Review Murder, She Wrote Developer: Legacy Interactive Publisher: Legacy Interactive Genre: Casual/Adventure Release Date: November 2009 (PC-digital) April 2010 (PC/Mac-retail) Platform: Review by Randy Sluganski November 11, 2009		Buy this game at Trade for this game at:

For those not old enough to remember, Murder, She Wrote aired on network television for 246 episodes from 1984 – 1996 and starred the venerable Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, a mystery writer with a knack for solving murders.

Jessica Fletcher is an Americanized version of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, which makes sense as the show’s title is a reference to Murder She Said, a 1961 Miss Marple mystery novel. Legacy Interactive has also deemed to pay homage to Agatha Christie as two of the five storylines in this game reference Dame Christie (we’ll spill the beans on this later).

Now, Jessica Fletcher is a tough middle-aged broad (when this show first aired I would have called her a tough old broad, but as I’ve aged my perspectives have changed somewhat!) who is not someone you would want to count among your friends as she seems to attract dead bodies quicker than Sarah Palin attracts one-liners from late night talk show hosts. In fact, with all of the deaths, it is a small wonder that anyone is left alive in her hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine. This problem seems to also persist wherever she travels which makes me think there should be some sort of color-coded Jessica Fletcher Travel Alert.

Her best-selling novels and methods of deduction have granted her credibility as a well-respected criminologist and her advice is often sought by her friends Dr. Seth Haslett and Sheriff Amos Tupper. Though the game does feature the original theme music from the show – which I actually found to be quite surprising – none of the original actors reprise their voice roles. But Phoebe Moyer as Jessica and Andrew Chaiken and Roger Jackson as most of the rest of the supporting cast offer a more than commendable job.

Produced and designed by Craig Brannon, PhD. – who is also responsible for Legacy’s Law & Order series – Murder, She Wrote features five cases which must be played consecutively. In A Deadly Catch, the Lobster Wars result in tragedy as a lobsterman is found dead; Murder in the Maples (Christie reference #1) takes place in the sticky world of maple syrup providers and has a great opening death scenario; A Garden to Die For concerns a bitter feud between some prissy old men and their garden club competitions; Secrets & Ashes shows what happens to chain smokers and The Final Curtain (Christie reference #2, this was also the title of Hercule Poirot’s final case) takes Jessica to London where, guess what?, someone else dies. This woman’s a female grim reaper I tell ya!

Each case offers an option of either Timed or Relaxed Mode. As my hairline is already receding, I chose relaxed so as to enjoy the game. At its heart, Murder, She Wrote is a hidden object game. Each story begins with a murder and we are then whisked to various locations around town to search for objects pertinent – and often not so pertinent – to solving the case. But there are also opportunities within most locations to analyze evidence and play mini-games that uncover clues and evidence. Some of the mini-games are engaging - such as a Concentration game with moving pieces - and there is overall a nice variety of such games. Any mini-game that you find yourself stuck on can be skipped, but there is a 30-minute penalty to do so.

Each location, besides the usual find the necktie draped over the chandelier (what do the characters in these hidden object games do while we are away that clothing articles are scattered in the most unlikely of places?), requires you to find the missing typewriter vowel keys that are hidden in the room. The list of objects to be found is missing all of the vowels, so once you find a key, that missing vowel then appears in the appropriate words.

Cut-scenes between locations offer interviews with suspects. This is really my major beef about the game as these scenes are non-interactive and the player has absolutely no input into the questioning of the suspects or the deduction of the guilty party. Instead, you feel as though you are watching an animated version of the show unfold before you. They are well done though and flow smoothly.

Still, Murder, She Wrote is an innocuous game with each case taking from 1- 2 hours to complete. It stays true to the spirit of the show and the price is a steal at $9.99.