Murder, She Wrote: Season 2

1985 · 22 episodes · ★ 7.3

What Season 2 of Murder, She Wrote

Jessica Fletcher, a retired English teacher, takes on the second season of Murder, She Wrote after being widowed and turning to mystery writing. She still lives in Cabot Cove, the Maine town where most of the episodes take place, but her cases take her to New York, London, New Orleans, or a tropical island. Each episode presents her with a different tangle. An old friend asks for help, a niece works on a soap opera, and a distant cousin is accused during Mardi Gras. Jessica deals with jockeys, inmates, televangelists, and neighbors, and uses her experience as a writer to follow every lead.

22episodes

Sep 29, 1985premiered

May 18, 1986latest episode

16.5 hrtotal runtime

Season 2 Episodes

2x01 Widow, Weep for Me
Sep 29, 1985 · 45 min
Jessica's vacation at a Caribbean resort is not solely for pleasure, but to investigate a friend's murder.
Directing: Michael A. Hoey · Writing: Peter S. Fischer · Starring: Anne Lockhart, John Phillip Law, Raymond St. Jacques, Mel Ferrer
2x02 Joshua Peabody Died Here ... Possibly
Oct 6, 1985 · 45 min · ★ 7.6
Plans to build a new hotel in Cabot Cove are put on hold when diggers discover an old skeleton that had been buried deeply that many of the townspeople believe to be the remains of Joshua Peabody. Not everyone is thus inclined though, and many people believe it's just a random dead body. But when Jessica and Amos head back to the dig site, they find there's another body there! Jessica not only has to find out who killed Wheatley, she has to help an old friend when his past comes back to haunt him.
Directing: Peter Crane · Writing: Tom Sawyer · Starring: Tom Bosley, David Sheiner, Michael Sarrazin, William Windom
2x03 Murder in the Afternoon
Oct 13, 1985 · 45 min · ★ 7.3
While filming a soap opera in which Mrs. Fletcher's niece plays a part, a 'pretend' victim is really dead.
Directed by: Arthur Allan Seidelman · Writing: Paul Savage · Starring: Robert Walden, Mackenzie Phillips, Tricia O'Neil, Lloyd Nolan
2x04 School for Scandal
Oct 20, 1985 · 45 min · ★ 7.1
When Jessica is offered an honorary degree from Crenshaw University, she has no idea she's about to become embroiled in a murder. After the boyfriend of (in)famous writer Daphne Clover is found murdered, Jessica agrees to assist the chief of police, who has never had a murder case before, find out who the killer is. She soon has more on her plate than she bargained for when first Daphne's mother confesses, then Daphne herself confesses. Jessica realises the two women are simply trying to protect each other, and begins to look at the faculty at the university.
Directing: Arthur Allan Seidelman · Writing: Robert E. Swanson · Starring: James Marshall, Morgan Stevens, John Vernon, Roddy McDowall
2x05 Sing a Song of Murder
Oct 27, 1985 · 45 min · ★ 6.8
When cousin Emma's life is threatened, she plays dead and Jessica is summoned to London as the heir to the estate.
Directing: John Llewellyn Moxey · Writing: Peter S. Fischer · Starring: Gregory Paul Martin, Barrie Ingham, Glynis Johns, Sarah Douglas
2x06 Reflections of the Mind
Nov 3, 1985 · 45 min · ★ 8.1
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.
Directed by: Seymour Robbie · Writing: Robert E. Swanson · Starring: Esther Rolle, Ben Murphy, Stacey Nelkin, Wings Hauser
2x07 A Lady in the Lake
Nov 10, 1985 · 45 min · ★ 6.0
While spending time at a lake, Jessica sees what appears to be a struggle and a woman falling from a boat into the lake.
Directing: Walter Grauman · Writing: Robert Van Scoyk · Starring: Tom Bosley, Laurence Luckinbill, Susan Blanchard, William Windom
2x08 Dead Heat
Nov 24, 1985 · 45 min · ★ 6.8
Jessica goes to the races to watch her niece ride the winning horse. Then the horse's owner is murdered after a dispute.
Directed by: Peter Crane · Writing: Steven Hensley, J. Miyoko Hensley · Starring: Priscilla Barnes, Jack Carter, Ramon Bieri, Don Matheson
2x09 Jessica Behind Bars
Dec 1, 1985 · 45 min · ★ 7.8
Doing public service, Jessica becomes a hostage in a prison riot caused by anger in the handling of the doctor's murder.
Directing: John Llewellyn Moxey · Writing: Carleton Eastlake · Starring: Eve Plumb, Yvonne De Carlo, Darlene Conley, Susan Peretz
2x10 Sticks and Stones
Dec 15, 1985 · 45 min · ★ 8.2
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.
Directing: Seymour Robbie · Writing: Linda Shank, Mark Giles · Starring: Tom Bosley, Marsha Hunt, Evelyn Keyes, Joseph Campanella
2x11 Murder Digs Deep
Dec 29, 1985 · 45 min · ★ 7.6
An archaeological dig at the site of Coronado's City of Gold does not please everyone and a new corpse is dug up.
Directing: Philip Leacock · Writing: Mary Ann Kasica, Michael Scheff · Starring: Stephen Shortridge, Connie Stevens, William Windom, George Grizzard
2x12 Murder by Appointment Only
Jan 5, 1986 · 45 min · ★ 5.6
One of Jessica's former students is murdered and she takes a personal interest in the investigation.
Directed by: Arthur Allan Seidelman · Writing: Jerry Ross · Starring: Herb Edelman, Robert Desiderio, Robert Culp, Michael Horton
2x13 Trial by Error
Jan 12, 1986 · 45 min · ★ 8.4
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.
Directed by: Seymour Robbie · Writing: Paul Savage · Starring: Lenore Kasdorf, Macdonald Carey, Arlene Golonka, James Hampton
2x14 Keep the Home Fries Burning
Jan 19, 1986 · 45 min · ★ 7.8
Jessica, Seth and Amos try out a new tourist-oriented restaurant, and murder interrupts their meal.
Directing: Peter Crane · Writing: Philip Garson · Starring: Tom Bosley, John McCook, Sharon Acker, Donna Pescow
2x15 Powder Keg
Feb 9, 1986 · 45 min · ★ 7.3
After their car breaks down after dinner with the governor, Jessica and her friend Ames Caufield find themselves in a small southern town just in time for local bad boy Ed Bonner to be found dead, and young Matt Burns, the son of a former student of Ames', ends up accused of the murder. At the behest of Linda Bonner, the victim's sister who happens to care deeply about the accused, Jessica takes a look into the murder, but hatred runs deep in this town and it's pure luck (and Andy Crane) that leads Jessica and Ames to the right answer.
Directing: John Llewellyn Moxey · Writing: Peter S. Fischer · Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Brian Lane Green, Dorian Harewood, Pat Corley
2x16 Murder in the Electric Cathedral
Feb 16, 1986 · 45 min
Jessica must find the murderer of her close friend whose will is in contention between family and a popular evangelist.
Directing: John Llewellyn Moxey · Writing: Dick Nelson · Starring: Steve Forrest, Dick Van Patten, Richard Herd, Barbi Benton
2x17 One Good Bid Deserves a Murder
Feb 23, 1986 · 45 min
A red hot diary of a sex symbol is to be auctioned and some of the bidders are ready to shed blood.
Directing: Seymour Robbie · Writing: Steven Hensley, J. Miyoko Hensley · Starring: Karen Black, David Ankrum, Vic Tayback, Edward Mulhare
2x18 If A Body Meet A Body
Mar 9, 1986 · 45 min · ★ 7.5
Investigation of a claim that the deceased was murdered leads the police to discover that the wrong body is in the coffin.
Directed by: Walter Grauman · Starring: Tom Bosley, Carrie Snodgress, Rex Smith, Audrey Landers
2x19 Christopher Bundy -- Died On Sunday
Mar 30, 1986 · 45 min
Jessica and Grady head to the home of publisher Christopher Bundy, whose publishing company owns the rights to Jessica's first short story. Jessica is quite upset, as Bundy's magazine is known for it's racy pictures of young women. While there, Jessica is pleased to run into an old acquaintance, Chester Harrison, and when Harrison is accused of murdering Christopher Bundy, Jessica vows to prove his innocence but runs into trouble when the family isn't interested in having their own skeletons dragged out of the closet.
Directed by: Peter Crane · Writing: Gerald K. Siegel · Starring: Eric Server, Michelle Nicastro, Robert Hooks, Bert Convy
2x20 Menace, Anyone?
Apr 6, 1986 · 45 min · ★ 5.7
Who was the intended victim when a tennis star is blown up in his girl friend's car?
Directed by: Arthur Allan Seidelman · Writing: Robert B. Sherman · Starring: Kerry Sherman, Betsy Russell, Linda Hamilton, Barry Primus
2x21 The Perfect Foil
Apr 13, 1986 · 45 min · ★ 7.4
Jessica is tossed into a Mardi Gras party in New Orleans where the host ends up dead, and her cousin Cal is accused of the crime. While attempting to clear Cal's name and reputation, Jessica delves into the world of cheating poker players, cheating girlfriends and vengeful police officers while trying to convince a local lieutenant that Cal is not capable of murder.
Directing: Walter Grauman · Writing: Robert E. Swanson · Starring: Peter Bonerz, Lisa Langlois, Cesare Danova, Penny Singleton
2x22 If the Frame Fits Season Finale
May 18, 1986 · 45 min
After Julia Marcus Granger is found murdered during what seems to have been an apparent art theft, suspicion turns to her husband Donald, who, as a result, also ends up being suspected in a recent rash of art thefts where there were no fatalities. Julia's sister Sabrina is convinced that Donald didn't do it and begs Jessica for help. While looking into Julia's murder, Jessica realises that she has two completely different criminals on her hands, and someone tampered with the scene of Julia's murder to make it look like something else.
Directed by: Paul Lynch · Starring: Christopher Allport, Cliff Gorman, Aubrey Morris, Norman Lloyd