Gin and Daggers: A Murder, She Wrote Mystery by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain

             Reading the Murder, She Wrote mystery series after having seen all the TV episodes is definitely going to be an adventure.  With the inaccuracies in the first book in the series, Gin and Daggers, it already has been.  Some things in this book do not match up with the show.  From what I understand, because of this, another version of Gin and Daggers was released years later with efforts to fix those inaccuracies as much as possible.  I have not read that version.  The only one I have, and the one I will write about, is the original publication from 1989.         

                Famed mystery writer Jessica Fletcher is in London to speak at a convention for the International Society of Mystery Writers.  While in England, Jessica takes a side trip to visit har friend, Marjorie Ainsworth.  Considered a great mystery author herself, it is sad to see Marjorie nearing the end of her life.  Still, even knowing the time may come soon, it comes as a shock when Jessica finds Marjorie dead.  Her death was not by natural causes, though.  Marjorie was stabbed to death by someone in her own crowded household.  To make the situation worse, Jessica’s necklace is found on the scene, making her the main suspect.

                Of course, Jessica is not the killer.  And of course, she will not put up with being the main suspect.  Even though she has obligations elsewhere, Jessica sets out to uncover who really killed her friend.  This task is difficult in the first place, but is more so because the police in Marjorie’s town have announced Jessica as the killer.  The media are after Jessica constantly, and she must resort to sneaking out back doors and avoiding phone calls in order to get anything done.  Thankfully, Jessica’s Cabot Cove friends, Dr. Seth Hazlitt and Sheriff Mort Metzger, come to London to show their support and help when they can.

                As much as the help is appreciated, Jessica prefers to investigate on her own.  People tend to open up more that way, and she’s able to change course when she needs to.  Being on her own is how Jessica pairs up with both a questionable private investigator and a member of Scotland Yard.  It’s also how she finds herself working with a young woman, Maria, to figure out whether or not her boyfriend should get the literary credit Maria thinks he deserves.

                Here’s the situation.  Marjorie’s most recent book does not have the same tone and flow of her others.  This change makes people wonder if someone helped Marjorie write the book.  With her age and health, this would not be an unheard-of thought.  The problem is, Maria claims that not only did her boyfriend help Marjorie write the book, he wrote the entire thing.  She thinks this because her boyfriend, Jason Harris, was Marjorie’s protégé, for lack of a better term.  According to Maria, Jason wrote Marjorie’s book, but did not want to take credit for it.  Then, when Jason turns up dead, Maria figures it is more important than ever for Jason to get the credit she believes he deserves.  With Marjorie being Jessica’s close friend, there will have to be some solid proof for Jessica to agree.  Until then, there will be a hunt for the truth.

                Since I have watched the series for some many years, it was easy to notice some of the inconsistencies between the show and this book.  One that was pointed out to me before I read this book, but was very obvious once I started reading, was the fact that Jessica drives a car.  A huge characteristic of Jessica Fletcher on the show is the fact that she does not drive.  To have that change in the book was very odd.  With this being an obvious inconsistency, I think it would be interesting to see if and how this is changed in the reissued version.

                Something else I noticed while I was reading was how I couldn’t hear Angela Lansbury’s voice when I read the Jessica Fletcher parts.  I could hear the actors somewhat for Seth and Mort (especially Mort), but not Jessica.  That was not at all what I expected, and I’m not sure why it happened.  Maybe it’s because of the different writing style needed for a novel versus a script.  Or because two different people wrote the two different forms.  Whatever the reason, I wonder if my not hearing Ms. Lansbury’s voice will change as I go on with the series.  The mysteries are good, so I definitely plan on continuing.