Murder, She Wrote - General Discussion

[VCRTracking]

The casting of the four sisters in the second episode ever, "Deadly Lady" is spot on. They all really look related. Like the producers went "We want four actresses who look like a young Vera Miles." Also the father's name is Stephen Earl and Earl is an anagram for "Lear". Nice.

Edited February 8, 2021 by VCRTracking

[VCRTracking]

Halfway through a rewatch of season 1. Man, the actors cast as killers really go for the Emmy during the reveals, don't they?

[ljenkins782]

I've been rewatching Friends on HBO Max lately and just noticed yet another tie-in to the MSW episode "Murder Among Friends" that was a parody of Friends, the murder victim in the MSW episode plays the doctor in a Friends episode, The One With all the Embryos. I know they weren't being subtle with that episode, but I hadn't realized they'd used a common actor.

[VCRTracking]

Every episode I notice how Angela Lansbury is taller than I expected. 5'8". I think the makers of the show must have had a rule every actress playing a young woman Jessica feels maternal towards including her nieces must be 5'5" or under.

[Maverick]

 I saw an episode the other night where one of the characters mentions one of Jessica's novels, The Corpse Danced Alone to which Jessica replies "It was my first novel".   Um, no.   This was from season 10 or 11 so Jessica's first novel had long been established as The Corpse Danced at Midnight on multiple occasions.   

 Also a few weeks ago when they were in the "bookend" season I saw one I haven't seen before with Grady taking the lead.   That was...a choice.  

[ljenkins782]

3 hours ago, Maverick said:

 I saw an episode the other night where one of the characters mentions one of Jessica's novels, The Corpse Danced Alone to which Jessica replies "It was my first novel".   Um, no.   This was from season 10 or 11 so Jessica's first novel had long been established as The Corpse Danced at Midnight on multiple occasions.   

 Also a few weeks ago when they were in the "bookend" season I saw one I haven't seen before with Grady taking the lead.   That was...a choice.  

Was that The Szechuan Dragon? I sort of love that one, inexplicably.

I was watching this Youtube video of a documentary of Gone with the Wind recently that included the original commercials from the 1980s and besides being thoroughly amused by the ridiculousness of the commercials/the stars that no longer are, my head snapped up when I saw Jessica Fletcher* doing commercials for MasterCard. 

*I say that because she was definitely doing the Jessica character and I'm assuming this was peak MSW years. I also remember buying an Angela Lansbury workout tape for my grandmother, so AL definitely took advantage of the visibility that TV gave her. Maybe that's why she's doing so great into her nineties, lol. 

[VCRTracking]

Watching guest actresses on episodes of MSM makes me realize a lot of women I used to think were "old" when I was a kid just needed different hair and makeup to look younger.  If Gillian Anderson, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Helen Mirren had the hairstyles as some of these ladies who were around the same age in the 80s, they would look like they were in their 80s!

Edited April 14, 2021 by VCRTracking

[Egg McMuffin]

I catch an episode on COZI now and then, and I never realized before what an annoying busybody Mrs. Fletcher is. She’s always sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong and being awfully judgmental.

Oh well. I guess if she wasn’t that way, there wouldn’t be a show. But I don’t remember McMillan & Wife being that annoying.

[VCRTracking]

1 hour ago, Kyle said:

I catch an episode on COZI now and then, and I never realized before what an annoying busybody Mrs. Fletcher is. She’s always sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong and being awfully judgmental.

Oh well. I guess if she wasn’t that way, there wouldn’t be a show. But I don’t remember McMillan & Wife being that annoying.

McMillan was the chief of police wasn't he?

[Egg McMuffin]

Police commissioner. He and Wife had charm to spare. So their nosiness somehow seemed less off-putting.

[ljenkins782]

3 hours ago, Kyle said:

I catch an episode on COZI now and then, and I never realized before what an annoying busybody Mrs. Fletcher is. She’s always sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong and being awfully judgmental.

Oh well. I guess if she wasn’t that way, there wouldn’t be a show. But I don’t remember McMillan & Wife being that annoying.

She definitely stuck her nose in, but I never thought she was overly judgmental. 

There was an episode of Hunter that parodied this show and it pointed out the unrealistic nature of how this civilian was always allowed so much unfettered access to information and to crime scenes. Which was true, but the "Jessica Fletcher" character in the episode seemed more overbearing and obnoxious than the real Jessica Fletcher ever came across to me. 

But then, I could never judge this show objectively, I have such warm memories of Sunday dinners at my grandparents' house that included us all watching Murder She Wrote together. So this will always and forever be my comfort TV. 

[swanpride]

It also wasn't exactly like she was sticking her nose in. It was more that she was around and very observant, and she only got involved to actually help people, not just for the heck of it.

[Egg McMuffin]

I was watching an early one and she was judgmental with the character played by Andrew Stevens, who was her temp assistant. There may have been a good reason.

I never understood why anyone talked to her. I would have said, “You’re not the police, so go away.” But of course, then that wouldn’t really work for dramatic purposes. Something about her bugs me, though. Does anyone ever stand up to her and tell her to buzz off?

[swanpride]

Sure, occasionally, but they are usually proven wrong in the long run.

[Egg McMuffin]

It would have been fun, for a change of pace, for her to finger the wrong person at the end. And the police turn out to be right and didn’t need her “help.”

[ljenkins782]

On 4/15/2021 at 11:36 AM, Kyle said:

It would have been fun, for a change of pace, for her to finger the wrong person at the end. And the police turn out to be right and didn’t need her “help.”

That's a different show for a different time. MSW followed the old tropes of impeccable heroines, like Nancy Drew. In this genre, people like the leads to be above reproach, it's part of what makes the show what it is.

Which is not to say that it isn't sometimes ridiculous. A perfect example would be Season 10 (I think) Family Secrets, where a former student of JF's comes back to town to write a book about an old murder/scandal.

He keeps teasing this exclusive information that only he knows and how it's going to shake the town down to the ground, etc. and this gets him killed.

But it takes Jessica one simple phone call to learn the most scandalous detail of the whole thing and she doesn't have to jump through a single hoop to obtain this bit of info (which frankly, should be classified as part of someone's personal medical record.) So the entire premise of this guy's investigative journalism posing such imminent threats to these powerful old families that he has to be silenced through murder is blown to bits by Jessica finding the same thing out with next to no effort.

[VCRTracking]

The season 2 episode "Trial by Error" is really, really good.

[Katy M]

On 4/20/2021 at 2:52 PM, ljenkins782 said:

He keeps teasing this exclusive information that only he knows and how it's going to shake the town down to the ground, etc. and this gets him killed.

When you do something that idiotic, you almost deserve to be murdered.  Also when you're stupid enough to blackmail a murderer, which also happens often on this show.

[ljenkins782]

6 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

The ending of Season 4 Episode 2, When Thieves Fall Out, is a perfect example.  An individual who spent 20 years in prison for a crime they did not commit has every reason to be angry.  The closing scene I think showed how out of touch Jessica truly was.   She wasn't the one that had 20 years of life taken away, serving a jail sentence that someone else should have been serving, and yet she has the unmitigated gall to lecture Andrew Durbin. 

So he didn't handle things the way that Jessica thought he should.  Fair enough, but Jessica gets to say that from her cozy little Cabot Cove home.  Jessica wasn't the one serving that jail sentence.

Yeah, I have to agree with this. Yes, he came to Cabot Cove with the intention of stirring things up, but it's ultimately not his fault that the same person who committed the real murder decided to commit another murder. 

I thought Sheriff Tupper was similarly unempathetic and unhelpful in light of the circumstances. I guess he didn't believe Durbin's insistence that he was innocent of both the old and new crimes, but after it was revealed who did it, he kept up his attitude.

I get that they blamed him for the second murder, but the fact was, that guy had built his entire life off the money stolen in that first murder even if he wasn't the one who committed it. His involvement in that is what eventually did him in.

[MerBearStare]

I cannot stand Jessica in When Thieves Fall Out. But I do think that episode is one of the best of the series.

Another episode I don't like her in is the season 1 finale, Funeral at Fifty Mile; the one with Seth before he was Seth. She wasn't obnoxious like she was in When Thieves Fall Out, but when it was revealed who murdered the guy and why, I thought she should have let sleeping dogs lie. Of course, if she let sleeping dogs lie, there wouldn't be a show.

[Maverick]

On 8/3/2021 at 8:49 AM, icemiser69 said:

Season 4, Episode 7.   If It's Thursday, It Must Be Beverly.

When Jessica was getting a massage from the deputy, her reaction was totally out of character for her.  It seemed like it was the first time (and perhaps the only time) that I felt Jessica had a bit of the hornies.  Probably the only time that her body triggered that reaction ever since Frank died.  She wanted no part of that.  I am not sure why.  Yeah, the deputy was a bit of a player, even though he played dumb when it came to him not realizing his affect on a bunch of lonely women in Cabot Cove. 

Still, I kind of wished Jessica had "done it" with the deputy, just so the audience could see the range of emotions she would have gone through after the act.

 I feel kinda dirty after reading this.   It's kind of like talking about your grandmother having sex.

 Although I can't think of them off the top of my head, there were several episodes where Jessica unmasks a killer who had good reason for doing some in.  I agree in the season one finale she should have left that one alone.   She also had to out Grady's finance when she killed the guy who was attacking her.

 I don't remember When Thieves Fall Out.  Was that the one where the guy was just passing through town and he became a convenient patsy?  I do vaguely her being super judgy about him stirring up trouble for the guys who used him.  Which, that may not be how you'd deal with that situation, but yeah can it Jessica.

 And yet as judgy as she was, she still helped Preston Giles when he was accused of murder again.  That's an interesting episode because I think it's the only time they've ever directly referenced a prior episode.  I think bringing back Jessica's first murderer, someone she really card for, should have been a bigger episode.  It deserved at least a two part episode to start or end the season, along the lines of Death Stalks the Big Top.  

[Cherpumple]

On 8/3/2021 at 8:49 AM, icemiser69 said:

When Jessica was getting a massage from the deputy, her reaction was totally out of character for her.  It seemed like it was the first time (and perhaps the only time) that I felt Jessica had a bit of the hornies.  Probably the only time that her body triggered that reaction ever since Frank died.  She wanted no part of that.  I am not sure why.

Yeah, that was weird. She's turned down way more charming and handsome men than him, so I'm not sure why she had that reaction. He must be really good with his hands. Overall, it didn't bother me that she didn't have romantic relationships onscreen, but in my head I always imagined that she engaged in some "friends with benefits" situations when she wasn't solving murders. She had so many admirers, it would be a shame to not have a go with some of those dashing men. She could always call it research for her next book.

[shapeshifter]

I've been sporadically catching episodes. COZI airs 3 episodes between 6am and 9am, but I don't always get COZI, and I don't always have TV on then. 
Today I caught most of:

• 5.6, "Wearing of the Green," in which "Jessica goes to New York City to start researching for her next novel, and is drawn to a mystery centered on a priceless tiara; a reclusive former actress is also connected to a case in which a news reporter is accused of murder," and in which Lucille Ball's daughter does a spoof of Lacey with another actor parodying Cagney.
   
• 5.7, "The Last Flight of the Dixie Damsel," in which "Jessica's late husband becomes a suspect in a murder when his plane from the Korean War is found with a body aboard and she has to clear his name"

I was admiring Jessica's politeness in the face of hostility and adversity--but also without letting anyone silence her --and thinking how unusual that is today. 
We need an updated role model like her.

[MerBearHou]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

5.7, "The Last Flight of the Dixie Damsel," in which "Jessica's late husband becomes a suspect in a murder when his plane from the Korean War is found with a body aboard and she has to clear his name"

I loved seeing what a young Frank Fletcher looked like -- so handsome with such a nice face -- he looked like a match for Jessica.  I think this is the only time we actually see Frank, even though in an old newsreel.

Edited August 11, 2021 by MerBearHou

[Fool to cry]

Are there actors you wish had been guest stars? I just watched And Soon the Darkness a 1970 British thriller starring Pamela Franklin who I remembered as the student with the glasses in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. According to her IMDB page she guest starred in a ton of American TV shows during the 70s from Bonanza to Mannix. She was in four episodes of Fantasy Island playing different characters! Then she suddenly quit acting in 1981. Seeing her in the movie I mentioned made me think she would have made a great guest in MSW as either framed niece, murderer, or victim.

[LexieLily]

On 8/11/2021 at 7:30 AM, icemiser69 said:

Season 5- Episode 3 - Mr. Penroy's Vacaton

This episode was horrible.  All of the crimes that the Appletree sisters committed, and at the end of the episode they end up with a $500,000.00 reward and no jail time.

They forged a check.

Destroyed evidence in a murder.

Moved and buried bodies.

Were going to keep all of the money from the robbery.

I am sure their were even more crimes.

I just saw this one tonight. Whether or not the Appleby sisters murdered Mr. Penroy and the incoming minister - and I doubt very much the sisters' story that Penroy merely died of a heart attack - they committed so many other crimes, like you said. They were unnecessarily hostile to Metzger and obstructed justice. They tried to embezzle from Penroy even before they found the loot from the robbery. And they got away with it because Robbery Man #3 held a gun on them and wanted the money. I...didn't understand this one. 

[ljenkins782]

On 9/5/2021 at 1:55 AM, LexieLily said:

I just saw this one tonight. Whether or not the Appleby sisters murdered Mr. Penroy and the incoming minister - and I doubt very much the sisters' story that Penroy merely died of a heart attack - they committed so many other crimes, like you said. They were unnecessarily hostile to Metzger and obstructed justice. They tried to embezzle from Penroy even before they found the loot from the robbery. And they got away with it because Robbery Man #3 held a gun on them and wanted the money. I...didn't understand this one. 

I believe it was Dr. Hazlitt who confirmed the cause of death for Mr Penroy.

The Appletree sisters certainly weren't innocent of many things, but I don't believe they actually killed anyone.

[tvfanatic13]

I just watched A Christmas Secret again. I love that episode. The genuineness of Jessica and Seth’s friendship, the small town Christmas feel. Love it!

[shapeshifter]

17 minutes ago, tvfanatic13 said:

I just watched A Christmas Secret again. I love that episode. The genuineness of Jessica and Seth’s friendship, the small town Christmas feel. Love it!

I would have watched it today, but I don’t think I’ll be able to get Cozi TV until either the huge tree across the street loses its leaves for the winter, or until I move to my new place.

[shapeshifter]

On 9/17/2021 at 8:50 PM, shapeshifter said:

On 9/17/2021 at 8:29 PM, tvfanatic13 said:

I just watched A Christmas Secret again. I love that episode. The genuineness of Jessica and Seth’s friendship, the small town Christmas feel. Love it!

I would have watched it today, but I don’t think I’ll be able to get Cozi TV until either the huge tree across the street loses its leaves for the winter, or until I move to my new place

Good news for me! I just realized MSW is on free Peacock! 
I just watched “A Christmas Secret.”

Good guest casting choice to give Amy Brenneman the meatiest of the young ingenue roles. 

[freddi]

On 2/17/2021 at 12:20 PM, icemiser69 said:

, I prefer the ones based in Cabot Cove.

I wish the franchise would issue a DVD with just the Cabot Cove episodes.  I love them all, pre-Seth, and post-Tom-Bosley.  

[Maverick]

 Even the Claude Akins ones??

[treeofdreams]

I am currently re-watching the series, and really enjoying seeing the guest cast each episode.  Stars from the 80s, as well as "old-time" actors who haven't been seen in a long time.  For me, this is half of the fun of the series.

Murder, She Wrote is like comfort food for TV.  Still loving it!

[MerBearHou]

2 hours ago, treeofdreams said:

I am currently re-watching the series, and really enjoying seeing the guest cast each episode.  Stars from the 80s, as well as "old-time" actors who haven't been seen in a long time.  For me, this is half of the fun of the series.

Murder, She Wrote is like comfort food for TV.  Still loving it!

It’s a comfort TV food for me too.  Love Jessica and Seth so, so much.  And Mort and many of the Cabot Cove recurring characters.  I also liked the Dennis Stanton episodes.  I cannot count how many times I’ve seen some of the episodes!

[treeofdreams]

3 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I also liked the Dennis Stanton episodes.

Not only did I enjoy him in this series, he was fabulous in the PBS series of The Six Wives of Henry VIII - playing Henry from the young prince to the fat old king.

[ljenkins782]

14 hours ago, treeofdreams said:

I am currently re-watching the series, and really enjoying seeing the guest cast each episode.  Stars from the 80s, as well as "old-time" actors who haven't been seen in a long time.  For me, this is half of the fun of the series.

Murder, She Wrote is like comfort food for TV.  Still loving it!

Yes, it was good for catching actors on their way up and on their way to retirement.

Saturday was Angela Lansbury’s birthday, 96 years old! 
 

[AgathaC]

It always feels strange to me, calling a show about murder “comfort tv” but that’s exactly what this is. As a kid (as in, elementary school aged and possibly a little young for it), this was one of my favorite series and I used to daydream about being one of Jessica’s great-nieces so I could help her solve crimes. So, to this day, I have a massive soft spot for Angela Lansbury as my imaginary third grandma.

I wonder what it is, exactly, that makes a show with such a high death rate feel so cozy? I think part of it’s the seeming innocence of the setting. The cast of familiar faces. And Angela Lansbury’s calm, kind, assured demeanor.

Edited October 18, 2021 by AgathaC

[krankydoodle]

25 minutes ago, AgathaC said:

I wonder what it is, exactly, that makes a show with such a high death rate feel so cozy? I think part of it’s the seeming innocence of the setting.

For me, I think it's also that even when terrible things happen, we find out who did it and why and they're usually held responsible for their crimes. It feels tidy in a way that real life often isn't.

[shapeshifter]

49 minutes ago, AgathaC said:

I wonder what it is, exactly, that makes a show with such a high death rate feel so cozy? I think part of it’s the seeming innocence of the setting. The cast of familiar faces. And Angela Lansbury’s calm, kind, assured demeanor.

And there's never any gore. Barely a tablespoon of blood, right? 

[shapeshifter]

21 hours ago, treeofdreams said:

I am currently re-watching the series, and really enjoying seeing the guest cast each episode.  Stars from the 80s, as well as "old-time" actors who haven't been seen in a long time.  For me, this is half of the fun of the series.

I was just Googling to see if there was a recommended "best season" so I could binge on Peacock, but instead I landed on  Vulture's "15 Essential Episodes of Murder, She Wrote" and just watched their first recommendation, 1.10 "Death Takes a Curtain Call," which has the actor from the movie, "The Portrait of Dorian Gray," as a Russian defector, and, as a real delight, William Conrad (aka Cannon) as a KGB officer, complete with accent. Of course he is a fan of her books. The flirtation between his character and Jessica is both innocent and delicious, as well as poignant, as, at the end:

• [Jessica invites him to go fishing in Cabot Cove and] ...stay around a few days.
• [KGB Major Karzoff] Unfortunately, days have a way of growing into years.
  So, farewell, my dear Jessica. I look forward to your next novel.
• [Jessica] I'd like to send you a signed copy, if it won't compromise you in the Kremlin.
• [Karzoff, formally kissing the back of her hand] Sometimes, a man likes to be compromised, eh?

When I was perusing IMDb to see who the known actors were, I saw "Paul Rudd," and thought there would be a young boy, but no, it was a different Paul Rudd, who "retired from acting in 1986" to teach acting (imdb.com/name/nm0748621/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm). 

 

Edited October 18, 2021 by shapeshifter

[ljenkins782]

6 hours ago, AgathaC said:

It always feels strange to me, calling a show about murder “comfort tv” but that’s exactly what this is. As a kid (as in, elementary school aged and possibly a little young for it), this was one of my favorite series and I used to daydream about being one of Jessica’s great-nieces so I could help her solve crimes. So, to this day, I have a massive soft spot for Angela Lansbury as my imaginary third grandma.

I wonder what it is, exactly, that makes a show with such a high death rate feel so cozy? I think part of it’s the seeming innocence of the setting. The cast of familiar faces. And Angela Lansbury’s calm, kind, assured demeanor.

For me personally, it was that we had Sunday dinner with my grandparents, who had the cleanest, coziest house and it was my entire family curled up in my grandparents' TV room, watching a show together on Sunday evenings. Can't get cozier than that. 

It was certainly a PG-rated show that families could watch together, so that probably contributed to the reputation. And Angela Lansbury stuck with this show and didn't try to to diversify much during this time (workout videos [which we bought for my grandmom] and commercials aside), so she was Jessica Fletcher and the familiarity of the character helped with the cozy feel. 

[treeofdreams]

I think the character of Jessica Fletcher had a lot to do with the show feeling "cozy" and like comfort TV.  She was such  good person I come away from watching the show wanting to be like her.

[shapeshifter]

I was so surprised to recognize the voice of barely 30-year-old Megan Mullally, guest starring in 5.5 “Coal Miner's Slaughter.” I think Mullally’s character may have more lines than Jessica.

[shapeshifter]

I just watched 1.5 "Lovers and Other Killers" in which handsome-but-creepy grad student David Tolliver (played by Andrew Stevens) is accused of murder and has a crush on Jessica. At the end of the episode he shows anger towards Jessica when she rebuffs his attentions. In their parting dialog she says she might base a future fictional character on him--possibly even a killer, after which she turns and walks away while the camera zooms in on his face with an evil expression on it. But in all 12 seasons, he never appears again. 

[MerBearHou]

43 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I just watched 1.5 "Lovers and Other Killers" in which handsome-but-creepy grad student David Tolliver (played by Andrew Stevens) is accused of murder and has a crush on Jessica. At the end of the episode he shows anger towards Jessica when she rebuffs his attentions. In their parting dialog she says she might base a future fictional character on him--possibly even a killer, after which she turns and walks away while the camera zooms in on his face with an evil expression on it. But in all 12 seasons, he never appears again. 

That subtle change in his look and eyes when she walks away…from smiling and warm to cold and menacing…well done by Andrew Stevens.  

Edited December 30, 2021 by MerBearHou

[Maverick]

 The only time I remember the show following up on a plot was The Return of Preston Giles,  It was a good episode because he was just someone Jessica had put away, he was someone she was romantically interested in and she had to deal with that.

 Andrew Stevens' character was another that should have been followed up on.  With that sinister look, he wasn't done with her.  And as she became more famous you just know his obsession with her would grow.  He really should have popped up a few times over the course of the series as Moriarty to Jessica's Holmes.  I can imagine an episode where he moves to Cabot Cove and charms all the resident lovelorn women while Jessica tries to convince the town of how evil he is. 

[MerBearStare]

9 hours ago, Maverick said:

He really should have popped up a few times over the course of the series as Moriarty to Jessica's Holmes.

That would have been awesome! Jessica should have had at least one enemy, given that she's a bit of a busybody and has busted hundreds of people for murder. Occasionally there'd be a police officer who didn't want her help, but of course by the end of the episode he's changed his mind about her. Or that episode with Juliana Marguiles. I don't remember how that episode ended, but I'm guessing her character ended up forgiving Jessica. 

[Egg McMuffin]

I think it’s interesting that Mrs. Fletcher is NEVER wrong. And that none of the suspects she’s interrogating ever tells her to get lost, or pops her in the nose. But that would be a different show, I guess.

I do remember the episode with Andrew Stevens - I’ll have to watch again to see the evil look at the end. I like the idea of her having a recurring nemesis.

[shapeshifter]

I'm glad this is at least one show without a continuing villain.
I loved the premise of, for example, The Mentalist, but hated the inclusion of the nemesis Red John. Rizzoli & Isles and Bones also had ongoing villains. All of them were serial killers. Yuck. And boring.

I'm content that the last scene in "Lovers and Other Killers" lets us know he's still out there, but we don't have to see him again. It did take me by surprise though, because seemingly all the other shows bring back the Big Bads.

24 minutes ago, Kyle said:

And that none of the suspects she’s interrogating ever tells her to get lost, or pops her in the nose.

Not the same as a face-to-face "pop in the nose," but in "Lovers and Other Killers" Jessica does get thrown down a flight of stairs, winds up in the hospital, and is seen with a large bruise on her forehead for a few scenes.

What bothers me is that there are quite a few times (I think?) when she confronts the murderer without backup waiting outside.

[Maverick]

 I don't think she needed someone popping up all the time or hanging over the show like a cloud, but it could have been interesting for someone she could never catch, even if it was only 2 or 3 times.   I was surprised at how few episodes Michael Haggerty was in over the course of 12 years yet he was an impactful character.

There were many times suspects told Jessica to buzz off but of course she didn't let that stop her.   She got quit a bit of flack in the episode where her former was plagiarized and killed for trying to prove it.   She was even kicked out of the house for pursuing her investigation.

 There was one plot in Palm Springs that centered around Jessica being wrong and the woman she accuses commits suicide.  Of course it turns out she was right and the woman she accused wasn't innocent and her suicide was murder so in the end Jessica wins again.