Book Review: A Date with Murder by Jessica Fletcher, Donald Bain, & Jon Land (Murder, She Wrote #47)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Characters we love; twists in the mystery

Cons: Ending not quite satisfying

The Bottom Line:

Cabot Cove murder

Jessica still in top form

Delight for her fans

Cabot Cove is Still Proving to be Deadly

Despite the fact that I’ve been a fan of Murder, She Wrote for years, I must admit I’ve never read one of the tie in novels to the TV show.  Oh, I’ve bought a few over the years, but I hadn’t actually picked them up to read – until now.  I jumped in with A Date with Murder, and I’m glad I read it.

It’s Labor Day, and that means that the entire town of Cabot Cove is at the Wirth home for their annual picnic.  Jessica Fletcher is enjoying hanging out with her friends and neighbors, especially Barbara “Babs” Wirth, who has become a good friend over the years.  The day ends in tragedy, however, when Babs’ husband Hal suffers a fatal heart attack.

Something about it doesn’t feel right to Jessica, however.  That feeling only grows when someone tries to warn her away from the Wirths and then a second body turns up..  Was Hal’s death more than it seems?

I have often defended the TV series, pointing out that Jessica actually traveled more than she was home for the murders that she solved on the show.  Having said that, the episodes set in Cabot Cove were always my favorites since I enjoyed the supporting cast.  As a result, I’m glad that the first book I wound up reading was set in this small Maine town.  I felt right at home and enjoyed catching up with Seth and Mort as well as Jessica.  I could easily picture the three of them as the book captures their personalities from the show perfectly.  A couple other supporting players from those episodes put in appearances as well.

The new characters felt like the guest stars from the episode.  I don’t know if they previous appeared in the books or not, but everything I needed to know about them was here for this book.  Because Jessica cared about them, I found them sympathetic and likable, and I got invested in the book as a result.

We are treated to a great mystery.  There were plenty of twists and surprises along the way, and I was completely hooked.  However, the book didn’t quite wrap up as well as I would have liked.  There was a chapter that was a lot of exposition – explanation we needed to fully understand how things had happened – but it felt slow.  Meanwhile, in the rush to wrap things up after that, a rather key plot point is overlooked.

Having not read any of the previous entries in the series, I was a bit surprised by the couple of swear words in the book.  I don’t know if this was a first for the novels or not, but they definitely didn’t fit within the world of the show for me.

On the other hand, I didn’t feel I had missed anything by skipping the other books in the series and jumping in here.  This is still the same Jessica we know and love from the series, and it was wonderful to connect up with this old friend.

Overall, I enjoyed A Date with Murder, and I’m kicking myself for not starting to read these tie ins sooner.  I will soon be making another date with Jessica myself and suggest her many fans plan to do the same.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book.

Giveaway!

Thanks to the publisher, I have one copy of this book to give away.  Because it is a physical book, the contest is limited to residence of the US.

Just leave me a comment with your e-mail address so I can get in touch with you if you win.  I will pick the winner Tuesday May 8th, so please leave your comment before midnight Pacific Time on 5/8.  You will have until midnight on 5/13 to get back to me, or I will choose a new winner on 5/14.