The Definitive Guide to Season 8

Season Eight

153. Bite the Big Apple
The eighth season begins with Jessica in New York City, where the previous tenant of her new apartment is murdered shortly before she arrives.

Lt. Jack Boyle – Eugene Roche
Sgt. Nick Acosta – Jay Acavone
Ahmed Shankar – Andrew Brye
Harry Freelander – John Considine
Mike Freelander – Alan Feinstein
Estelle Freelander – Rosemary Forsyth
Scott Freelander – Scott McGinnis
Rose Tessler – Liz Sheridan
Sharon Kingsley – Rebecca Bush
Eve Simpson – Julie Adams


154. Night Fears
In her new role as teacher, Jessica is challenged to find a campus mugger turned killer by the ex-cop turned professor who used to teach her class.

Wallace Evans – Wings Hauser
Kevin Bryce – Bobby Hosea
Luke Phillips – Tim Choate
Jennifer Bryce – Roxie Roker
Capt. Jim Lupinski – Al Pugliese
David Morelli – John Lavachielli
Dr. Raymond Auerbach – Alan Oppenheimer
Rosalyn Aramendi – Julie St. Claire
Reference Librarian – Mary Pat Gleason


155. Unauthorized Obituary
The plans of a hard-nosed writer to publish an unauthorized biography of a former movie star are short-circuited by a TV set pushed into her hot tub.

Arthur Brent – Bradford Dillman
Ellen Lombard – Barbara Bain
Steve Lockner – Sam Behren
Beth Dawson – Cathy Podewell
Kristy Parrish – Andrea Thompson
Jane Dawson – Jessica Walter
Lt. Henry Girard – David Spielberg
Ahmed Shankar – Andrew Brye
Griswald – Frank Telfer


156. Thicker Than Water
Mort Metzger’s ex-con younger brother returns from prison hoping to heal old wounds, but only opens new ones when the fisherman who hires him disappears at sea.

Wayne Metzger – Bruce Abbott
Zach Franklin – Pat Hingle
Elaine Franklin – Marjorie Monaghan
Capt. Ned Keller – Ted Markland
Terry Montagne – Luke Asker
Dept. Andy Broom – Louis Herthum


157. Lines of Excellence
Offed: one of the business partners conducting Jessica’s novice computer class.

Michael Rossari – David Ciminello
Derek St. James – Alan Fudge
Linda Truitt – Tricia O’Neil
Henry Waverly – David Groh
Lt. Cynthia Devereaux – Randee Heller
Lt. Timothy Chance – Charles Cyphers
Dr. Raymond Auerbach – Alan Oppenheimer
Dominic Rossari – Carmine Caridi
Rosalee Rossari – Karen Kondazian
Alan Miller – Charles Frank
Jason O’Connell – Conrad Janis
Teresa – Corinne Kason
Nero – Ivan Kane


158. Judge Not
The death of an R&B legend and the subsequent murder of his bass player reopen the 20-year-old unsolved murder of the jazz great’s mistress.

Det. John Coop Jr. – Randy Brooks
Emma Coop – Beah Richards
Andy Henley – William Atherton
Judge Robert Henley – Logan Ramsey
Melinda Coop – Olivia Cole
Jack Lee Johnson – Julius Harris
Gene – James Randolph


159. Terminal Connection
Evidence points to the battered wife of a powerful businessman as his killer, but there’s no lack of others happy to see him dead.

Lt. Paul Stratton – Steve Forrest
Ginny Blanchard – Lois Nettleton
Dane Kenderson – Jameson Parker
Greg Franklin – Douglas Barr
Allison Franklin – Lisa Pelikan
Scott Blanchard – Hank Stratton
Margo Saunders, Esq. – Kerrie Keane
Clark Blanchard – Chad Everett


160. A Killing in Vegas
In Vegas, someone cashes in the chips of the casino manager at Jessica’s hotel.

Wes McSorley – David Soul
Larry Thorson – Howard Keel
Susan Hartley – Amy O’Neill
Eddie Wheaton – Jeff Kaake
Frank Stinson – Stephen Macht
Alice Baxter – Joan McMurtrey
Katherine McSorley – Shelley Smith
Lt. Walt Murphy – Richard Portnow
Jerry Pappas/Alex Rogas – Andreas Katsulas
Wolf – Jared Snyder


161. The Committee
The governing committee of an exclusive men’s club commissions Jessica to identify a rogue member’s killer – who likely serves on the committee himself.

Winston Devermore – John McMartin
Philip Arkham – Norman Lloyd
Edward Dunsany – Ed Winter
Harcourt Fenton – George Wyner
Gerald Innsmouth – Robin Thomas
Theo Cayle – Nicholas Pryor
Lawrence Cayle – James Sutorius


162. The List of Uri Lermentov
Michael Hagarty returns to sweep Jessica into a web of international intrigue involving the murder of a KGB agent.

Michael Hagerty – Len Cariou
Uri Lermentov – Theodore Bikel
Rep. Arthur Prouty – Mitchell Ryan
Charles Lawton Standish – Richard Beymer
Harry Neville – Brian McNamara
Bonnie Hartman – Janet Julian
Constantin Kesmek – Spiros Focas
Lt. Blaisdell – Louis Giambalvo


163. Danse Diabolique
A ballerina is the third victim of a reputedly cursed ballet in which a dancer died in both of the tomes it was performed before.

Claudia Cameron – Marisa Berenson
Geoffrey Presser – Daniel Pilon
Edward Hale – Adrian Paul
Damien Bolo – Robert Torti
Barry Carroll – Stephen Nichols
Lily Roland – Nancy Valen
Lt. Martin Kinicki – Ernie Lively
Sgt. O’Connor – Mark Costello


164. The Witch's Curse
A newcomer to Cabot Cove is ideally cast as the lead in a play about a 17th century trial in which a young woman, unjustly convicted of witchcraft, vows to return in fire and in death.

Mariah Osborne – Mary Crosby
Charles Winthrop – Robert Vaughn
Lydia Winthrop – Marian Seldes
Judge Willard Clinton – Ed Nelson
Penelope Daniels – Marian Mercer
Nate Parsons – David Ackroyd
Anabell Parsons – Carol Androsky


165. Incident in Lot 7
At Universal Studios, a producer planning to film Jessica’s latest book is murdered on the set of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.”

Leonora Holt – Paula Prentiss
Darryl Heyward – Ron Leibman
Ben Miller – Stuart Whitman
Oliver Thistle – Henry Gibson
Willy Montego – Jackie Gayle
Monica Chase – Michelle Johnson
John Cavershaw – Daniel Bardol
Caroline Pryce – Lar Park Lincoln


166. The Monte Carlo Murders
In Monaco, Jessica assists a charming inspector in the case of a murdered American financier and the theft of his wife’s famous diamond.

Inspector Charles Morel – Patrick Bauchau
Earl Harper – David Birney
Richie Floret – Neill Barry
Peter Templeton – Ian Ogilvy
Barbara Callaway – Maryam d’Abo
Scott Larkin – Bo Hopkins
Cynthia Harper – Lise Hilboldt


167. Tinker, Tailor, Liar, Thief
In London, lots of people, including the police, try to persuade Jessica that she did not find a man murdered in her hotel.

John Thurston – Lloyd Bochner
Julian Fontaine – Trevor Eve
Inspector Stillwell – Nick Tate
Archie Potter – Kenneth Danziger
Mickey Dawks – Derrick O’Connor
MI5 agent – Guy Doleman
Edward Cadwall – Richard A. Davies
Penelope Cadwall – Sharon Maughan
Nigel Atkins – Clement Von Franckenstein
Daisy Collins – Kim Braden


168. Ever After
A murder scenario right out of the soaps stars a suds queen, the hot-tempered co-star and lover she kicks off the series and out of her life – and the victim, the older millionaire she marries.

Joanna Rollins – Kate Mulgrew
Devon Lane – Tony Roberts
Walter Bowman – John Randolph
Miriam Bowman – Marj Dusay
Marci Bowman – Marcia Cross
Teddy Cardoza – Mitchell Whitfield
Sheriff Elton Beals – John DiSanti
Deputy Ginger Billis – Nada Despotovich
Bo Wilder – Michael McGrady
Dorothy Fremont – Eda Reiss Merin
Devon “Sonny” Lane – Tony Roberts
Sheri Finestock – Elaine Welton Hill
Irwin Fisk – Maurice Hill


169. To the Last Will I Grapple with Thee
A former Irish police officer now teaching at Manhattan University is charged with the murder of his nemesis from the old country.

Sean Cullane – George Hearn
Lt. Jacoby – Cliff Gorman
Ian O’Connor – Cameron Dye
Michael O’Connor – Richard Lynch
Patrick McNair – John Karlen
Kathleen Cullane – Sharon Mahoney
Finn Dawley – Mark Rolston


170. Programmed for Murder
There’s something about a software expert’s sudden death from bleeding ulcers that just doesn’t compute.

Dr. Jonas Beckwith – Hunt Block
Doug Simmons – Alex Hyde-White
Gretchen Price – Judith W. Hoag
John Halsey – Boyd Gaines
Allan Wooster – Will Lyman
Nurse Laura Garrison – Stacy Ray
Rudy Ortega – Tony Fields
Harriet Simmons Wooster – Judith Chapman
Eve Simpson – Julie Adams


171. Day of the Dead
A suspected stolen-art collector is murdered in Mexico and a death mask is left on his face.

Cyrus Ramsey – James Coburn
Ramon – Gregory Sierra
Enrico Montejano – Tomas Milian
Consuela Montejano – Miriam Colon
Scott Baker – Grant Cramer
Rosa Garcia – Kamala Lopez
Juan Garcia – Ismael (East) Carlo
Ramirez – Alex Colon
Maria – Shelley Morrison
Oso – Mike Moroff


172. Angel of Death
A playwright fears that his dead wife has returned from the grave to punish him for her suicide, but he’s not the one who’s murdered.

Martin Tremaine – Darren McGavin
Courtney Stoddard – Doran Clark
Lisa Ryder – Maria Mayenzet
Alex Ericson – Ken Kercheval
Barney Gunderson – Austin Pendleton
Carol Kendall – Sondra Currie
Joe Connors – Stephen Bogardus
Sheriff Pat McAllister – Noble Willingham


173. Badge of Honor
Seth’s old Army buddy arrives under a dark cloud that grows darker after his new employer is murdered.

Ben Oliver – Gerald S. O’Loughlin
Lawrence Jarvis – Robert Lansing
Dave Sanders – Tony Becker
Neal Dishman – Daniel Davis
Robin Dishman – Gail O’Grady
Dorothy Porter – Pamela Susan Shoop
Mason Porter – Cliff De Young
Deputy Andy Broome – Louis Herthum
Proprietor of Wiggins Boat Shop – Douglas Rowe


174. Murder on Madison Avenue
Someone plays for keeps with a toy company executive who was clawing her way to power.

Edgar Greenstreet – John Hillerman
Boris Steloff – Joel Fabiani
Brian Singer – David Lansbury
Devery McFarlane – Harley Venton
Amanda North – Caroline Williams
Sylvia Moffett – Hallie Foote
Lt. Hornbeck – Leo Rossi
Meredith Delany – Barbara Babcock
Miles Packard – John Petlock
Frank Christy – Ben Slack

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