Despite "Murder, She Wrote" being set in Cabot Cove, Maine, it made no economic sense for the studio to film in New England. After all, it's on the opposite side of the USA. So, many outdoor scenes in Cabot Cove and Miss Fletcher's home were actually filmed in Mendocino, California, an old whaling town that is now a mecca for tourism. In addition, some scenes were filmed in the area around Mendocino...and much of this episode was filmed at Noyo Harbor in Ft. Bragg, California...about 10 miles north of Mendocino. I know this because I live around there and recognized many of the locations...particularly the harbor where I often go on fishing charters. It's a pretty area...just not all that Maine-ish! Oddly, IMDB doesn't list Ft. Bragg in the episode....just Mendocino.
When the story begins, some odd old guy (Howard Duff) is hanging around Jessica's house. Instead of shooing him away, she makes friends with him and she lets him hang around her home...even when she realizes his story about being a hobo is an obvious lie.
At the same, a boat comes into the harbor with a person missing. It seems that his wife and daughters were on the boar and according to them, he fell overboard in a storm and was lost. However, the story also doesn't add up....and soon one admits to having killed him. But there's a HUGE problem...the guy staying with Jessica is this same man...and he obviously wasn't killed out to sea! But, soon after the man IS found dead! Now, the lady who confessed to killing him changes her story...saying she really didn't kill him and it was all some scheme! What is really going on here?!
This story was interesting but its best aspect is that the ending worked VERY well and made Miss Fletcher seem pretty smart! All in all worth seeing...especially if you live nearby and want to see local hangouts, like me.
By the way, you might notice a lot of fog in the episode. Ft. Bragg and Mendocino are among the foggiest places in the country...and finding fogless days would have been difficult, so I understand why they filmed some foggy scenes.
When the story begins, some odd old guy (Howard Duff) is hanging around Jessica's house. Instead of shooing him away, she makes friends with him and she lets him hang around her home...even when she realizes his story about being a hobo is an obvious lie.
At the same, a boat comes into the harbor with a person missing. It seems that his wife and daughters were on the boar and according to them, he fell overboard in a storm and was lost. However, the story also doesn't add up....and soon one admits to having killed him. But there's a HUGE problem...the guy staying with Jessica is this same man...and he obviously wasn't killed out to sea! But, soon after the man IS found dead! Now, the lady who confessed to killing him changes her story...saying she really didn't kill him and it was all some scheme! What is really going on here?!
This story was interesting but its best aspect is that the ending worked VERY well and made Miss Fletcher seem pretty smart! All in all worth seeing...especially if you live nearby and want to see local hangouts, like me.
By the way, you might notice a lot of fog in the episode. Ft. Bragg and Mendocino are among the foggiest places in the country...and finding fogless days would have been difficult, so I understand why they filmed some foggy scenes.