TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, the TOUGH GUYS DON'T DIE... until they do.

Famed mystery novel author Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is researching a tragic crime from years earlier when her private detective researcher (Floyd Levine) turns up dead. She suspects it might be her case that led to him being targeted, but he was also working on two other cases, so the suspects are threefold.

Was it the ambitious businesswoman Priscilla Daniels (Barbara Babcock) who is thought to be angling for political office with a scandal over her head, or her husband (John McMartin) out to protect her good name?

Or perhaps it's possible philanderer Ernie Santini (Alex Rocco), who is under investigation for his late nights away from his wife. If it's Jessica's case, it could also be the mysterious Judge Lambert (Fritz Weaver) who refuses to discuss the crime he's associated with. And then there's always the wife (Rosanna Huffman).

The murder leads Jessica to Boston, where she matches wits with the detective's partner out for revenge: none other than the legendary Jerry Orbach in his first appearance as Harry McGraw.

Grab your keys and don't harass any stressed-out secretaries as Margery Nelson, Nancy Lee Grahn, Paul Winfield, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, and John Furey join us for this hardboiled detective pulp noir worthy of any bookshelf.

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, Angela Lansbury is coming in via helicopter.

Distinguished painter Diego (the iconic Cesar Romero) is under siege by one of his Mediterranean island guests during his worst birthday party ever. Among the suspects: it might be his awfully young bride (Cristina Raines), his fabulous but arthritic ex-wife (Capucine), a philanthropic do-gooder (Judy Geeson), his handsome son (Fernando Allende), the art gallery owner (Stewart Granger), or maybe it's Robert Goulet.

Inspector Henry Kyle (Ron Moody) is on the case, examining discarded cigarettes and determining who pulls matches with which hand. Naturally, Jessica Fletcher (Lansbury) is getting in the way, and she has her own suspicions.

Unfortunately, no one thinks about hiding the many weapons displayed on the wall (nor did anyone secure the planter urns on the balcony). But the scenery is stunning, the weather is temperate, and the studio is on fire. Oh no!

PAINT ME A MURDER, as this Agatha Christie-style whodunnit is high on suspects, surprise entrances via French doors, suspicious heart attacks, missing servants, and local children painting pictures of donkeys. Matlock wishes...

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we're feeling very Brian De Palma neo-noir.

Writer and sleuth Jessica (Angela Lansbury) joins her niece, Pamela (Belinda Montgomery), who is suffering from major PTSD after her husband, Johnny, has died, so they go on a girls' weekend cruise to get her nerves right.

You see, the husband just couldn't cope with his being... adopted? Really? That's the scandal that led to him taking his life? Ok, well, apparently that was too much for him, and now his birth mother might be back to torment Pamela into joining him in the afterlife? What a month.

Rather than wonder who's guilty of murder, most of our time is taken up by figuring out which woman of a certain age might be hounding our guest heroine, who seems on the brink of several breakdowns.

Perhaps it's sexy ship purser Diane (Lynda Day George)? Or is it the somewhat dotty secretaries on vacation (Vicki Lawrence playing straight man to Jo Anne Worley's scenery chewer)? A doctor (Rosemary Forsyth) with her newlywed husband (Lawrence Pressman)? They're all on board the ship that looks suspiciously like the Queen Mary.

Between scares and near-misses, we are charmed by the steward Ramon (Paul Carafotes) and enamored with sexy geek Russell (Andrew Parks) in their fitted era-appropriate trousers. And if you want someone a little more age-appropriate for Jessica, we even have Leslie Nielsen as the crusty but fetching Captain Daniels, in the role usually held by a skeptical police detective.

Gird your loins for some suspenseful hoochie coochie as MY JOHNNY LIES OVER THE OCEAN promises to be a rollercoaster that leads Jessica to reach for the wine bottle. Oh, Ramon!