also the mark of a good mystery.

I'm guessing that since this show lasted twelve seasons, the next one will live up to the high hopes I have for it. I'm interested in seeing how the show evolves over time and if there are any significant changes. Each season consists of more than 20 episodes and I do not watch them everyday, so it will be a while before I review season 2. Stay tuned!

11/05 UPDATE: I finished watching season 2 quite a while ago. Since it's very similar to season 1 and I would again give it five stars, I will not post a full review at this time. I'm moving on to watching season 3!