Episode 41: Waxing Poetic About Karen Black

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we enter the sordid setting of... the auction house. In a somewhat chilling depiction of our culture's obsession with celebrity, even after (especially after?) death, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is tasked with being the highest bidder for a scandalous smut rag of a diary from a recently deceased starlet. When several more people end up dead, one has to assume it's pretty juicy. Harry McGraw (Jerry Orbach) is back with Jessica, seeking out the most likely suspects, which include a neurotic psychiatrist (Karen Black), an opportunistic film producer (Nancy Lee Grahn), and a semi-pornographer (Vic Taybeck) at the top of the list. They compete with semi-useless detective Lt. Casey (Ray Girardin), waiting in the wings to nab a former lover, a colleague, or a maniac fan. This episode features a killer's confession that splits the vote between Petra and Viktor, many quotable lines from Ms. Black in particular, Harry being THE WORST FRIEND EVER, and a lot of leaps to make a chessboard the answer to clues better found elsewhere. Will the diary be found and returned to hands that won't exploit the mysterious screen star that definitely isn't meant to invoke Marilyn Monroe at all in any way?  ONE GOOD BID DESERVES A MURDER, as those with the cash seem the most likely to get what they want. Edward Mulhare, Hurt Hatfield, Cotter Smith, and Rebecca Street round out the cast of victims and villains. Beware what you end up putting in print.