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After leaving her mark as a major presence in nearly a score of films of the 1940's and 50's, the elegant and fashionable Jean Peters joins the ranks of Classic stars delivering a swan song performance on "Murder, She Wrote." Here, Miss Peters portrays Siobhan O'Dea, a direct descendant of the Celtic Kings of Ireland, a now-reclusive theatre actress, admired by the masses, before entering solitude in an apartment across from the theatre which bears her name, in the aftermath of the untimely passing of her fourth fiancé, who had presented her with the emerald and diamond-studded golden "Queen of Tara" Tiara, which had since become confiscated by the U.S. government as a tax garnishment, and recently purchased by Blackthorn and Sons Jewelers for showcase display.When television reporter Ken Parrish (David Naughton) attempts to alert Siobhan O'Dea of news of Blackthorn's procurement, she refuses to see him although he continues to attempt to interview her in hopes of advancing his journalistic career.One month later, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) arrives in New York City to tour Blackthorn and Sons, as a measure of background research, to set a lavish jewelry shoppe as the backdrop for a tentative mystery novel.While awaiting her appointment to converse with Hudson Blackthorn (John McMartin), Jessica is tours the facility, meeting Hudson's precious stone buyer Laszlo Dolby (Michael Constantine), no-nonsense assistant Diane Raymond (Barbara Bosson), and jewelry designer Andrea Dean (Erin Gray). These three experience an uneasy working association, as times have become difficult at Blackthorn and Sons in recent years, between the transition of fifth- and sixth-generation entrepreneurs.Upon Hudson's escorting Jessica around the vaults that evening, the security guard's coffee is laced with barbiturates, the alarm is set off, an explosion leaves the way clear from storefront to street, the Queen of Tara Tiara is stolen, and an envelope containing $1,500 is found in its place.Detective Kathleen Chadwick (Patty McCormack) and Detective Bess Stacey (Lucie Arnaz) in their finest Brooklynese dialects are summoned to investigate the burglary; and, even though they do not work the Mid Town Homicide division, a subsequent murder, when Jessica and Hudson stumble across a body.Jessica manages to convince Chadwick and Stacey to launch an investigation of her own once she decides that the arrested suspect is innocent, and leads the team into a new plot twist: the recovered Queen of Tara Tiara is faux.
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