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Jessica Fletcher #1
Murder, She Wrote (Original Series): The Murder of Sherlock Holmes
Welcome to the first Murder She Wrote novel starring Jessica Fletcher.
The fancy dress ball thrown by Jessica's new publisher was a great success - until murder showed up as an uninvited guest. Someone shot Sherlock Holmes. The police looked with dismay at a roomful of suspects in flamboyant costumes, many with face-coverings! Mystery writer Jessica Fletcher already had a few ideas. Although the police didn't initially take too kindly to a middle-aged lady meddling in real life murder, that soon changed. She thought it would be a crime not to try and solve the case herself!
Librarian's note #1: The Murder of Sherlock Holmes is a novelization of the first episode of the hit TV series.
Librarian's note #2: this is the original MSW series by James Anderson and David Deutsch. Novelizations of TV episodes. The characters, settings, etc. have all been entered for the 4 volumes: #1, The Murder of Sherlock Holmes (1985); #2, Hooray for Homicide (1985); #3, Lovers and Other Killers (1986); and #4, Murder in Two Acts (1986). Improvements welcome!
Librarian's note #3: the current 'Murder She Wrote' series by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain began in 1989 with #1, Gin & Daggers for which there was a 2nd edition in 2000. There are 60 volumes in the current series to date (May 2025).
The fancy dress ball thrown by Jessica's new publisher was a great success - until murder showed up as an uninvited guest. Someone shot Sherlock Holmes. The police looked with dismay at a roomful of suspects in flamboyant costumes, many with face-coverings! Mystery writer Jessica Fletcher already had a few ideas. Although the police didn't initially take too kindly to a middle-aged lady meddling in real life murder, that soon changed. She thought it would be a crime not to try and solve the case herself!
Librarian's note #1: The Murder of Sherlock Holmes is a novelization of the first episode of the hit TV series.
Librarian's note #2: this is the original MSW series by James Anderson and David Deutsch. Novelizations of TV episodes. The characters, settings, etc. have all been entered for the 4 volumes: #1, The Murder of Sherlock Holmes (1985); #2, Hooray for Homicide (1985); #3, Lovers and Other Killers (1986); and #4, Murder in Two Acts (1986). Improvements welcome!
Librarian's note #3: the current 'Murder She Wrote' series by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain began in 1989 with #1, Gin & Daggers for which there was a 2nd edition in 2000. There are 60 volumes in the current series to date (May 2025).
208 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1985
5 people are currently reading
366 people want to read
About the author
James Anderson
30 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
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 28, 2025
3 Stars. The first novel in the Murder She Wrote collection. Starring Jessica Fletcher as portrayed by Angela Lansbury on the tube. There are actually 2 series, a rarity. This is the first of 4 novelizations of screenplays from early in the TV show, the original series. James Anderson wrote three in 1985 and 1986, with David Deutsch writing #4 in 1986. In 1989, Donald Bain started the current series of independent mysteries. Volume 60 (2025) is the latest. Although .. Sherlock Holmes is faithful to the on-screen version, right down to a confession by the perpetrator in the last chapter, [hasn't anyone heard the legal adage "Say nothing until you've spoken to your lawyer?"], it's a touch heavy. Less of the lightness in later TV episodes or the Bain novels. With few of the Cabot Cove characters we enjoy. Only Jessica's nephew Grady Fletcher makes an appearance. He's an accountant with Cap'n Caleb's Chowder House in New York. His boss, Caleb McCallum, is the person who, dressed as Holmes at a fancy dress party, gets shot. But was it him? For sure, Grady is the accused! Of course, newly-minted mystery writer Jessica Fletcher does her thing. (De2022/Se2025)
March 12, 2009
Fun reading, the first of three novels by James Anderson that are actually based on teleplays from the TV-series, not the original novels written for many years by Donald Bain. As Maggie would say, this is "brain candy."
November 26, 2019
I only recently found out that there was a small set of books written by this author that were based on Murder, She Wrote episodes and were published prior to the mysteries written by Donald Bain. This one was based on the very first episode, so I was excited to read it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that first episode, but now I want to watch it. It was fun to read how she got started in her mystery writing career. I’d never known that her nephew Grady played a part in that.
True to form, Jessica stood up to some possible killers with the same tenacity and bravery we know and love from the series. I hadn’t quite guessed the killer and was a little surprised at the reveal. Jessica had her first adventure of several in New York, and it was kind of fun to step back to 1985 (technically, it aired in 1984) when no one really carried cell phones or could warn someone by text. The ending was a little bittersweet and I’m anxious now to read the second in this small series.
Just a note: The GR information for this title is wrong. This is #1 in the 3-book Jessica Fletcher series by James Anderson, not #2. It couldn't be #2, because it's based on the very first Murder, She Wrote episode, and I originally ran across this small series on a reputable website that lists books in order.
True to form, Jessica stood up to some possible killers with the same tenacity and bravery we know and love from the series. I hadn’t quite guessed the killer and was a little surprised at the reveal. Jessica had her first adventure of several in New York, and it was kind of fun to step back to 1985 (technically, it aired in 1984) when no one really carried cell phones or could warn someone by text. The ending was a little bittersweet and I’m anxious now to read the second in this small series.
Just a note: The GR information for this title is wrong. This is #1 in the 3-book Jessica Fletcher series by James Anderson, not #2. It couldn't be #2, because it's based on the very first Murder, She Wrote episode, and I originally ran across this small series on a reputable website that lists books in order.
February 17, 2015
I haven't read these in years but its like sitting down with an old friend.
June 15, 2024
Its pages reeking of cigar smoke and attic mold, this novelization of the “Murder, She Wrote” double-feature Pilot episode is a bonkers artifact to have. While it was a little comforting to return to the world of Jessica Fletcher, this book essentially takes the story and word-for-word dialogue of the Pilot and just makes it…longer? Because….money?
The bonus action/dialogue, along with the massive editorial alterations to the final reveal sequence, felt unnecessary. The charm of the show is not because on the writing: it’s because Angela Lansbury’s performance. It’s because of her charm and empathy. That’s what elevates this story and gives it any kind of magnetism, not the plot. I found the inner monologue they gave Jessica Fletcher to be schmaltzy and bloated and honestly? Super disconnected from the real character. At times, the writing is very blatantly written from the perspective of a misogynistic man (a curse “Murder, She Wrote” can’t seem to escape) and sours any affection you have for the wackiness and bumbling humor.
Podcasting about this show’s first season and enjoying the show for very particular niche elements because of that experience definitely informs my bias. I recognize what I’m essentially saying is “This wasn’t like the show so this was BAAAAAD”, but it somehow, someway makes me appreciate the story being adapted in a visual medium like television rather than a boom series. I don’t think the saga of J.B. Fletcher would ever have become as popular as it had been if it were just a book series. Because its heart and soul is in its lead actress and oddball performances - that’s what makes it strangely human and strangely otherworldly and strangely enjoyable. But as a book? I will not be having any more of this tofu-esque adaptation ever again.
Fun decorative piece of history to have, if you’re a MSW super fan (which, apparently, I have transformed into).
The bonus action/dialogue, along with the massive editorial alterations to the final reveal sequence, felt unnecessary. The charm of the show is not because on the writing: it’s because Angela Lansbury’s performance. It’s because of her charm and empathy. That’s what elevates this story and gives it any kind of magnetism, not the plot. I found the inner monologue they gave Jessica Fletcher to be schmaltzy and bloated and honestly? Super disconnected from the real character. At times, the writing is very blatantly written from the perspective of a misogynistic man (a curse “Murder, She Wrote” can’t seem to escape) and sours any affection you have for the wackiness and bumbling humor.
Podcasting about this show’s first season and enjoying the show for very particular niche elements because of that experience definitely informs my bias. I recognize what I’m essentially saying is “This wasn’t like the show so this was BAAAAAD”, but it somehow, someway makes me appreciate the story being adapted in a visual medium like television rather than a boom series. I don’t think the saga of J.B. Fletcher would ever have become as popular as it had been if it were just a book series. Because its heart and soul is in its lead actress and oddball performances - that’s what makes it strangely human and strangely otherworldly and strangely enjoyable. But as a book? I will not be having any more of this tofu-esque adaptation ever again.
Fun decorative piece of history to have, if you’re a MSW super fan (which, apparently, I have transformed into).
October 4, 2023
This was so great. Several twists that Jessica Fletcher must take on and solve. Nice quick cozy mystery read.
January 25, 2026
it is fine but the author choice for the wrong build up. Love the analyzing the behavior of the characters. Why would a girl leave a restaurant at precisely 9:00 and why is she lookin at a clock? I like the part that women are leading this story. Happy that the author didn't make the book longer then it has to be, so I respect that. This book is from 1985 and is fun to read. Hoever it isn't intense all the time.
December 27, 2023
Very good tie-in to the show. Excell telling of the pilot episode.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews