Murder, She Wrote Trivia
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49 free Murder, She Wrote trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
41 free Murder, She Wrote trivia questions with answers. Murder, She Wrote ran for twelve seasons and 264 episodes, and Angela Lansbury was Emmy-nominated for every one of them without ever winning. This quiz covers the show from the pilot at a Sherlock Holmes costume party to the fatal move opposite Friends: Jessica Fletcher's pen name, address and first novel; the Cabot Cove regulars (Sheriffs Tupper and Metzger, Dr Seth Hazlitt, nephew Grady); the recurring investigators who got their own episodes; the Magnum, P.I. crossover; the Harry McGraw spin-off; the four TV movies; and the California town that stood in for Maine. It starts with questions any fan can answer (which state, which network, who played Jessica) and works up to trivia for the devoted: which season it ranked third, who composed the Emmy-winning theme, and what the show's absurd body count is nicknamed. Good for a cosy-mystery book club, a Sunday-night quiz or a Lansbury tribute. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the series, its characters and its cast, and each question shows its source.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which actress turned down the role of Jessica Fletcher before Angela Lansbury took it?
Jean Stapleton
Lansbury made the role hers for twelve seasons and became one of the highest-paid actresses on television.
Q 02Jessica Fletcher lives in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, in which US state?
Maine
Cabot Cove is a fictional fishing village on the coast of Maine; for a town of a few thousand it racks up an improbable murder count over twelve seasons.
Q 03Exterior shots of Cabot Cove were actually filmed in which Northern California coastal town?
Mendocino
Mendocino, California stood in for Cabot Cove; the Blair House there served as Jessica's home, its Victorian streets passing for coastal Maine.
Q 04Murder, She Wrote aired on which US network from 1984 to 1996?
CBS
CBS kept it on Sundays for eleven years before a fatal move to Thursdays.
Q 05How many episodes of Murder, She Wrote were made?
264
264 episodes ran across twelve seasons from 1984 to 1996, making it one of the longest-running detective series in American television.
Q 06The show's title is a play on Murder, She Said, a 1961 film adaptation of a novel by which author?
Agatha Christie
Murder, She Said (1961) adapted Agatha Christie's 4.50 from Paddington, with Margaret Rutherford as the sleuth, and lent the television series its punning title.
Q 07Which trio created Murder, She Wrote?
Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link
Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link created the series; Levinson and Link had earlier created Columbo, and Fischer ran Murder, She Wrote for its first seven seasons.
Q 08Jessica Fletcher was a widowed, retired teacher of which subject before her writing career?
English
Jessica taught English, latterly as a substitute in Cabot Cove, before her first novel made her a bestselling author; she also helped raise young Grady.
Q 09Jessica publishes her mystery novels under a pen name that pairs her surname with which initials?
J. B.
She writes as J. B. Fletcher: Jessica Beatrice Fletcher, the initials printed on every one of her bestselling mysteries.
Q 10What was the title of Jessica's first novel, which a relative submitted without telling her?
The Corpse Danced at Midnight
The Corpse Danced at Midnight was the manuscript Grady sent to a publisher behind her back; its surprise success launched Jessica's career in the 1984 pilot.
Q 11What is Jessica Fletcher's home address in Cabot Cove?
698 Candlewood Lane
698 Candlewood Lane is the address Jessica gives on screen; the ZIP code 03041 shown for Cabot Cove actually belongs to East Derry, New Hampshire.
Q 12Which everyday skill does Murder, She Wrote's Jessica Fletcher lack, a choice made to force her into conversation while investigating?
Driving a car
Driving a car is beyond her by design, so she gets around Cabot Cove on a bicycle and everywhere else by taxi, train and the kindness of suspects.
Q 13Who played Cabot Cove's first sheriff, Amos Tupper, from 1984 to 1988?
Tom Bosley
Q 21From season eight, Jessica taught which subject at a Manhattan university?
Criminology
Jessica took a post teaching criminology at Manhattan University in season eight, keeping a New York apartment and commuting back to Cabot Cove between murders.
Q 22How many lead actress drama Emmy nominations did Murder, She Wrote bring Angela Lansbury?
12
12 nominations, one for every season, and she never won, the most nominations for a single role without a victory in Emmy history.
Q 23How many Golden Globes did Lansbury win for playing Jessica Fletcher?
Four
They came in 1984, 1986, 1989 and 1991, from ten nominations.
Tom Bosley, already familiar as Howard Cunningham on Happy Days, played Tupper until 1988, then left to star as Father Frank Dowling in Father Dowling Mysteries.
Q 14William Windom played which Cabot Cove regular, one of Jessica Fletcher's closest allies, across 52 Murder, She Wrote episodes?
Dr Seth Hazlitt
Dr Seth Hazlitt, the local doctor and one of Jessica's most intrepid supporters, appeared from 1985 to the series' end in 1996.
Q 15In Murder, She Wrote, Michael Horton played Grady Fletcher across 12 episodes; what is Grady's relationship to Jessica?
Her nephew
Her nephew Grady, an accident-prone accountant, is the relative she and her late husband raised after his parents died; he is described as her unlucky favourite.
Q 16Which actor's private eye Harry McGraw got his own 1987 spin-off, The Law & Harry McGraw?
Jerry Orbach
Jerry Orbach's seedy private eye Harry McGraw got The Law & Harry McGraw in 1987; Orbach later found lasting fame as Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order.
Q 17What is the unusual back-story of Keith Michell's recurring character Dennis Stanton?
A former jewel thief turned insurance investigator
His episodes usually open with Jessica breaking the fourth wall to introduce the story, in the show's 'bookend' format.
Q 18Angela Lansbury also played which relative of Jessica's, a London music-hall performer?
Her cousin Emma
Her cousin Emma MacGill, a brassy London music-hall performer, was Lansbury's second role on the show, first seen in the 1985 episode 'Sing a Song of Murder'.
Q 19Wayne Rogers, best known as Trapper John on M*A*S*H, played which recurring Murder, She Wrote character?
Charlie Garrett, a disreputable private eye
Garrett usually got into trouble and needed Jessica's help to get out of it.
Q 20A season three Murder, She Wrote episode concluded a crossover begun on which series in 'Novel Connection'?
Magnum, P.I.
The first half, 'Novel Connection', aired in that show's seventh season; Thomas Magnum is arrested for a killing he says was a hit on a party guest.
Q 24Who composed the show's famous theme, which won an Emmy in 1985?
John Addison
John Addison, already an Oscar winner for the score of Tom Jones (1963), wrote the theme and took the 1985 Emmy for it.
Q 25CBS moved Murder, She Wrote to Thursdays for its final season, up against which NBC juggernaut?
Friends
Friends held NBC's Thursday 8pm slot; Murder, She Wrote's ratings collapsed against it and CBS cancelled the show at the end of the 1995–96 season.
Q 26What was the show's highest season-end ratings rank, achieved in its second season?
3rd
3rd in 1985–86, behind only The Cosby Show and Family Ties; the series stayed in the Nielsen top ten for most of its run.
Q 27Who was the mayor of Cabot Cove, played by Richard Paul?
Sam Booth
Sam Booth, the pompous mayor of Cabot Cove, was played by Richard Paul, who later played Jerry Falwell in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996).
Q 28What was the title of the first Murder, She Wrote TV movie, in 1997?
South by Southwest
South by Southwest (1997), the first of the four TV movies, sent Jessica on a train journey through Texas; the last, The Celtic Riddle, aired in May 2003.
Q 29Which of Angela Lansbury's relatives produced 88 episodes of the show and wrote 15 of them?
Her brother Bruce
Her brother Bruce Lansbury served as supervising producer and wrote scripts throughout the run, while her son Anthony Shaw directed dozens of episodes.
Q 30Which studio produced Murder, She Wrote?
Universal Television
Universal Television produced all twelve seasons; Lansbury's own Corymore Productions co-produced the last four.