Leafing Through Pages – A Date With Murder (Murder, She Wrote # 47)

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Stars: 2 / 5

Recommendation: This not the normal kind of book in this series, had a lot of droning, complicated plot path – all makes me think Land is trying to carve a new path for Jessica Fletcher, but it is totally being put off.

A Date With Murder is the 47th novel in the long-running Murder She Wrote series co-written by Donald Bain, Jon Land & fictional writer Jessica Fletcher. It was first published on May of 2018.

This is my take on the series of books written by a plethora of authors and Jessica Fletcher (fictional author) based on the 80s and 90s popular American crime drama television series Murder, She Wrote. These books are ghost written by Donald Bain and fictional author Jessica Fletcher for the first 43 books until 2015. Then Donald Bain wrote these with Renee Paley Bain and Jon Land for four more books. After Donald Bain passed away in 2017, Jon Land alone took the baton and continued with Jessica Fletcher for 5 more books until 2020. Starting 2021 the series was picked by Terrie Farley Moran again pairing with the fictional writer Jessica Fletcher. As of October 2024, 59 books have been written in this series. They are mostly written in first person narration.

In this book, Jessica takes on the case of her good friend Barbara “Babs” Wirth when he husband Hal suffers a suspiciously looking heart attack. Instead Jessica gets herself a stalker and she has to set the perfect plot to trap the killer before they do her in.

This is the first book co-authored by Jon Land and Donald Bain’s wife is not mentioned either. Also note that this was published in 2018 considering Donald Bain passed away in 2017. Guess that’s the reason his wife was not mentioned as well in this book. Nice to see Donald Bain still mentioned though.  He is even given a mention in the beginning thanking him.

Donald Bain had passed away with congestive heart failure a year prior to this book was published. Naturally when Jon Land took over the writing, he used that as the central plot for the book. We deal with a suspicious heart attack , although Donald Bain’s was anything but.

The author goes to show that Jessica is not using her Manhattan apartment as much as she was before. Also we delve into her reasoning behind not having a Driver’s License but a Pilot License, although it doesn’t explain much. This is more from Land’s POV than Bain’s I presume.

Adding to that, we hear about what Jessica went through when she lost her husband, Frank; and how she supports and helps the victim’s wife. The whole book although not a tear jerker, definitely made me shed a few tears. Jessica relates to Babs a lot due the shared tragedy although the circumstances are different. We also learn that Frank had suffered from PTSD that was not diagnosed at that time. We do know he worked for Air Force from one of the TV episode in the show.

Having already read the 50th book, I know where Jessica live by then. Interesting to read about the Hill House of Cabot Cove, her future home. Mort and Jessica discuss in a scene where they comment about several murders that have been committed at Hill House, and how people comically call it Hell House. However, this is the first book I am reading about Hill House other than the 50th that hadnt been printed yet as of this book.

The author shows Cabot Cove expanding fast and becoming a modern time, almost losing it’s New England Small Town charm. It feels sad to see that happen, even if it’s a fictional town. I remember visiting a town in MA some 10 or 15 years ago and was surprised to see not even a McDonanlds. I hope it still remains the same.

The plot also covers piracy in movie and music industry that has become so common now.  Since it’s a plot surrounding dating, we get to see the perils of online dating; hear about catfishing and other negative sides to it as well. Land also delves into the world of hacking and cyber crimes. We get a crash course on hacking tools such as Stingray, Gossamer and Kingfish, all that aid the criminals in identity theft.

We meet Harry McGraw, Jessica’s private eye friend in this. And his addressing Alyssa as “Little Lady” which I remember he uses for Jessica in the 51st book The Murder of Twelve. I was bothered when I read that book.

Normally Mort is so supportive of Jessica’s books and loves them in the TV show. But in this book, Land showed him close to mocking Jessica and her books. Again I kind of guessed at least one of the culprit sometime after completing 60% of the book. But the route author took to get us there was very long. The author also quotes a few of her episodes from the TV show.

It’s race against time mixed with emotional story of redemption with a scope of long overdue justice makes this a strong plot to read. Even though a cozy mystery I read this in one go, and did get my hairs up in some of the scenes.

Spoiler Alerts:

1. Grammatical / Character / Plot / Geographical / Historical / Mythological Errors:
   1. On Pg. 150, Land names Eve Simpsons real estate company as Simpson Realty. But Donald Bain had called it Cabot Cover Realty in the very beginning of the series.
   2. In the 51st book, The Murder of Twelve, released only two years later from this book, Job Land has the manager of Hill House Hotel as Seamus McGilary. But in this very first book by him, he has Thomas Wilkerson as the manager. Perhaps he forgot he had a different manager by the time he wrote the 51st or the manager changed behind the script. 🙂
   3. On Pg. 205, Line 14 from bottom, there is an extra “me” in the statement.
   4. Jon Land forgot that Jessica has fondness for George Sutherland, Scotland Yard Inspector, that we had seen him in several of her books penned by Donald Bain. But when Jon Land writes about dating and her thoughts why she hadnt dated anyone since her husband Frank died, Jon Land fails to mention him. I wonder if we see him in other books by Land or other authors who came after.

1. Plot Reveals:
   1. Characters we see here: Barbara “Babs” Wirth; her daughter Alyssa; Deacon Westhausen, tech giant; Dr. Jacob Waverly, Cardiologist; Lawrence Pyke, Hal’s attorney; Chad, Alyssa’s boyfriend;
   2. Land mentions about an American novelist and actress Jacqueline Susann famous for her 1966 novel Valley of Dolls.
   3. Didn’t know the famous pizza place Frank Pepe is originally called Pizzeria Napoletana.

1. Sub Plots:
   1. Friends of Jessica Fletcher: Dr. Seth Hazlitt; George Sutherland, senior inspector with Scotland Yard; Morton “Mort” Metzger, Cabot Cove Sherriff and his wife Maureen / Adele ?; Eve Simpson, realtor friend with Cabot Cove Realty aa Simpson Realty; Sam Booth, mayor of Cabot Cove; Ethan Cragg, Cabot Cove’s chief town elder.
   2. Literary contacts and friends: her American publisher Vaughan Buckley of Buckley House, his fashion model wife Olga Buckley and their dogs Sadie and Rose; Harry McGraw, her private eye friend; Matt Miller, her literary agent & his wife Susan; Paulette, Matt’s assistant; her British Publisher Griffin Semple, son of her original publisher Archibald Semple
   3. Other Cabot Cove characters: Josh, the mailman; Jed Richardson, bush pilot and owner of Jed’s Flying Service, and his wife Alicia / Barbara?, His brother Harvey, owns the local Gas-and-Go; Mara, owns Mara’s Luncheonette; Hank Weathers, a homeless war vet; Seamus McGilray, manager of Hill House Hotel according to the 51st book / It’s Thomas Wilkerson according to this 47th book; Richard “Dick” Mann, Fire Chief; Charlene Sassi, baker; Susan Shevlin, travel agent and her husband Jim, Mayor of Cabot Cove; Professor Donskoy; Roberta Dougherty, bookstore owner; Richard Koser, photographer, and his wife MaryJane; Barbara DePaoli, Chamber of Commerce’s secretary; Anthon Colarusso, dentist; Beth and Peter Mullin, owners of Old Thyme Floral; Sam Davis, investment advisor; Jack Decker, publisher of Cabot Cove’s monthly magazine; Peter Eder, Cabot Cove’s symphony orchestra; Bob Daros, owns Heritage Fuel; Tim Purdy, treasurer of chamber of commerce and historian and president of  Cabot Cove’s historical society, and investment advisor, and his wife Ellen; Pat Hitchcock, Cabot Cove’s popular nurse and teacher?; Joseph “Joe” Turco, an attorney; Marcia Davis, costume designer; David and Jim Raneri, owners of Charles Department Store; Ralph Mackin, town attorney; Ed and Joan Lerner, retirees; Brenda Brody, copy editor of Cabot Cove Insider; Doug Treyz, dentist, and his wife Tina; Jack and Marilou Decker, publishers of Cabot Cove Insider; Peter and Roberta Walters, owners of the radio station; Horace Teller, publisher of Cabot Cove News; Doris Sitar, assistant manager at Cabot Cove Savings Bank; Dmitri, owner of local taxi company; Phil Wick, field manager of the phone company; John St. Clair, professor of business law at Cabot Cove Community College; Dr. Jennifer “Jenny” Countryman, Seth’s partner; Reginald “Reggie” Weems, insurance agent; Richard Jenkins & Sal Marterella, city council members; Jack Wilson, the Veterinarian, and his wife Tobe; Evelyn Phillips, editor of Cabot Cove Gazette; Maniram Chatterjee & his wife Hita, jewelry shop owners; Sanford Teller, public relations agency; Lee, postmistress; Loretta Spiegel, owns beauty salon; Barnaby Longshoot; Brad Crandall; SeaBasket, a supermarket; Father Donald Barnes; Becky Thayer, owner of Cabot Cove Catering; Doris Ann, librarian; Ansell Hodges, homeless veteran;
   4. Sheriff Metzger’s staff & other law enforcement: Deputy Andy Jenks; Deputy Jack; Rookie Wendell Watson and his mother Gloria; Deputy Harold; Deputy Jerry; Deputy Evan; Deputy Chip; Alfred Gillo, medical examiner; Judge Kaplan; Marie Poutre, dispatcher; Officer Edgar; Gladys, a civilian dispatcher; Deputy Billy Simms;
   5. Jessica Fletcher’s family: Grady Fletcher, nephew that she and her late-husband Frank raise, his wife Donna and child Frank.
   6. We know the reason as to why Mort Metzger’s wife is called Maureen as of the 20th book A Slaying in Savannah. Mort and Adele get divorced and Adele goes back to New York. Mort marries Maureen who becomes his second wife. All of Donald Bain’s novels starting 20th book have this scenario. However Jon Land novels they remain married and his wife is back to being called Adele. Perhaps starting the 47th book when Jon Land co-authors with Donald Bain. However, I distinctly remember her name being changed to Adele in the 50th book, A Time for Murder.
   7. I remember reading one of the later books (and couldn’t figure out which one was that) where we see Sam Booth as the mayor of Cabot Cove. However, since I started reading the series from the beginning, looks like the mayor of Cabot Cove is Jim Shevlin. I wonder if Sam Booth surfaces as I remember from way back read.
   8. From the 9th book, Murder on the QE2: Mary Ward has been a prominent character in this book. Will she resurface again?
   9. From the 10th book, Murder in Moscow:
      1. There is still no resolution as to who or how Ward Wenington was killed in D.C. and why Vladislav “Vlady” Staritova was killed in Russia. What was the connection?
      2. Alexandra Kozhina disappears at the end of the plot. And will she surface in another book?
   10. In the 27th book Coffee, Tea or Murder? we see that Jed’s wife is named Barbara. But up until then she was named Alicia. Wonder if Bain will have a backup story.
   11. From the 30th book:
       1. Tom Craig offers Michael Haggerty a book deal to write about his escapades as an undercover British spy.
       2. There is no closure as to who actually kills the person in the first murder.
       3. Will Jennifer Kahn, the alleged jewel thief, walk away free since they could only find circumstantial evidence against her and nothing concrete?
   12. From the 37th book: If I ever try the sidecar recipe I will have to post it again referring the 37th book.  But Angela Lansbury did print a cookbook based on the food items shared either in the episodes or by characters of the series.
   13. From the 47th book:
       1. Mort jokes that Jessica is a magnet for murder; and Jessica quips that can she use that as a title. We know that this title has never been done so far in her books or the fictional ones she wrote on the TV show. May be a future book?
       2. Again we don’t see the criminal Armand Dejong’s body is never found. So did he succumb to the injuries caused by fire or escaped?
   14. In the 50th book, A Time for Murder, Jessica is shown at Hill House, Cabot Cove’s very own Inn due to a fire at her Victorian home at 698 Candlewood Lame. I wonder if the 49th book, Murder in Red, has anything to do with her house getting caught fire which almost killed her.
   15. From the 51st book, The Murder of Twelve:
       1. Author Land gives considerable mystery to Seamus McGilray’s character. I wonder if he resurfaces in a future book.
       2. Towards the end of the book, Mort jokes that Jessica should run for mayor. Hmm…something to look forward to I suppose.