Murder, She Wrote: 15 Best Episodes (According To IMDb)

Murder, She Wrote is one of the most iconic mystery TV shows of all time. Indeed, the landmark whodunit series lasted 12 seasons, running from 1984-1996. Angela Lansbury, who played the professional writer moonlighting as a super-sleuth, Jessica Fletcher, appeared in all 264 episodes of the series, winning four Golden Globes in the process.

But with such a high volume of episodes, it’s fair to wonder which ones fans loved the most. After sifting through the data, it appears Seasons 3, 5 and 7 garnered the most overall love. Here is Murder, She Wrote: 10 Best Episodes (According to IMDB).

Updated on November 8th, 2022 by Amanda Bruce: When mystery fans are asked about their favorite fictional detectives, names like Sherlock Holmes and Nancy Drew top the list, but so does Jessica Fletcher. Jessica always thinks of herself as a writer first and a detective second, but her observational skills and the charm of actress Angela Lansbury cemented her in the minds of TV fans as a skilled puzzle-solver. Following Lansbury’s death in 2022, if fans want to revisit one of her most beloved roles, all 12 seasons of Murder, She Wrote are available to stream on Peacock, including the episodes that IMDb users have rated the best of the bunch.

15/15 “Sticks And Stones” S2E10 – 8.1

Cabot Cove’s longtime sheriff (and Jessica’s good friend) decides to retire, but of course, he does it just in time for his replacement to have to investigate a murder investigation or two.

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The murder investigation coincides with the potential development of 400 condos. Murder, She Wrote has many storylines that deal with the conservation of Cabot Cove’s beaches and keeping the small town free of too many tourists. This is one of the few episodes to combine that storyline with its murder mystery well.

14/15 “The Witch’s Curse” S8E12 – 8.1

Jessica Fletcher always keeps a logical mind even when solving seemingly impossible mysteries. That’s why she doesn’t initially believe rumors about a newcomer to Cabot Cove being a witch in this episode (which also stages a play about a woman falsely accused of witchcraft). As strange things keep happening, however, even Mrs. Fletcher starts to have her doubts.

“The Witch’s Curse” is one of the rare truly creepy episodes of Murder, She Wrote to delve more into the supernatural side of mysteries (though, obviously, still includes a logical explanation for everything).

13/15 “Town Father” S6E11 – 8.1

While so many of the Murder, She Wrote episodes don’t actually take place in Mrs. Fletcher’s hometown of Cabot Cove, many of the best do, including this one. It really highlights how small town gossip can aid in one of Jessica’s investigations.

This time around, a woman comes to town claiming the mayor up for reelection walked out on her after promising to marry her. When she winds up dead, not only do townspeople want Jessica to run for mayor, but the gossip runs into overdrive in town as to just what happened.

12/15 “Keep The Home Fries Burning S2E14 – 8.1

The episode initially paints competition between restaurants as the potential cause of murder as several customers from one place have food poisoning before one person ends up dead. The weapon is poisoned strawberry preserves, but competition isn’t the reason at all.

As often happens in the series, it turns out the motive for murder is completely different from what Jessica initially believes. It eventually comes out that the poisoning is revenge for an affair – something else that happens in the series pretty regularly. The episode provides a great example of a typical plot made more entertaining by the friendship between Jessica and Amos as they track down the truth.

11/15 “The Return Of Preston Giles” S7.E7 – 8.1

Fans were thrilled to see the return of Jessica’s inaugural foe. In the episode, the first man Jessica put behind bars, Preston Giles, is mysteriously released from a double-murder charge after only six years. Giles, Jessica’s former publisher, goes back to work at his old publishing house, where a rival editor is suddenly murdered.

As Jessica snoops around, she determines whether Giles has committed his third murder or if he’s being framed by a criminal mastermind. A great callback episode.

10/15 “Mr. Penroy’s Vacation” S5E03 – 8.2

The titular Mr. Penroy boards with a pair of elderly sisters – and then ends up dead. While others in town might think that the Appletree sisters are responsible, Jessica Fletcher doesn’t believe it and sets out to prove it.

The episode has a lot of similarities with what is arguably the best episode of Murder, She Wrote’s first season, “Murder Takes The Bus.” While the Season 1 episode takes place almost entirely in a diner with a bus stopped during a storm, this episode takes place around Cabot Cove instead. Both, however, feature the reveal of someone being involved with a major robbery in the past, and just how that catches up with them long after they think that part of their life is behind them.

9/15 “The Sins Of Castle Cove” S5.E17 – 8.2

Problems in paradise arise when Jessica’s old mentee Sybil Reed writes a vengeful expose called “The Sins Of Castle Cove.” When the inhabitants of Cabot Cove learn the tale is inaccurately based on their tight-knit community, they lash out in protest. Soon, the murder plot of Miriam’s novel becomes a nightmarish reality.

Suddenly, Cabot Cove’s Miriam Harwood is battered to death with a frying pan. Jessica investigates two primary suspects: Noah Harwood, Miriam’s shady husband, and the local butcher, Tim Mulligan. Wait, do butchers use frying pans?

8/15 “If It’s Thursday, It Must Be Beverly” S4.E7 – 8.3

This title is a play on the 1969 film If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium. Jessica is tasked with aiding night deputy Jonathan Martin, whose pill-popping wife was found dead from a bullet discharged from Jonathan’s spare firearm. Was it suicide or something more nefarious?

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Despite his philandering ways that would seem to give him a motive, Jonathan has an airtight alibi for the night of his wife’s death. As Jessica investigates, she uses stolen mail and suspicious lottery tickets to uncover the truth.

7/15 “The Days Dwindle Down” S3.E21 – 8.3

The Season 3 finale of Murder, She Wrote sits among the series’ most beloved episodes. Not only does Jessica find herself in the literal line of fire, but she also ties the matching bullet to an unsolved shooting that jailed a man for 30 years.

The man in question is Sam Wilson, an accountant booked for murdering his boss, Richard Jarvis. Jarvis paid Sam $10,000 to pretend to kill him and make it look like a suicide. When Sam’s wife approaches Jessica to solve the crime, she ties the murder weapon that killed Jarvis to that of her attacker.

6/15 “Mirror, Mirror On The Wall: Part 2” S5.E22 – 8.4

The final two episodes of Season 5 still rank among the most adored chapters of Murder, She Wrote. Part 2 resumes the storyline of rival mystery writer Eudora McVeigh, who arrives at Jessica’s door with a hidden agenda.

When local doctor (and one of the most often recurring Murder characters) Seth Hazlitt is poisoned with an apple that Eudora gives to Jessica, Jessica still maintains her friend’s innocence. However, once Eudora’s husband Hank is discovered to be having an affair with her agent Liza Caspar, Jessica reassesses the situation.

5/15 “Mirror, Mirror On The Wall: Part 1” S5.E21 – 8.4

As alluded to before, viewers couldn’t seem to get enough of the 2-part Season 5 finale, “Mirror, Mirror On The Wall.” Hey, with two action-packed hours of murder, intrigue and a tangled web of deceit, who can blame them

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The episode starts with the arrival of Eudora McVeigh, whose friendly demeanor is a cunning front for her attempt to overtake Jessica’s role in Cabot Cove. While Jessica ultimately solves the complicated case by the end of Part 2, viewers preferred Part 1. Part 1 just happens to have more IMDb ratings than Part 2, though they both average the same rating after all.

4/15 “The Corpse Flew First Class” S3.E12 – 8.4

This top-rated episode of Murder, She Wrote finds Jessica’s first-class flight to London interrupted by a deadly distraction. Onboard with an actress named Sonny Greer, Jessica is asked to investigate when Sonny’s lover and chauffeur Leon becomes poisoned to death.

The motive? Apparently to steal a $2 million diamond necklace Leon held in his baggage. Teaming with a Scotland Yard detective, Jessica unravels the mystery but has a hard time accepting the suspect’s murder confession.

3/15 “Who Killed J.B. Fletcher?” S7.E14 – 8.4

“Who Killed J.B. Fletcher?” is the single highest-rated episode of Murder, She Wrote to date. Why? It just may pit Jessica against her most formidable foe of all: her own impostor.

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Indeed, the episode begins with Marge Allen being arrested for faking her identity as Jessica Fletcher. But when Marge ends up dead in an auto accident, Jessica senses something fishy. She goes on to solve a trio of enigmatic murders, including that of Simon and Lis McCauley, a married couple who own a dog kennel. Three murders solved in the nearly #1 ranked episode!

2/15 “Trial By Error” S2.E13 – 8.5

From 12 Angry Men to 1 savvy woman. Inspired by the classic Sidney Lumet courtroom drama, “Trial By Error” places Jessica as the forewoman of a jury. The case she presides over involves the death of Cliff Anderson, whose adulterous wife was caught having an affair with a man named Mark Reynolds.

Jessica deliberates whether Anderson’s murder was premeditated or done in self-defense by Reynolds. Over time, she convinces her fellow jurors of the convoluted truth, one by one.

1/15 “Murder Takes The Bus” S1.E19 – 8.6

Since Jessica is a clever blend of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, it only makes sense to riff on the classic Agatha Christie tale, Murder on the Orient Express. But a baleful bus ride instead of a lethal locomotive?

Absolutely. When Jessica decides to attend a sheriff’s convention in Portland, travels on a bus during a stormy night take a terrifying turn. After a bank-robber is found stabbed to death with a screwdriver, Jessica whittles the suspects down to a few passengers before ultimately identifying the culprit.

NEXT: 10 Best TV Shows Like Murder, She Wrote