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I am always excited to talk about Murder, She Wrote. I began watching the television show in September 1984 and was hooked from the very first episode, so it is no surprise that, a few years later, when Donald Bain began to write the Murder She Wrote novels, I was one of his most loyal readers. Years went by, Mr. Bain became ill, and Jon Land took over the series. When Mr. Land needed more time to fulfill other obligations, I was honored to be asked to continue writing the series. My first entry, Murder, She Wrote Killing in a Koi Pond, was book number—wait for it—book number fifty-three!

Before I could start writing about Jessica Fletcher, who I considered to be my treasured, lifelong friend, I spent some time thinking about the personal attributes that make her so endearing to us all. She is an honest, straightforward, empathetic woman, which makes it easy for people to like and trust her. When tragedy strikes, such as a murder, her natural curiosity, combined with her sympathetic response to everyone affected, quite often leads her to discover the killer.

And what about the murderer—the villain of the piece? As a writer, I have to decide what would compel that person to take the life of another human being.  I must create a killer who is convinced that murder is the only way they can relieve their own overwhelming personal stress due to a situation, whatever it may be, that has spiraled out of control in the killer’s mind. And yet, to the reader, as well as to Jessica herself, the murderer must, at least initially, appear to be an ordinary person. The killer’s life will have complications that are visible to the reader but that are often clouded by the fact that other characters within the story will have similar or even more perilous, unrelenting difficulties.

One of the clearest examples of the relationship between Jessica and the person who is eventually revealed to be the murderer is in the very first television episode, a two-parter called The Death of Sherlock Holmes. I will not give anything away, but if you watch or re-watch that story, there are a number of normal, everyday people who get caught up as possible suspects in the killing of a party guest. And the actual murderer is among them.

And that is how the series has continued: in each story, the murderer is an ordinary person with what might seem to be a problem that many people face, but it drives that one particular person to a horrifying solution—murder. I am sure you will recognize that theme in our latest book, Murder, She Wrote Fit for Murder. Thank goodness we have Jessica Fletcher to unravel the mystery.

BIO:

Terrie Farley Moran is thrilled to be co-author, along with Jessica Fletcher, of the most recent entries in the long-running Murder, She Wrote series. Murder, She Wrote Killing in a Koi Pond, Murder, She Wrote Debonair in Death, Murder, She Wrote Killer on the Court, Murder, She Wrote Death on the Emerald Isle, and the recently released Murder, She Wrote Fit for Murder. Terrie has also written the beachside Read ‘Em and Eat cozy mystery series and is co-author of four of Laura Childs’ New Orleans scrapbooking mysteries. Her short stories have been published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly Magazine, and numerous anthologies. Terrie is a recipient of both the Agatha and the Derringer awards. Find her online at www.terriefarleymoran.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/terriefarleymoran/

To read an excerpt from Murder, She Wrote Fit for Murder, click here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/736725/murder-she-wrote-fit-for-murder-by-jessica-fletcher-and-terrie-farley-moran/