MURDER SHE WROTE: A DATE WITH MURDER by Jon Land - SIGNED FIRST EDITION BOOK
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Jessica Fletcher investigates a friend's murder and a dangerous dating service in the latest entry in this USA Today bestselling series...
Jessica Fletcher takes up the cause of her good friend Barbara "Babs" Wirth after Babs' husband Hal suffers a fatal heart attack that Jessica has reason to believe was actually murder. At the heart of her suspicions lies a sinister dating site Hal had used while he and Babs were having marital issues—a site that may be complicit in somehow swindling him out of millions.
Jessica's investigation reveals that Hal was far from the only victim and when his former business partner is also killed, a deadly pattern emerges. Jessica teams up with a brilliant young computer hacker to follow the trail but as she gets closer to the truth, two near misses force her to realize that she may very well be the next victim.
The stakes have never been this high as Jessica finds herself being stalked by the killer she is trying to catch. She must now set the perfect trap to avoid her very own date with murder.
DATE WITH MURDER
By Jessica Fletcher and Jon Land Reviewed by Russell Ilg
There are few brands with better name recognition than MURDER, SHE WROTE and, arguably,no sleuth better known than Jessica Fletcher. The fabulously successful television show, featuring Angela Lansbury, was a huge hit and spawned a book series that rested in the able hands of Don Bain for 46 titles.
Following Bain’s passing last year, thriller author Jon Land stepped into his shoes and his first effort joining forces with the fictional Jessica, A Date with Murder, is a spectacular success. Lending a harder edge to an established formula has the dual effect of keeping things cozy, while at the same time making the series feel more fresh and contemporary.
Look no further than Jessica’s uncovering a nefarious Internet dating site as responsible for a trusted friend’s murder as a prime example of just that. Following Jessica’s relentless crusade which brings her into the netherworld of the worldwide web made for great fun, especially when she ultimately poses as a lonely dowager herself to flesh out the murderous manipulators associated with the aptly named Love Is Yours.com
Written as always in first person means placing Jessica in every single scene, and we welcome her the same way we’d invite a trusted friend over for coffee (or tea, in her case). She drives a bicycle instead of a car, evokes unadulterated passion for her hometown of Cabot Cove, and seems to revel in her lively banter with the likes of Dr. Seth Hazlitt, Sheriff Mort Metzger, and private detective Harry McGraw as much as we do. Yes, Jon Land might be new at this series, but he brings that cozily comfortable cast of characters along for the ride, meshing them with some new millennial friends we meet for the first time.
The difference, as Jessica investigates the murders of both computer maven Hal Wirth and his alcoholic ex-business partner, is that she finds her own life in peril at the hands of their killer. This along the fact that the sinister dating site is responsible for far more murders with a cutthroat clever economic motivation that stretches beyond the comfortable confines of Cabot Cove, combine to make A Date with Murder as much thriller as mystery, a bit more hardboiled than soft.
But what’s in a name? Jessica Fletcher remains the quintessential American sleuth, our own Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes, a pop culture icon across multi-media platforms. And in A Date with Murder, Jon Land has penned a classic whodunit that rivals the best of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. His series debut is nothing short of a monumental triumph of form and function, replete with the kind of suspense and swift pacing certain to leave you guessing and gasping. This is mystery writing of the highest order, the MURDER SHE WROTE series certain to be safe in his grasp, even if the same cannot be said for the beleaguered residents of Cabot Cove
