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Jessica Fletcher #3
Lovers and Other Killers
The invitations arrived together. And Jessica Fletcher finds the prospects rather daunting: to lecture on crime fiction at a major university: and to go fox-hunting in Kentucky. But when Jessica finds herself involved in an unpleasant murder case, she discovers there are more frightening events than facing a critical audience of English students. By the time she solves the mystery she's ready for a holiday. But even in Kentucky she has to contend with a feuding family, doped horses, disputed wills, one, or possibly two murders, and a most peculiar murder suspect - the richest dog in America.
- GenresMystery
208 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1986
2 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
About the author
James Anderson
27 books66 followersJames Anderson was educated at Reading University where he gained a History degree and although born in Swindon, Wiltshire, he lived for most of his life near Cardiff.
He worked as a salesman before becoming a copywriter and then a freelance journalist, contributing to many newspapers, house journals and specialist magazines. He later turned to writing novels, the first of which was 'Assassin' (1969).
As well as his general thrillers, he wrote three books featuring Inspector Wilkins beginning with 'The Affair of the Blood-Stained Egg Cosy' in 1975. The series continued with 'the Affair of the Mutilated Mink Coat' (1981) and ended with 'The Affair of the Thirty-Nine Cuff Links' (2003).
He also wrote three novels based on the television series 'Murder, She Wrote', which were 'the Murder of Sherlock Holmes (1985), Hooray for Homicide' (1985) and 'Lovers and Other Killers' (1986). In total he wrote 14 novels and one play.
He died in 2007.
Gerry Wolstenholme
September 2010
He worked as a salesman before becoming a copywriter and then a freelance journalist, contributing to many newspapers, house journals and specialist magazines. He later turned to writing novels, the first of which was 'Assassin' (1969).
As well as his general thrillers, he wrote three books featuring Inspector Wilkins beginning with 'The Affair of the Blood-Stained Egg Cosy' in 1975. The series continued with 'the Affair of the Mutilated Mink Coat' (1981) and ended with 'The Affair of the Thirty-Nine Cuff Links' (2003).
He also wrote three novels based on the television series 'Murder, She Wrote', which were 'the Murder of Sherlock Holmes (1985), Hooray for Homicide' (1985) and 'Lovers and Other Killers' (1986). In total he wrote 14 novels and one play.
He died in 2007.
Gerry Wolstenholme
September 2010
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 28, 2025
3 Stars. An improvement on #2 in the original series, Hooray for Homicide. Just like earlier entries, this is a novelization of TV episodes. Lovers and Other Killers was the 7th show in Season #1 on TV, and It's a Dog's Life was #6. From 1984. How does it read? Not bad, but there is almost nothing binding the two into one whole. Think of it as two, 100 page novellas with a huge staple holding them together! Jessica is at home in Cabot Cove where she receives two invitations - one to lecture on the mystery genre at Sequoia University in Seattle [note: fictitious and not the L.A. degree mill of the same name which was closed in 1984]. An old friend, Edmund Gerard, is the dean of students. Incidentally, I found her lectures very interesting. Two women end up dead and Jessica's young and brash typist, David Tolliver, is suspect. After the north-west, Jessica visits a horse farm in Kentucky where her English cousin Abby manages the horses for multi-millionaire Denton Langley and his adult children. Soon he's dead with Abby accused. Did I mention that Teddy, Denton's favourite 6-month old beagle, inherits the lot? That's enough of a clue! (Fe2023/Se2025)
May 14, 2017
Stars: 3 / 5
Recommendation: If you want an easy and quick murder mystery pick it up and you will enjoy it.
Just as Charles Osborne had novelized three of Agatha Christies plays (My review of those books here: http://inspirethoughts.livejournal.co...), James Anderson did a similar thing with Murder, She Wrote TV Series. He novelized a few episodes of this series into three books and this is the third of the three published in February of 1986. This particular book is adapted from two episodes - Lovers and Other Killers first aired on November 18, 1984 and It's a Dog's Life first aired on November 4, 1984. Another one that I bought in the same book sale as the previous one. And here is my review.
The book opens with Jessica getting invitations from two people - One from Kentucky by her British cousin Abigail "Abby" Freestone who invites Jessica to spend some time with her at Langley Manor. The second one is an invitation to be a guest lecture at Sequoia University in Seattle, Washington by her long-time friend Edmund Gerard. She choose to go to Seattle first because of the lecture although she is nervous. To her delight, she is well-accepted and her lectures become a hit. But she doesn’t find so much delight with her secretary she hires while she is in Seattle - David Tolliver. He is very full of himself and in-deep under suspicion of murdering Alison Brevard, a socialite with whom he had a relationship. Despite her distaste towards David she didn’t believe that he was a murderer, and steps into the investigation that Lieutenant Andrews heads. Alison is supposed to have been killed by a burglar, but the Lieutenant has his own doubts and all eyes on David.
And then Jessica finds Lila murdered in a deserted warehouse where she was called to meet with someone who could give proof of David's innocence. As Jessica tries to unravel the mystery and find the killer, she comes across a few characters who she considers under suspects - Amelia Browne (Edmund's personal secretary), David Tolliver (Secretary that Amelia suggests for Jessica), Professor Todd Lowery (with the English Department), Emily Lowery (Wife of Todd Lowery), Jack Schroeder (Swimming Coach at the University) and Lila Schroeder (Wife of Jack Schroeder). Who killed Lila? Were both the killings related? Was David really innocent? Was Todd behind this murder? Before Jessica's trip completes in Seattle will she solve the murder and get David off the hook?
After a rigorous week in Seattle Jessica is looking forward to a relaxed one with her cousin Abby Freestone in Kentucky. She gets meet Denton Langley - the owner of Langley Manor.- who arranges a feast in honor of Jessica, where she gets to meet he family and friends. She also meets the family dog and the horses that Abby is caretaker for. When Denton takes all of them on a hunting trip on horses, his horse suddenly takes off, loses control and in the process he falls and gets killed. Abby strongly believes that someone doped his horse causing it to run amok and that it had been caused by one of the heirs. And to top it all Denton leaves all his estate to his dog Teddy which outrages his family. As always her curiosity takes the best of her and she starts her own investigation despite the Sheriff Gus Millard and Deputy Will Roxie had ruled it an accident.
The people Jessica interviews to investigate the death of Denton Langley - Spenser Langley (Denton's son), Trish Langley (Denton's youngest daughter), Mrs. Morgana Langley-Cramer (Denton's oldest daughter), Echo (Morgana's daughter), Tom Cassidy (Denton's oldest friend and owner of next door ranch), Marcus Boswell (Denton's lawyer), Barnes (the security guard) and Anthony (a friend of the family). Will she find out who killed Denton? Where does this lead Jessica? To another horse-back ride at risk? Or having Abby under the suspicion of law?
Well, Jessica's vacation seemed to be less of it than she expected. However, it was fun to read. Yet I have to say that this book took the longest for me to finish reading it. Perhaps since I had already watched the episodes, reading the book was boring for me to. I certainly will say it was a different feel to read the script than watch - the other way around meaning book to screen is usually likable for me.
All in all two more mysteries that are cozy and tied up neatly in the end like a bow.
Spoiler Alerts:
1) Facts / Deviations from the original episode Lovers and Other Killers:
a. Here is the original episode Lovers and Other Killers:
Murder She Wrote S01E06 Lovers And Other Killers by RightMoveLLC
b. The character who played the role of David Tolliver was Andrew Stevens. For some reason I never liked Andrew Stevens and always gave me the creeps. I remember him in another episode of Columbo Murder in Malibu that was aired in 1990 where he portrayed the role of Wayne Jennings.
Columbo - S 9 E 6 by ColumboTvSeries
He also was in another episode of Murder, She Wrote TV series. But I don’t remember watching that.
a. The episode in the book also ends with the same situation - the verdict on David Tolliver is hung. Did he kill Alison Brevard or not? Was he part of the crime? That still remains a question and is left to the viewer's / reader's imagination.
2) Deviations from the original episode It's a Dog's Life:
a. Here is the original episode:
Murder She Wrote S01E05 Its A Dogs Life by RightMoveLLC
3) Character / Geographical / Grammatical / Location / Historical Errors:
a. Pg. 116 last para, "substantial" is spelled as "sustantial" in the first line.
b. Pg. 138, last third line, it should be "was going to deliberately needle"…the "to" is placed incorrectly.
c. Pg. 142, towards the end of the page the character Abby asks Jessica if she can drive her to the vet. It is surprising cause Jessica is a character who doesn’t drive. And in this particular episode it is implied that she can drive.
4) The author mentions about Spoonerism which I am well-versed with cause I do that many times. Just that never knew that that was called as Spoonerism. (According to Google: a verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect, as in the sentence you have hissed the mystery lectures, accidentally spoken instead of the intended sentence you have missed the history lectures.).
Recommendation: If you want an easy and quick murder mystery pick it up and you will enjoy it.
Just as Charles Osborne had novelized three of Agatha Christies plays (My review of those books here: http://inspirethoughts.livejournal.co...), James Anderson did a similar thing with Murder, She Wrote TV Series. He novelized a few episodes of this series into three books and this is the third of the three published in February of 1986. This particular book is adapted from two episodes - Lovers and Other Killers first aired on November 18, 1984 and It's a Dog's Life first aired on November 4, 1984. Another one that I bought in the same book sale as the previous one. And here is my review.
The book opens with Jessica getting invitations from two people - One from Kentucky by her British cousin Abigail "Abby" Freestone who invites Jessica to spend some time with her at Langley Manor. The second one is an invitation to be a guest lecture at Sequoia University in Seattle, Washington by her long-time friend Edmund Gerard. She choose to go to Seattle first because of the lecture although she is nervous. To her delight, she is well-accepted and her lectures become a hit. But she doesn’t find so much delight with her secretary she hires while she is in Seattle - David Tolliver. He is very full of himself and in-deep under suspicion of murdering Alison Brevard, a socialite with whom he had a relationship. Despite her distaste towards David she didn’t believe that he was a murderer, and steps into the investigation that Lieutenant Andrews heads. Alison is supposed to have been killed by a burglar, but the Lieutenant has his own doubts and all eyes on David.
And then Jessica finds Lila murdered in a deserted warehouse where she was called to meet with someone who could give proof of David's innocence. As Jessica tries to unravel the mystery and find the killer, she comes across a few characters who she considers under suspects - Amelia Browne (Edmund's personal secretary), David Tolliver (Secretary that Amelia suggests for Jessica), Professor Todd Lowery (with the English Department), Emily Lowery (Wife of Todd Lowery), Jack Schroeder (Swimming Coach at the University) and Lila Schroeder (Wife of Jack Schroeder). Who killed Lila? Were both the killings related? Was David really innocent? Was Todd behind this murder? Before Jessica's trip completes in Seattle will she solve the murder and get David off the hook?
After a rigorous week in Seattle Jessica is looking forward to a relaxed one with her cousin Abby Freestone in Kentucky. She gets meet Denton Langley - the owner of Langley Manor.- who arranges a feast in honor of Jessica, where she gets to meet he family and friends. She also meets the family dog and the horses that Abby is caretaker for. When Denton takes all of them on a hunting trip on horses, his horse suddenly takes off, loses control and in the process he falls and gets killed. Abby strongly believes that someone doped his horse causing it to run amok and that it had been caused by one of the heirs. And to top it all Denton leaves all his estate to his dog Teddy which outrages his family. As always her curiosity takes the best of her and she starts her own investigation despite the Sheriff Gus Millard and Deputy Will Roxie had ruled it an accident.
The people Jessica interviews to investigate the death of Denton Langley - Spenser Langley (Denton's son), Trish Langley (Denton's youngest daughter), Mrs. Morgana Langley-Cramer (Denton's oldest daughter), Echo (Morgana's daughter), Tom Cassidy (Denton's oldest friend and owner of next door ranch), Marcus Boswell (Denton's lawyer), Barnes (the security guard) and Anthony (a friend of the family). Will she find out who killed Denton? Where does this lead Jessica? To another horse-back ride at risk? Or having Abby under the suspicion of law?
Well, Jessica's vacation seemed to be less of it than she expected. However, it was fun to read. Yet I have to say that this book took the longest for me to finish reading it. Perhaps since I had already watched the episodes, reading the book was boring for me to. I certainly will say it was a different feel to read the script than watch - the other way around meaning book to screen is usually likable for me.
All in all two more mysteries that are cozy and tied up neatly in the end like a bow.
Spoiler Alerts:
1) Facts / Deviations from the original episode Lovers and Other Killers:
a. Here is the original episode Lovers and Other Killers:
Murder She Wrote S01E06 Lovers And Other Killers by RightMoveLLC
b. The character who played the role of David Tolliver was Andrew Stevens. For some reason I never liked Andrew Stevens and always gave me the creeps. I remember him in another episode of Columbo Murder in Malibu that was aired in 1990 where he portrayed the role of Wayne Jennings.
Columbo - S 9 E 6 by ColumboTvSeries
He also was in another episode of Murder, She Wrote TV series. But I don’t remember watching that.
a. The episode in the book also ends with the same situation - the verdict on David Tolliver is hung. Did he kill Alison Brevard or not? Was he part of the crime? That still remains a question and is left to the viewer's / reader's imagination.
2) Deviations from the original episode It's a Dog's Life:
a. Here is the original episode:
Murder She Wrote S01E05 Its A Dogs Life by RightMoveLLC
3) Character / Geographical / Grammatical / Location / Historical Errors:
a. Pg. 116 last para, "substantial" is spelled as "sustantial" in the first line.
b. Pg. 138, last third line, it should be "was going to deliberately needle"…the "to" is placed incorrectly.
c. Pg. 142, towards the end of the page the character Abby asks Jessica if she can drive her to the vet. It is surprising cause Jessica is a character who doesn’t drive. And in this particular episode it is implied that she can drive.
4) The author mentions about Spoonerism which I am well-versed with cause I do that many times. Just that never knew that that was called as Spoonerism. (According to Google: a verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect, as in the sentence you have hissed the mystery lectures, accidentally spoken instead of the intended sentence you have missed the history lectures.).
December 30, 2024
Rating 3
Adaptation of another two early episodes from the long running series.
Both mysteries were okay but nothing special for me.
As adaptations go these were good and probably worked as well as they did turning hour long tv into novella’s rather than 200+ page novels.
The first story based around JF giving lectures at a university was okay even if the killer and motive were something only seen in a prime time us TV movie. The additional plot concerning the second completely unrelated murder was more involved and probably should have been the main focus.
The Second story follows JF on a visit to a cousin who works for a wealthy family and trains their horses. As expected from a visit by JF murder ensues and her relative is accused. This plot is tbh more outlandish than others I have read but again fits nicely into US TV movie land.
Overall entertaining reads but I can understand why the book series was relaunched featuring new and original stories rather than continuing the adaptations.
Saying that I have one to go (don’t have a copy of the initial book released) so will read that early next year I think.
Adaptation of another two early episodes from the long running series.
Both mysteries were okay but nothing special for me.
As adaptations go these were good and probably worked as well as they did turning hour long tv into novella’s rather than 200+ page novels.
The first story based around JF giving lectures at a university was okay even if the killer and motive were something only seen in a prime time us TV movie. The additional plot concerning the second completely unrelated murder was more involved and probably should have been the main focus.
The Second story follows JF on a visit to a cousin who works for a wealthy family and trains their horses. As expected from a visit by JF murder ensues and her relative is accused. This plot is tbh more outlandish than others I have read but again fits nicely into US TV movie land.
Overall entertaining reads but I can understand why the book series was relaunched featuring new and original stories rather than continuing the adaptations.
Saying that I have one to go (don’t have a copy of the initial book released) so will read that early next year I think.
August 21, 2020
A light and cozy summer read. It was not that easy for Jessica to solve this murder. To the end she still sounds that she has doubts about her secretary, although all she does in the entire story is to prove his innocence as a murder suspect. What an odd character that secretary of hers is! I found him to be such a weird person.
You can find more about him and how Jessica solved this murder, if you decide to read the book.
You can find more about him and how Jessica solved this murder, if you decide to read the book.
March 20, 2011
Very much like the TV show!
March 22, 2018
Another entertaining installment of Murder She Wrote that I found on my bookshelf. Who knew there were so many available?
October 8, 2023
This is actually two short cozy mysteries placed together in one book. I found both to be enjoyable.
June 2, 2025
Well the books are getting better…Liked this one better than the last one anyways.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews