Episode 36: Norman, Have a Snack

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we're back in New York for the celebration of Lila Lee Cosmetics' annual gathering, and things aren't going well. The no-nonsense Lila Lee Amberson (a particularly great Jayne Meadows Allen) is stressing out about the photographer using the wrong shade of lipstick in his shots, making sure all the Lila Lee Ladies are in uniform and get their choreography correct, and cutting down anyone who stands in her way. Her partner and brother Norman (Robert Culp) is distracted by a woman she finds beneath him (and she's... been beneath a few others); her name is Elizabeth (Ann Dusenberry) and she just happens to be a former student of... oh, you know it, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) who is town to visit her nephew Grady (Michael Horton). Grady himself is seeking a job with the makeup giant, via a college buddy, Todd (Leigh McCloskey), who happens to be Norman's son, and also peeved by the May-December relationship in which his father is engaged. Throw in a penthouse madam (Christine Belford), a mediocre actor (Robert Desiderio), a harried but increasingly glamorous personal assistant (Glenda Vandevere), and detective of the week Lieutenant Varick (Herb Edelman), and we have an eccentric ensemble circling a shocking grisly murder that Jessica is determined to solve; even if that means going undercover and donning the lilac and lavender of a spokeswoman for Lila Lee. It's an MURDER BY APPOINTMENT ONLY, and Jessica's schedule is packed with worthy vixens and villains to suss out.