Episode 66: She Wants to Be a Cool Rider (REDRUM!)

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, there's NO ACCOUNTING FOR MURDER... and we hope you're doing okay after tax day last week. 

Alas, our protagonist Grady Fletcher (Michael Horton) is not.  Hapless and lovelorn, Grady is visited by his famous aunt Jessica (Angela Lansbury) in the midst of him being inundated with paperwork, suspicion of embezzlement, persistent horniness for the fabulous secretary (Kate Vernon), potential ghosts in the walls, and now a dead body!

Naturally, when one of his bosses (James Noble, Michael Tolan) turns up skewered, we must debate whether this is manmade madness or a piece of the supernatural, as things have been disappearing and sightings of a phantom have been reported in the halls.  Jessica is less convinced of the otherworldly explanation, so she takes it upon herself to explore the dark catacombs on her own, despite the blood-red warnings on the wall.  

Aided by an amiable Irish--very Irish--policeman (Barney Martin), this fairly simple urban murder mystery is further amplified by ambititous camera choices, a fantastic feminine ensemble including screen legend Dorothy L'Amour and suspicious widow Patty McCormack, and spooky moments offset by banter, including Jessica contending with IRS agent Geoffrey Lewis and corrupt appliance salesman Ron Masak (future Sheriff Metzger!).