As a favor to a close friend, Jessica travels to a town in Oregon and poses as her friend to investigate the suspicious circumstances under which the friend’s sister died. Will Stuart Whitman get all up in Jessica’s guts? I hope!
Season 4, Episode 9: Trouble In Eden (November 22, 1987)
Mary Rose Welch, a friend of Jessica’s, receives word of her sister Charlotte’s sudden death in the town of Eden, Oregon. When a hit-and-run attempt leaves Mary Rose hospitalized, Jessica suspects foul play. Donning the identity of her friend, Jessica travels to Eden to investigate the Garden of Eden hotel, which Charlotte owned, and quickly discovers that the town’s name is the only pure thing about it.
Who’s in it, outside of Angela Lansbury?
- Macdonald Carey (Dr. Lynch): A prolific actor known for his long-running role as Dr. Tom Horton on Days of Our Lives, he was also in The Damned, Foes and End of the World.
- Joan Caulfield (Mary Rose Welch): A classic film star; best known for Dear Ruth and The Petty Girl.
- Thom Christopher (Rev. Willard Manchester): Holy shit! That’s Hawk from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
- Tom Fitzsimmons (Lewis Framm): A character actor who appeared in numerous television staples like The Waltons. He was also in Zombie Island Massacre.
- Betty Garrett (Martha Neilson): Iconic musical star of MGM’s golden age (On the Town, Take Me Out to the Ball Game) and beloved sitcom star of All in the Family and Laverne & Shirley.
- Tricia O’Neil (Lila Benson): Appeared in Piranha II: The Spawning and played Captain Rachel Garrett in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise.”
- Roy Thinnes (Sheriff Howard Landry): An absolute legend of science fiction for his iconic lead role as David Vincent in the classic cult series The Invaders. He also starred in the cult horror film The Norliss Tapes.
- Mills Watson (Glen Roy Sitwell): A go-to guy when you needed a gruff character.
- Stuart Whitman (C.J. Dobbs): Man, what wasn’t he in? Five episodes of this show, to start. He was also in Demonoid!
In smaller roles, there’s Rosanna Huffman (Dora Manchester), Kerry Wall (Beth), Renata Scott (Charlotte Welch) and Rebecca Forman (Sherry).
What happens?
Convinced that someone is trying to silence the family, Jessica travels to Oregon to investigate. To get closer to the truth, she adopts a risky strategy: posing as Mary Rose, she figures the locals will talk more freely to the grieving sister than to a famous mystery writer.
Upon arriving in Eden, Jessica discovers that the town is rife with corruption. Charlotte had been operating a brothel and, more importantly, had been gathering blackmail material on the town’s most prominent men. Jessica navigates a web of deceit involving the local doctor (who falsified the death certificate), the sheriff (who is on the payroll of the town’s real estate mogul) and several terrified blackmail victims.
As Jessica investigates, she realizes the town is being manipulated by C.J. Dobbs, a wealthy real estate tycoon who has been swindling locals out of their property to sell to a developer. When Jessica discovers that Charlotte had a secret strongbox containing the evidence of these crimes, she sets a trap. She bluffs the primary suspects, telling them the sheriff is searching for the missing box. When the killer attempts to destroy the evidence, Jessica and the sheriff catch him in the act.
Who did it?
The killer was C.J. Dobbs, the town’s prominent real estate developer. He murdered Charlotte in her bed with a knife because she had discovered his scheme to swindle the residents of Eden out of their properties and was preparing to expose him. He used his influence in the town to cover up the crime, including manipulating the local doctor and sheriff to ensure the body was cremated before a proper investigation could take place. His undoing came when he said too much to Jessica about the contents of Charlotte’s blackmail box, revealing knowledge that only the murderer could have possessed.
Who made it?
Another episode by Nick Havinga. It was written by John D.F. Black (who also wrote The Clone Master, the original Wonder Woman TV movie, Trouble Man, Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate, Shaft and two episodes of Star Trek, “The Naked Time” and “The Menagerie”) and Paul Savage, who wrote 110 episodes of Gunsmoke.
Does Jessica dress up and act stupid? Does she get some?
She spends an entire episode as someone else. I’d like to think that Stuart Whitman treated her to a trip to Poundtown, thinking she had loose morals like her sister.
Was it any good?
Yes!
Any trivia?
Charlotte’s brothel location was also used as the house in Cheaper By the Dozen and in The Killing Kind.
Give me a reasonable quote:
Mary Rose Welch: In the Garden of Eden Hotel. Oh, that name is so lovely and peaceful. I hope Charlotte was happy there.
Jessica Fletcher: Oh, I’m sure she was. It was her kind of place.
Mary Rose Welch: I’ve been thinking. The Garden of Eden is my hotel now. Why shouldn’t I be happy? I’ve decided, I’m gonna go up there and run the place myself. Now tell me the truth. Do you think I’ll be any good at it?
What’s next?
A young Native American man throws Cabot Cove into chaos by laying claim to the land on which the town sits. When a local resident with valuable property is found murdered, all signs point to the town’s supposed new landowner.
