8.6/10934 votesLoading...#1 - Footnote to Murder
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 3/10/1985
An unpublished manuscript is stolen and its author murdered during an awards convention.
Director: Peter Crane
Writer: Robert Swanson
8.5/10514 votesLoading...#2 - Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall (1)
Season 5 Episode 21 - Aired 5/14/1989
Eudora McVeigh, a rival mystery writer, arrives at Jessica's door with seemingly friendly intentions, but the discovery of a corpse and a web of deceit follows her to Cabot Cove leading Jessica to suspect the woman of ulterior and sinister motives.
Director: Vincent McEveety
Writer: Peter S. Fischer
8.4/10698 votesLoading...#3 - Trial by Error
Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 1/12/1986
It's a bad day for the jurors when Jessica is the foreperson of the jury hearing the case of a man claiming self-defense in the death of an enraged husband.
Director: Seymour Robbie
Writer: Paul Savage
8.4/10630 votesLoading...#4 - The Corpse Flew First Class
Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 1/18/1987
Theft and murder of the courier occur on board a jet bound for London.
Director: Walter Grauman
Writer: Donald Ross
8.4/10470 votesLoading...#5 - Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall (2)
Season 5 Episode 22 - Aired 5/21/1989
After Seth is hospitalized and diagnosed as poisoned, with an apple Eudora gave Jessica, she still believes in her colleague's innocence. Sheriff Metzger discovers the murdered P.I. was following her husband, Hank Shipton, and found him adulterous with rich Victor Casper's wife, Lisa. Hank's son, Bobby, is beaten up by local Arnie on account of pool bet debts. Jessica ties up all the loose ends.
Director: Vincent McEveety
Writer: Peter S. Fischer
8.4/10515 votesLoading...#6 - Who Killed J.B. Fletcher?
Season 7 Episode 14 - Aired 2/10/1991
A snoopy fan in Texas impersonates Jessica when she starts investigating a potential dog show scandal and Jessica is reported dead.
Director: Walter Grauman
Writer: N/A
8.3/10669 votesLoading...#7 - The Days Dwindle Down
Season 3 Episode 21 - Aired 4/19/1987
Thirty years ago, Sam Wilson was sent to prison for murdering his boss, Malcolm Jarvis. After finally being released, Sam goes home to his wife and now-grown son who is expecting his first child with his wife, Terry. At Georgia Jarvis' request, Jessica looks into the crime, and through flashbacks, Sam remembers when Jarvis had offered him $10,000 to make his suicide look like murder. While Jessica believes that Sam is innocent, she doesn't believe it was suicide, and asks Sam's son Rod, a police officer, to lend a hand.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.3/10634 votesLoading...#8 - If It's Thursday, It Must Be Beverly
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/1987
When Deputy Martin becomes a widower by murder, the investigation turns up some surprising activity.
Director: Peter Crane
Writer: N/A
8.2/10632 votesLoading...#9 - Keep the Home Fries Burning
Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 1/19/1986
Jessica, Seth and Amos try out a new tourist-oriented restaurant, and murder interrupts their meal.
Director: Peter Crane
Writer: Philip Garson
8.2/10569 votesLoading...#10 - Mr. Penroy's Vacation
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 11/6/1988
The sisters used a new type of fertilizer to make their chrysanthemums best of show.
Director: Anthony Pullen Shaw
Writer: Robert Swanson
8.2/10522 votesLoading...#11 - The Sins of Castle Cove
Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 4/9/1989
A red hot novel, written by a former Fletcher student, seems to expose the small town's secrets and inspires murder. Julie Adams, Gloria DeHaven, Kathryn Grayson and Ruth Roman appear again as the local gossips.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Writer: N/A
8.1/10612 votesLoading...#12 - Sticks and Stones
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 12/15/1985
When a woman is electrocuted in her bathroom, Amos chuckles that even Jessica can't make a murder out of it. Michael Dugby: Parker Stevenson. Harry Pierce: John Astin. Frederich Hoffman: Paul Benedict. Adam Frobisher: Christopher Stone. Edna: Evelyn Keyes.
Director: Seymour Robbie
Writer: Linda Shank, Mark Giles
8.1/10386 votesLoading...#13 - Bite the Big Apple
Season 8 Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/1991
Jessica heads off to New York to begin teaching and has difficulty finding an apartment. She finally gets one that she likes, only to learn that a murder recently took place in the apartment complex and that someone desperately wants something that is inside her apartment. She's relieved when Seth comes to New York to check up on her, and enlists his help in cracking the case.
Director: N/A
Writer: David Moessinger
8.1/10395 votesLoading...#14 - The Witch's Curse
Season 8 Episode 12 - Aired 1/12/1992
The thespians of Cabot Cove put on a play about a 17th century woman who cursed the town before she was executed as a witch.
Director: Jerry Jameson
Writer: N/A
8.0/10613 votesLoading...#15 - Reflections of the Mind
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 11/3/1985
Jessica decides to pay a visit to her long-time friend Francesca, only to learn that Francesca, who is now married to a much younger man, is convinced that she is being haunted by the ghost of her first husband, Ross. When her new husband, Scott, turns up dead, the investigation reveals that he had been poisoned, and suspicion turns to Francesca. Jessica, however, is determined to prove that her friend did not commit the crime, and begins looking into the mysterious re-appearances of her dead husband.
Director: Seymour Robbie
Writer: Robert Swanson
8.0/10594 votesLoading...#16 - Crossed Up
Season 3 Episode 13 - Aired 2/1/1987
The phone wires get crossed during a storm and Jessica can't convince anyone that what she heard was real.
Director: David Hemmings
Writer: Craig W. Van Sickle
8.0/10437 votesLoading...#17 - Town Father
Season 6 Episode 11 - Aired 12/17/1989
The town gets a shock when bachelor Mayor Sam is confronted on the speaker's platform by a young woman claiming he is the father of her five children. Julie Adams, Gloria De Haven, Kathryn Grayson and Ruth Roman return as gossips Eve, Phyllis, Idal and Loretta.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Writer: N/A
8.0/10408 votesLoading...#18 - The Return of Preston Giles
Season 7 Episode 7 - Aired 11/18/1990
This time it is the company controller that seems to have been the victim of the previously convicted publisher.
Director: Walter Grauman
Writer: Tom Sawyer
8.0/10390 votesLoading...#19 - Moving Violation
Season 7 Episode 13 - Aired 2/3/1991
An influential father cuts no ice with Sheriff Metzger.
Director: Anthony Pullen Shaw
Writer: Robert Swanson
8.0/10364 votesLoading...#20 - Thicker Than Water
Season 8 Episode 4 - Aired 10/6/1991
When his younger brother Wayne, the family's black sheep, becomes chief suspect in the murder of his employer, Sherrif Metzger relies on Jessica to help him keep his perspective about the case.
Director: Anthony Pullen Shaw
Writer: Larry DiTillio
8.0/10358 votesLoading...#21 - The Committee
Season 8 Episode 9 - Aired 12/1/1991
The governing committee of an exclusive men's club commissions Jessica to identify a rogue member's killer--who likely serves on the committee.
Director: Jerry Jameson
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
8.0/10442 votesLoading...#22 - Incident in Lot 7
Season 8 Episode 13 - Aired 1/19/1992
The Bates House of the movie, Psycho, is to be the setting of Jessica's book in the film made at Universal Studios.
Director: Anthony Pullen Shaw
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
7.9/10611 votesLoading...#23 - A Lady in the Lake
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 11/10/1985
While spending time at a lake, Jessica sees what appears to be a struggle and a woman falling from a boat into the lake.
Director: Walter Grauman
Writer: Robert Van Scoyk
7.9/10527 votesLoading...#24 - Who Threw the Barbitals in Mrs. Fletcher's Chowder?
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 1/3/1988
Somebody laced Mrs. Fletcher's chowder and Amos' brutish brother-in-law was in for the long sleep.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Writer: N/A
7.9/10498 votesLoading...#25 - The Last Flight of the Dixie Damsel
Season 5 Episode 7 - Aired 12/18/1988
The airplane her late husband bailed out of in 1952 has finally been found -- with a body inside.
Director: Vincent McEveety
Writer: Peter S. Fischer
The Best Episodes of Murder, She Wrote
Every episode of Murder, She Wrote ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Murder, She Wrote!
An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases.
Genres:MysteryCrimeDrama
Network:CBS
Best Episodes Summary
"Footnote to Murder" is the best rated episode of "Murder, She Wrote". It scored 8.6/10 based on 934 votes. Directed by Peter Crane and written by Robert Swanson, it aired on 3/10/1985. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall (1)".