The Definitive Guide to Season 2

Season Two

23. Widow, Weep for Me
When old friend Antoinette Farnsworth sends her a letter desperately crying for help, Jessica assumes the identity of a reclusive wealthy widow and arrives at a luxurious tropical island hotel to sort things out.

Michael Haggerty – Len Cariou
Police Chief Claude Rensselaer – Raymond St. Jacques
Myrna Montclair LeRoy – Cyd Charisse
Eric Brahm – Mel Ferrer
Barnes – Geoff Heise
Sheldon Greenberg – Howard Hesseman
Sven Torvald – John Phillip Law
Veronica Harrold – Anne Lockhart
Antoinette Farnsworth – Reggie Savard
Alva Crane – Mary Wickes


24. Joshua Peabody Died Here ... Possibly
Tempers run high in the otherwise peaceful community of Cabot Cove over the planned construction of a resort hotel.

Harry Pierce – John Astin
FBI Agent Fred Bemis – Chuck Conners
David Marsh – Michael Sarrazin
Matty Marsh – Deborah White
Del Scott – Meg Foster
Henderson Wheatley – John Ericson
Austin Bailey – Ed Morgan
Arthur Griswold – David S. Sheiner
Leo Kowalski – Ken Swofford
Eli Harris – Roger Price
Mavis Gillam – Sandra Hawthorne
Sarah Harris – Barbara Ann Grimes
Olive Newton – Jody Carter
Ellsworth Buffam – Robin Bach


25. Murder in the Afternoon
Jessica penetrates the unreal world of daytime drama while visiting New York to see her niece, an actress on a popular soap opera.

Nita Cochran – Alice Krige
Julian Tenley – Lloyd Nolan
Sgt. Kaplan – George Murdock
Lieutenant Antonelli – Robert Walden
Larry Holleran – William Atherton
Joyce Holleran – Jessica Walter
Herbert Upton – Paul Burke
Todd Worthy – Nicholas Hammond
Gordon La Monica – Terry Kiser
Martin Grattop – Robert Lipton
Bibi Hartman – Tricia O’Neil
Carol Needham – MacKenzie Phillips
Agnes Cochran – Lurene Tuttle


26. School for Scandal
While scheduled to receive an honorary degree, Jessica investigates two confessions to the murder of a college student.

President Henry Hayward – John Vernon
Chief Griffen – Jack Kehoe
Dr. Jocelyn Laird – Polly Bergen
Ron Mercer – James Sutorius
Trish Mercer – Darlene Carr
Will Small – Gary Bisig
Beryl Hayward – June Lockhart
Alger Kenyon – Roddy McDowall
Daphne Clover – Kate McGeehan
Nick Fulton – Morgan Stevens


27. Sing a Song of Murder
Jessica flies to London for the funeral of her cousin Emma – a music hall owner whose “death” is actually a ruse to flush out whoever is trying to harm her.

Emma MacGill – Angela Lansbury
Inspector Roger Crimmins – Barrie Ingham
Ernest Fielding – Kristoffer Tabori
Oliver Trumbull – Patrick Macnee
Kitty Trumbull – Olivia Hussey
Archie Weems – Kenneth Danziger
Violet Weems – Sarah Douglas
Bridget O’Hara – Glynis Johns
Danny Briggs – Greg Martyn
Director – Terence Scammell
Landlady – Gillian Eaton


28. Reflections of the Mind
Jessica’s mentally unbalanced friend is accused of murdering her husband.

Franchesca Lodge – Ann Blyth
Dr. Victor March – Steven Keats
Scott Lodge – Ben Murphy
Sheriff Bodine – Martin Milner
Carl (Carlson Todd) – Wings Hauser
Cheryl – Stacey Nelkin
Margaret – Esther Rolle
Brooke Devon – Janet DeMay


29. A Lady in the Lake
Jessica’s brief stay at a Maine lake resort to finish a novel is tainted by the murder of one of the other guests.

Harry Pierce – John Astin
Deputy Noah Paisley – Johnny Crawford
Burton Hollis – William Christopher
Caroline Nester Crane – Susan Blanchard
Howard Crane – Laurence Luckinbill
Lyle Jordan – Charles Frank
Betty Jordan – Lauren Tewes
Grace Overholtz – Lee Meriwether
Joanna Benson – Lee Purcell
Jack Turney – Charles Taylor


30. Dead Heat
Jessica has a difficult time proving that her niece, a talented young jockey, was framed for the murder of a race horse’s owner.

Cliff Carpenter – Jack Carter
Christine Carpenter – Carole Cook
Jack Bowen – Lonny Chapman
Vince Shackman – Norman Fell
Pat Phillips – Ramon Bieri
Vicky Gallegos – Priscilla Barnes
Tracy MacGill – Linda Govenor
Mike Gann – Clu Gulager
Cookie Milford – Derrel Mawry
Carlos Gallegos – Bert Rosario
Ernie – Tom Dresen
Mr. P – Robert Ellenstein
Chief Steward – Don Matheson
Guzmann – Alex Rebard


31. Jessica Behind Bars
Jessica is caught up in a riot at a women’s prison where she has accepted an offer to give a lecture in creative writing.

Elizabeth Gates – Vera Miles
Irene Matthews - Janet MacLachlan
Kathryn – Adrienne Barbeau
Amanda Debs – Barbara Baxley
Dixie – Margaret Avery
Mims – Darlene Conley
Miss Springer – Yvonne DeCarlo
Mary Stamm – Linda Kelsey
Louise – Susan Oliver
Bertha – Susan Peretz
Tug – Eve Plumb
Jamie – Donna Ponterotto
Brady – Mary Woronov


32. Sticks and Stones
While poison pen letters have the town in an uproar, Jessica tries to uncover the truth about a Cabot Cove land sale that is connected to a murder.

Harry Pierce – John Astin
Deputy Willard – Philip Brown
Michael Digby – Parker Stevenson
Adam Forbisher – Christopher Stone
Beverly Garrett – Kristy Syverson
Bart Nelson – Howard Witt
Nils Andersen – Denny Miller
Elvira Tree – Marsha Hunt
Lila Norris – Betsy Palmer
Frederick Hoffman – Paul Benedict
Mabel Bemish – Cecil Cabot
George Knapp – Joseph Campanella
Larry Burns – John David Carson
Edna – Evelyn Keyes
Mel – Garnett Smith


33. Murder Digs Deep
Jessica investigates a murder while researching her next book at an archeological dig in New Mexico with Seth.

Karen Parks – Cecile Callan
Aubrey Benton – George Grizzard
Dr. Garfield – David Groh
Steve Gamble – Stephen Shortridge
Raymond Two Crows – Randolph Mantooth
Gideon Armstrong – Robert Vaughn
Cynthia Armstrong – Connie Stevens


34. Murder by Appointment Only
Jessica takes a personal interest in the murder of a cosmetics executive’s young fiancée, who once was one of Jessica’s most promising student writers.

Grady Fletcher – Michael Horton
Lt. Varick – Herb Edelman
Fiona Keeler – Christine Belford
Norman Amberson – Robert Culp
Lila Lee Amberson – Jayne Meadows
Todd Amberson – Leigh McCloskey
Glenda Vandevere – Millie Perkins
Roger Adiano – Robert Desiderio
Liz Gordon – Ann Dusenberry


35. Trial By Error
Jessica becomes jury foreman in a seemingly open-and-shut murder trial.

Tom Casselli – David Ackroyd
Victor Assmussen – R.J. Adams
Mark Lee Reynolds – Tony Bill
Drew Narramore – Norman Burton
Margo Webster – Virginia Capers
Oscar Ramsey – Macdonald Carey
Arthur Jasper – Robert Casper
Johnny Detweiler – John Chandler
Becky Anderson – Doran Clark
Max Flynn – Jon Cypher
Otto Fry – Gene Evans
Josh Corbin – Tom Ewell
Lee Callahan – Gary Frank
Sally Conover – Arlene Golonka
Fenton Harris – Alan Hale
Jerry Burns – James Hampton
Ally Collins – Lenore Kasdorf
Dr. Maurice Webster – Warren Kemmerling
Stephanie Reynolds – Diane Lander
Jackie MacKay – Vicki Lawrence
Judge Philo Walker – Walter Mathews
Frank Lord – Allan Miller
Thornton Bentley – Brock Peters
Gerald Richard – Richard Sanders
Cliff Anderson – Michael Swan
Willie Patchecki – Gregory Walcott


36. Keep the Home Fries Burning
Jessica investigates whether intentional food poisoning was involved when patrons at a new Cabot Cove restaurant fall ill – and one of them dies.

Ebenezer McEnery – Orson Bean
Amos Tupper – Tom Bosley
Wilhelmina Fraser – Sharon Acker
Harrison Fraser III – John McCook
Floyd Nelson – Alan Young
Betty Fiddler – Marcia Rodd
Alan Dupree – Henry Polic II
Margo Perry – Anne Lloyd Francis
Ted Stully – Gary Crosby
Hawthorne – Norman Alden
Bo Dixon – William Lucking
Cornelia – Donna Pescow


37. Powder Keg
Jessica helps a friend and fellow writer’s son who is falsely accused of murder and in danger of being lynched by an angry mob.

Frank Kelso – Pat Corley
Dr. Frazier – John Alvin
Cassie Latham Burns – Mariclare Costello
Sheriff Claudell Cox – Dorian Harewood
Deputy Morgan – W.K. Straton
Linda Bonner – Cindy Fisher
Matthew Burns – Brian L. Green
Billy Willetts – Jackie Earle Haley
Peter Fargo – John Dennis Johnston
Ed Bonner – Jeffrey Osterhage
Phil Bonner – Stuart Whitman
Andy Crane – Larry Wilcox
Prof. Ames Caulfield – Craig Stevens


38. Murder in the Electric Cathedral
Jessica must find the murderer of her old high school English teacher whose will is in contention between the family and a popular televangelist.

Fred Whittaker – Dick Van Patten
Rev. Willie-John Fargo – Steve Forrest
Sister Ruth Fargo – Judy Geeson
Dr. Mark Brady – Jack Bannon
Harvey McKittrick – Richard Herd
Sam McKittrick – Art Hindle
Alice McKittrick – Jeannie Wilson
Carrie McKittrick – Mildred Natwick
Sue Beth – Barbi Benton
Earl Fargo – Frank Bonner


39. One Good Bid Deserves a Murder
Jessica becomes involved in a popular actor’s murder, which centers on a beautiful woman’s tragic past.

Harry McGraw – Jerry Orbach
Lt. Casey – Ray Girardin
Albert Cromwell – Robert Gray
Sal Domino – Vic Tayback
Robert Rhine – Cotter Smith
Deborah Chase – Rebecca Street
Richard Bennett – Edward Mulhare
William Radford – Hurd Hatfield
Sheila Saxon – Nancy Grahn
Dr. Sydney Dunn – Karen Black


40. If a Body Meet a Body
Cabot Cove funeral attendees discover that the body in the coffin isn’t that of their deceased neighbor.

Silas Pike – Robert Donner
Agnes Shipley – Anne Jaffreys
Phyllis Walters – Audrey Landers
Christy Olson – Lori Lethin
Stew Bennett – Rex Smith
Henry Vernon – Joe Maross
Connie Vernon – Carrie Snodgress
Ben Shipley – Robert Sterling
Rev. Matthews – Richard Stahl
Ned Olson – Monte Makham


41. Christopher Bundy - Died on Sunday
Jessica travels to Connecticut to prevent the publication of one of her stories in a pornographic magazine.

Grady Fletcher – Michael Horton
Det. Lt. Greco – Robert Costanza
Christopher Bundy – Bert Convy
Antonio D’Argento – Bobby Di Cicco
Rachel D’Argento – Carol Lawrence
Everett Charles Jensen – Robert Hooks
Millicent Moor – Katherine Moffat
Bert Yardley – Alex Rocco
Chester Harrison – Robert Stack
Pete Morgan – Eric Server
Vanessa – Michele Nicastro
Announcer – Josh Gordon


42. Menace, Anyone?
Jessica tackles a baffling murder while at a charity tennis tournament.

Lieutenant Tavis – David Spielberg
Det. Berger – Barry Primas
Mitch Mercer – Dennis Cole
Brian East – Bryan Cranston
Barbara McDermott – Karlene Crockett
Carol Atkinson McDermott – Linda Hamilton
Elliot Robinson – Van Johnson
Cissy Banes – Kelli Maroney
Donny Harrigan – Doug McKeon
Doris Robinson – Betsy Russell
Rosie – Kerry Sherman
Sexton – Harold Ayer
Judge – Lawrence Haddon


43. The Perfect Foil
Jessica must help a distant cousin charged with a bizarre murder in the middle of the colorful New Orleans Mardi Gras.

Aunt Mildred – Penny Singleton
Calhoun Fletcher – Peter Bonerz
Rosaline Gardner – Barbara Babcock
Johnny Blaze – George DiCenzo
Gilbert Gaston – Robert Foster
Mitch Payne – David Hedison
Kitty Manette – Lisa Langlois
Brad Garner – Granville Van Dusen
Lt. Edmund Cavette – Cesare Danova


44. If the Frame Fits
Jessica unravels the mysterious theft of a painting and the murder of the daughter of an old friend.

Lloyd Marcus – Norman Lloyd
Ellen Davis – Deborah Adair
Donald Granger – Christopher Allport
Binky Holborn – John De Lancie
Frank Tilley – Gordon Jump
Mildred Tilley – Audrey Meadows
Sabrina Marcus – Andra Millian
Julia Granger – Anne Schedeen
Forbes – Aubrey Morris
Chief Cooper – Cliff Gorman

Sources: TV Guide and The Unofficial Guide to Murder She Wrote by James Robert Parish.