Madison Avenue Shoot

February 23, 2009
Where Jessica Fletcher goes, murder invariably follows, as shown in Bain's taut 31st mystery to feature the crime-solving character immortalized by Angela Lansbury on the small screen (after 2008's A Slaying in Savannah
). While visiting her ad exec nephew, Grady Fletcher, and his family in New York City, Jessica agrees to appear in a TV commercial as one of several celebrities promoting an international credit card. Betsy Archibald, the creative director of the ad agency handling the shoot, makes the experience uncomfortable for all involved due to frequent tantrums. When Grady's nine-year-old son, Frank, disappears on the set while watching his great-aunt perform, his parents become frantic. Jessica and Grady's search reveals Betsy, dead from a nail-gun wound, but no Frank. Did the boy witness the murder? Jessica at first irritates the police detective in charge of the investigation, but later impresses him as she cracks the case in her typical no-nonsense style.

February 1, 2009
The fictional mystery writer who's allegedly co-authored this title finds her zillionth body.

Jessica Fletcher's nephew Grady has a history of unfortunate jobs. His latest, with a Manhattan payroll company in the advertising industry, gives him an ulterior motive for encouraging a visit from his famous aunt. He's hinted that Jessica might be interested in doing a commercial for Permezzo, an international credit-card company that's already lined up food-channel cook Stella Bedford, industry-expos author Anne Tripper and mystic Lance Severson. Reluctantly agreeing, Jessica meets her fellow celebs along with ad-agency hotshot Betsy Archibald, Permezzo president Antonio Tedeschi, Stella's manager Jimbo and all the others needed to make a TV commercial. The clash of personalities on the set shows that only Jessica is ready to do a professional job. After Grady's son Frank, who was eager to see the shoot, is accused of smashing some expensive lights, angry Betsy has several nasty encounters with crew members. While searching for Frank, who's gone missing, Jessica and Grady discover Betsy, killed by a nail gun. Jessica's experience with the volatile group has left her with a slew of suspects the police are ignoring in favor of Frank. Her sleuthing leads to a number of hidden motives and finally the truth.

Yet another in the long-running series (Murder She Wrote: A Slaying in Savannah, 2008, etc.) based on the equally long-running TV program. Reliable light reading for TV-deprived fans.

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