Detective or killer? Live show reignites enduring fan theory
By Nick Dent
The New England town of Cabot Cove is the fictional abode of Jessica Fletcher, the mystery novelist portrayed by the late Angela Lansbury in the CBS Universal crime drama Murder, She Wrote that ran from 1984 to 1996.
Cabot Cove is also, if the show is to be believed, the murder capital of the world, with 60 killings in the span of 12 years despite a population of only 3500 people.
Angela Lansbury played amateur detective Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote for 12 years.Credit: CBS Universal
In each episode of the program Fletcher investigates a case that usually involves one of her 13 nieces and nephews – none of whom is disturbed to see her, even though her appearance inevitably heralds a mysterious death.
“It’s a popular fan theory that she killed them all,” says Brisbane-born theatre-maker Tim Benzie, who is bringing his hit UK show Solve-Along-a-Murder-She-Wrote to Australia next month. “Because she’s the one who’s always there.”
Appropriately enough for a mystery fan, Benzie grew up in Chandler (eh?), obsessed with Agatha Christie. He recalls watching Murder, She Wrote with his parents and trying to work out the solutions during the commercial breaks.
Relocating to London, he conceived the “solve-along” format as a sideline to his day job as a civil servant, and it premiered at comedy and drag venue The Royal Vauxhall Tavern in 2018.
Mystery man: Tim Benzie hosts interactive screenings of campy TV crime series Murder, She Wrote.Credit: David Bartholomew
Dressed unconvincingly as Jessica Fletcher, Benzie will introduce an episode and interrupt it to analyse, point out mistakes, and conduct games and quizzes. Audience members are given a sign like an auction paddle to raise if they see anything suspicious.
The first performance sold out in two hours. “The audience went nuts. I was in the tiny dressing room and I could hear them roaring. And I was like, I think I’m onto something here.”
Benzie travels the length and breadth of the UK and Ireland with the show. Devotees or “Fangelas” ensure repeat business, and he has solve-alongs for 34 different episodes – a spreadsheet ensures no venue gets the same show twice.
The performer believes he’s part of the trend towards “cosy crime”, along with novelists like Richard Osman (The Thursday Murder Club) and the Daniel Craig movies Knives Out and Glass Onion.
“The theory is that cosy crime is most popular in times of social upheaval and societal trauma. Because it offers a singular, simple moral universe, in which there is one person who commits a crime and they are arrested at the end. In a way it helps us to stop death.”
Lansbury’s performance is key to the enduring appeal of the TV show, Benzie says. “I think there’s an enormous amount of affection for her, she plays a really great character, she’s kind of like everyone’s mum.”
But what of the angel of death theory? After all, successful real-life novelists Anne Perry and Liu Yongbiao were both convicted killers, and Lansbury herself was more associated with villainous characters in films such as The Manchurian Candidate and Gaslight prior to being cast as the motherly sleuth. Could Jessica actually have dunnit?
“I’m here to tell you, having watched all 264 episodes many times, it’s not possible,” Benzie says. “She definitely has alibis.”
Solve-Along-a-Murder-She-Wrote, featuring the episode Sing a Song of Murder, takes place at Dendy Coorparoo, Tuesday, May 7, 7pm.