Murder, She Wrote: The Complete First Season (2005)

Before she was a best-selling writer and small-town sleuth solving mysteries on a weekly basis, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury, who received 12 Emmy nominations for her plucky portrayal) was a substitute English teacher kicking around the coastal town of Cabot Cove, Maine. These initial 21 episodes of Murder, She Wrote are chock-full of charm. Even though the dialogue can be hilariously heavy-handed (on a hurricane: ''Real deadly lady'') and studded with mixed metaphors (to Jessica: ''You're a very shrewd cookie but you're barking up the wrong tree''), the plot twists are delightful and the cavalcade of guest stars can't be beat: A pre-Law & Order Jerry Orbach first has his way with a wisecrack as a wry PI in the episode ''Tough Guys Don't Die'' (and got his own short-lived spin-off, The Law and Harry McGraw); Bert Convy plays a crooked composer in the TV-movie pilot, ''The Murder of Sherlock Holmes''; and Vivian Blaine and Lorna Luft are a dynamic mother-daughter talent team in ''Broadway Malady.'' Also keep an eye peeled for Andy Garcia (as a mugger in ''Sherlock Holmes'') and Joaquin Phoenix, who — billed as Leaf Phoenix — appears as Jessica's nephew in ''We're Off to Kill the Wizard.'' EXTRAS Where are they? That's the real mystery.