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.