Murder, She Wrote: A Time for Murder by “Jessica Fletcher” and Jon Land is the fiftieth book in the popular series, and the first one I’ve read. Although it was entertaining, the climax was so over-the-top and implausible, along with other implausible elements, that I found myself questioning the story. It’s another series that is meant for long-time fans, rather than for me.
It’s been twenty-five years since Jessica Fletcher solved her first murder mystery. When a reporter asks for an interview for a high school newspaper, Jessica agrees. She’s always eager to help budding journalists and writers. This young woman seems to be focused on Jessica’s first murder, though, a case Fletcher doesn’t talk about. She was a young substitute English teacher at the high school in a near-by town when the principal was murdered. Because she heard him arguing on the phone, Jessica was able to help the police detective, Amos Tupper, narrow the timeframe, and find a liar and killer. But, in Jessica’s mind, that case was before her husband died, and before she started writing. She doesn’t want to discuss it.
Circumstances force her to reveal the past to Sheriff Mort Metzger. A retirement party for a teacher from that high school brings a killer out into the open. Jessica and the sheriff are connecting several violent deaths to that first murder twenty-five years earlier. It’s time for Jessica to dig into her own past for memories and clues.
As I said, there are too many implausible elements for me. Why would the sheriff, a veteran of twenty-five years at the NYPD, depend on Jessica and allow her to participate and take the lead in interviews? Okay, I can accept it’s a cozy mystery, and the amateur sleuth will always take the lead. However, the climatic events are just too outlandish for me to believe.
Saying all that, Jessica Fletcher is a model for amateur sleuths, determined to find justice while asking the question, “Who speaks for the dead?” Fans of the series will appreciate the return of a retired Amos Tupper. It’s a nostalgic return to Jessica Fletcher’s past for the fiftieth book in the successful series.
Murder, She Wrote: A Time for Murder by Jessica Fletcher & Jon Land. Berkley Prime Crime, 2019. ISBN 9781984804303 (hardcover), 304p.
*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received the book to review for a journal.
I tried to read the last one that came out and found it to be way over the top and unbelievable. In fact I don't think I finished it. I am sure there are fans who wait breathlessly for the next one but I am not one of them. I did enjoy the TV show.
Yes, Netteanne. The climax of this one was just too over the top for me. I can only suspend disbelief up to a point in a mystery. In fantasy, it's a whole other thing.
My parents used to watch the show, but I've never read any of the books.
I had read one earlier one, Glen, but they don't do much for me.