The Murder She Wrote books are comfort cozies. The Body in the Trees by “Jessica Fletcher” and Terrie Farley Moran is one of those return to Cabot Cove stories, set in October, when the leaves are changing in small-town Maine, and friends rally to support each other and the community.

Jessica Fletcher finished her latest novel, so she can now go to dinner with friends Dr. Seth Hazlett and Sheriff Mort Metzger and his wife Maureen. It’s there at Hill House that they encounter a group of four young women from Florida who are on a leaf peeping trip to Maine. One of the women is so drunk that Jessica and Maureen feel a need to check on her. They meet all four women in the process, and learn they’re enjoying their sea and land tourist trip.

The citizens in town, along with the mayor, are worried that Cabot Cove isn’t appearing too friendly to tourists at the moment. A “Bicycle Bandit” is riding around, snatching purses from women. Unfortunately, it isn’t long before that isn’t Sheriff Mort’s biggest problem. One of the Florida leaf peepers is found stuck in a tree where she went over the ridge. As much as the mayor wants it to be an accident, Jessica and Mort know the young woman was murdered.

It’s a typical Cabot Cove mystery. Prominent people in the community support each other, ready to read to children for Halloween at the local hospital, supported by the library. They gather together to protect each other from the “Bicycle Bandit” And, Jessica helps Mort investigate both crimes. Readers who enjoy the return to Cabot Cove and the descriptions of the glorious trees in Maine will find this latest cozy mystery appealing.

Terrie Farley Moran’s website is https://terriefarleymoran.com/

Murder She Wrote: The Body in the Trees by Jessica Fletcher & Terrie Farley Moran. Berkley Prime Crime, 2025. 272p.

FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher granted my request to read a galley through NetGalley, with no promise of a positive review.