The fifth season of Murder, She Wrote began airing on October 23, 1988 and completed on May 21, 1989 with twenty-two episodes.
Summary[]
Jessica Finds herself behind bars when she is mistakenly accused of murdering a Bulgarian operative, Jessica becomes more frustrated when Michael Haggarty, who was present at the murder, does everything he can to keep Jessica in jail while also enlisting her help to solve the case. Notable cases include; Jessica investigating a series of murders when she is snowed in at a ski lodge, Jessica going head to head with the KGB when she is accused of espionage and a man is killed attempting to escape from a state dinner and A Former top selling Mystery Novelist is consumed with jealousy of the prominent rise of JB Fletcher so hatches a plan to kill her.
Starring[]
Regular Cast[]
- Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher
- Ron Masak as Sheriff Mort Metzger
- William Windom as Dr. Seth Hazlitt
Recurring Cast[]
- Michael Horton as Grady Fletcher
- Debbie Zipp as Donna Mayberry
- Betsy Palmer as Valerie
- Julie Adams as Eve Simpson
- Richard Paul as Mayor Sam Booth
- Jerry Orbach as Harry McGraw
- Len Cariou as Michael Hagarty
- Keith Michell as Dennis Stanton
- Barney Martin as Lt. Timothy Hanratty
Episodes[]
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Prod. code | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 89 | 1 | "J.B. as in Jailbird" | 63701 | October 23, 1988 |
| A chance encounter with her old friend Michael Hagarty leaves Jessica standing over a dead Bulgarian diplomat and accused of murder. | ||||
| 90 | 2 | "A Little Night Work" | 63706 | October 30, 1988 |
| After her publisher announces his impending retirement, Jessica heads to New York where she is simultaneously wooed by potential new publishers and a smooth-talking jewel thief. | ||||
| 91 | 3 | "Mr. Penroy's Vacation" | 63704 | November 6, 1988 |
| Jessica is perplexed by the death of an elderly man as suspicion points to the two simple-minded spinster sisters he was living with. | ||||
| 92 | 4 | "Snow White, Blood Red" | 63709 | November 13, 1988 |
| A massive storm results in Jessica snowed in at a ski lodge with an Olympic men's ski team and a murderer on the loose. | ||||
| 93 | 5 | "Coal Miner's Slaughter" | 63705 | November 20, 1988 |
| When a former student is arrested for murder, Jessica heads to West Virginia to bail her out. The unfriendly town hinders her investigation. | ||||
| 94 | 6 | "Wearing of the Green" | 63711 | November 27, 1988 |
| In New York City researching her next book, Jessica is drawn into a mystery involving a priceless tiara, a reclusive former actress and a news reporter accused of murder. | ||||
| 95 | 7 | "The Last Flight of the Dixie Damsel" | 63702 | December 18, 1988 |
| Jessica is summoned to California where a recently-recovered Air Force plane could pin a decades-old murder on her dead husband Frank. | ||||
| 96 | 8 | "Prediction: Murder" | 63703 | January 1, 1989 |
| Lee Goddard successfully coaxes Jessica to join him at his ranch in Arizona but intrigue and murder follow them there when a mysterious psychic joins them. | ||||
| 97 | 9 | "Something Borrowed, Someone Blue" | 63714 | January 8, 1989 |
| Grady's wedding day arrives, and so does an unpleasant fate for the shrewish housekeeper of his prospective father-in-law's estate. | ||||
| 98 | 10 | "Weave a Tangled Web" | 63712 | January 15, 1989 |
| The murder of a womanizing gambler leads to double lives being exposed in seemingly quaint and old-fashioned Cabot Cove. | ||||
| 99 | 11 | "The Search for Peter Kerry" | 63719 | February 5, 1989 |
| Jessica aids yet another dear old friend in his search for his missing grandson. | ||||
| 100 | 12 | "Smooth Operators" | 63707 | February 12, 1989 |
| While in New York, the dead body of a homeless person missing a shoe is discovered and leads Jessica to believe the supposed accidental death was not an accident. | ||||
| 101 | 13 | "Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble" | 63716 | February 19, 1989 |
| Jessica is suspicious when the appearance of the ghost of a long-dead witch burned at the stake coincides with the release of a book on the very subject. | ||||
| 102 | 14 | "From Russia... with Blood" | 63717 | February 26, 1989 |
| Jessica is detained in Moscow when a spy attempts to smuggle a film out of the Soviet Union in her handbag. | ||||
| 103 | 15 | "Alma Murder" | 63715 | March 12, 1989 |
| Jessica is summoned to her old alma mater when one of her college professors confesses to a murder Jessica believes he didn't really commit. | ||||
| 104 | 16 | "Truck Stop" | 63722 | April 2, 1989 |
| En route to LA, Jessica is detoured at a seedy truck stop where a series of murders makes it clear she isn't there by accident. | ||||
| 105 | 17 | "The Sins of Castle Cove" | 63721 | April 9, 1989 |
| A vindictive, tell-all work of fiction mirroring Cabot Cove sends the townspeople into an uproar and when a murder occurs, following the plot of the book, it's up to Jessica to separate fact from fiction. | ||||
| 106 | 18 | "Trevor Hudson's Legacy" | 63708 | April 16, 1989 |
| Jessica heads to Montana to aid a young friend editing the last manuscript of the late writer, Trevor Hudson, but when murder results, she must weed through the lies of Hudson's scheming family to uncover the truth. | ||||
| 107 | 19 | "Double Exposure" | 63728 | April 30, 1989 |
| Jessica encounters a man who she believes is her neighbor from years back, but when the man denies it, Jessica recruits Harry McGraw to dig to the bottom of the mystery. | ||||
| 108 | 20 | "Three Strikes, You're Out" | 63729 | May 7, 1989 |
| Jessica visits her nephew Johnny, recently recruited onto a Major League Baseball team, and then must solve the murder of a scheming news reporter. | ||||
| 109 | 21 | "Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall: Part 1" | 63724 | May 14, 1989 |
| A rival mystery writer arrives at Jessica's door with not-so-friendly intentions. | ||||
| 110 | 22 | "Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall: Part 2" | 63725 | May 21, 1989 |
| Cabot Cove is abuzz when Eudora McVeigh is determined to fill Jessica's role in solving a local murder. | ||||