Martinis & Mayhem: A Murder, She Wrote Mystery by Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain

              I’ve come to a realization about the Murder, She Wrote books.  I highly doubt I’ll ever fully hear Angela Lansbury’s voice while I read them, and there will always be things that don’t line up with the show.  So, if I think of the books as a separate entity from the show, I may be better off.

                Successful mystery book author Jessica Fletcher is off to San Francisco to promote her newest book.  While there, she plans on visiting a women’s correctional facility to teach the inmates about journal writing.  The session goes well, but when she leaves, Jessica discovers one of the women has slipped her a journal she has already written.  The author is Kimberly Steffer, and the journal chronicles her thoughts on her case and the murder of her husband, which she claims to be innocent of.

                After speaking with Kimberly at the journal writing session, and reading pieces of the journal, Jessica is inclined to believe Kimberly is innocent too.  In fact, everyone Jessica speaks to with knowledge of the case isn’t so sure Kimberly is guilty either.    With so many people believing in Kimberly’s innocence, Jessica determines she will look into the case herself, hopefully finding the truth in the process.  Implying she survives.

                While walking along the Golden Gate Bridge, someone grabs Jessica and tries to throw her over.  Jessica manages to get away, but even with so many people on the bridge, there aren’t any witnesses to the incident.  Then it is found that at about the same time Jessica was attacked, someone connected to Kimberly’s case did go over the bridge.  The question is, was this man’s death suicide or murder?

                Helping Jessica with her investigation is Scotland Yard Inspector George Sutherland.  He and Jessica became friends a few years before when one of Jessica’s friends was murdered.  Having kept in touch since, they plan to meet up in San Francisco while he is there for a conference.  While George certainly wants something more to come of their relationship, Jessica is unsure.  Then their time together doesn’t exactly go as planned.  With their respective trips taken up by Kimberly’s case, this leaves Jessica and George still questioning where exactly their relationship is going.

                I’m with Jessica about her relationship with George.  She doesn’t know him that well, and he lives in a completely different country.  That would make me hesitant to jump into a romance as well. 

I do wonder, however, if their relationship would get resolved faster if people didn’t keep insinuating things.  Pretty much every time George is brought up among Jessica’s friends, they have something to say about it.  If Jessica didn’t have to spend so much time dealing with their comments and insisting that she and George are just friends, maybe she could get to know George better and figure out how she truly feels.