The first episode of Murder, She Wrote's fourth season is partially filmed on location in Paris. Mystery writer Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) has arrived in the City of Light to witness the first major presentation of an old friend, now a fashion designer. Our heroine's pleasure becomes business when a loan shark is murdered and Jessica's financially-strapped friend is accused of the crime. Despite all this intrigue, guest star Juliet Prowse finds time to sing a medley of such Gallic favorites as "La Vie en Rose."

Paroled after 20 years, a convicted murderer (John Glover) returns to his home town of Cabot Cove to find the man whom he thinks actually committed the crime for which he was imprisoned. The trail leads to a local high-school coach (Kenneth MacMillan) on the verge of retirement, and to another man (Dack Rambo) who apparently commits suicide. When this death is ruled a murder, the hapless ex-con is framed a second time, and it is up to Jessica (Angela Lansbury) to figure out who's really responsible for all the carnage.

This time Jessica (Angela Lansbury) travels to Quebec, there to attend the trial of an old friend who has been charged with murdering his wife and then torching his house. In order to prove her friend's innocence, Angela ends up agreeing to serve as a witness. . .for the prosecution. The lawyers in the case are played by Claire Trevor and Patrick McGoohan, the latter making an amusing courtroom reference to the astonishing number of Jessica's nieces and nephews who've been accused of murder in the past!

A terminally ill nun apparently commits suicide--which of course is a mortal sin in the eyes of the Catholic church. In order to prove that the nun did not die by her own hand, the dead woman's Mother Superior (Jane Powell) prevails upon her old friend Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) to follow the trail of clues--one of which reveals some disturbingly sordid details. This episode is distinguished a particularly stellar cast of veteran actors, including Audrey Totter in her last role before retirement.

Cornell Wilde guest stars as Duncan Barnett, the ruthless founder-CEO of Barnett Industries. Gathering his board of directors (and their wives and loved ones) to his lavish New York estage, Barnett seems poised to name his successor. Instead, he is killed in an accident--or, at least, it looks like an accident. Among the board members is a certain Maine-based mystery writer named Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who begins to suspect that there's dirty work afoot as she watches Barnett's employees wheel, deal, bicker and backstab incessantly throughout the balance of the episode.

Angela Lansbury once again essays the dual role of Maine-based mystery writer Jessica Fletcher and her colorful cousin, British music-hall headliner Emma MacGill. This time around, Emma is suspected of murder when her fiancé, Viscount Geoffrey Constable (Richard Johnson) expires after consuming some poisoned herring. With the same cunning and finesse as cousin Jessica, Emma turns sleuth to clear her name and expose the guilty party. The episode is highlighted by Angela Lansbury's rendition of Jerome Kern's rousing ditty "Spoon With Me", which the actress had previously performed (with a dubbed voice!) in the 1946 theatrical film Till the Clouds Roll By".

Sheriff Amos Tupper (Tom Bosley) is understandably distressed when Audrey Martin (Antoinette Bower), the wife of Amos' bucolic deputy Jonathan Martin (Rick Lenz), apparently commits suicide. Further investigation reveals that Audrey was murdered, at which point Amos discovers that the seemingly harmless Jonathan was carrying on extramarital affairs with several of Cabot Cove's most eligible middle-aged ladies! With the help of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), Amos tries to determine if one of Jonathan's conquests could also be a murderess. Among the suspects in this episode are two of Angela Lansbury's former MGM colleagues, Gloria DeHaven and Kathryn Grayson.

No sooner has Jessica (Angela Lansbury) shipped her latest book to the publisher than someone plagiarizes its plotline for an episode of a TV crime series. Arriving in Hollywood to track down the culprit, Jessica crosses the path of an unscrupulous producer who specializes in stealing other people's ideas. Naturally, such a fellow would have accumulated an inordinately large list of enemies--one of whom manages to kill the producer with a live bomb during a staged special-effects sequence.

When Mary Rose Welch (Joan Caulfield) is injured in a car accident, she prevails upon Jessica (Angela Lansbury) to travel to the town of Eden, where Mary's sister has recently died under mysterious circumstances. Figuring that the best way to get to the truth is to adopt a guise, Jessica poses as Mary and shows up in Eden for the funeral. It doesn't take her long to determine that this "idyllic" community is hardly Edenlike, and that skeletons in the closet abound! Among the suspects on this occasion are Sheriff Landry (Roy Thinnes), Dr. Lynch (MacDonald Carey) and realtor C.J. Dobbs (Stuart Whitman)--all of whom knew Mary a little more intimately than they're willing to reveal.

Native American George Longbow (Bernie White), a member of the Algonquin tribe, shows up in Cabot Cove bearing a seemingly authentic land grant which states that Longbow owns the entire community. One of the locals is displeased by George's presence, threatening dire consequences if the Indian tries to lay claim to Cabot Cove. Shortly thereafter, the angry citizen is found murdered--with an Algonquin lance. An open-and-shut case? Not so far as Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is concerned.