Hello everyone! My name is Jessica Fletcher, although the mystery lovers who read the novels I write often think of me as J. B. Fletcher. (In case you were wondering, the B. stands for Beatrice which is my middle name.)

One of the perks of being a writer is that I am sometimes invited to speak at conferences, bookstores, libraries, colleges and, occasionally, even high schools. I accept as many invitations as I can because it is always a pleasure to talk with readers and to hear what they have to say about my books. I am pleased that they are usually complimentary, and their comments often come back to encourage me on the dark days when I am struggling while trying to write a difficult passage on the book I am currently drafting.

And, I admit, it is always delightful when an invitation to speak is in a town or a city where I have friends I haven’t seen for a while. So, when I received an invitation from Marshall Stryback to speak at the magnificent Boston Central Library on Copley Square, I accepted and immediately decided to arrange my schedule so that I could spend time with my old friend Harry McGraw, who is one of the most interesting private investigators I have ever met. And once I thought of Harry, my mind jumped to his favorite hangout, Gilhooley’s where the bar was manned by my favorite bartender, Cookie Davis.

My flight to Boston with my friend Seth Hazlitt was extremely smooth and now I am sitting at a table in Gilhooley’s waiting for my favorite dinner, their famous Irish Shepherd’s Pie. Cookie’s daughter, Aileen had just arrived with a date, a well-dressed young man named Victor, the very sight of whom brought thunderclouds into Cookie’s eyes. While Harry and Seth were catching up on old times and paying attention to the mob surrounding the pool table where some sort of a championship match was being held, I watched Cookie as he managed to do his job while intently peering at Aileen and Victor. I didn’t quite understand. I mean, Aileen is a grown woman, a well-respected school teacher and, although I knew she was the apple of her father’s eye, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why Cookie was so intent. At the time I had no idea that before very long a worst-case scenario would come crashing down on Aileen and Cookie Davis. Oh, here is Marty, the waiter with my Shepherd’s Pie. I’ll catch up with you later,

Murder, She Wrote: A Body in Boston – A Murder, She Wrote Mystery, Book 61
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: July 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Jessica Fletcher has dinner with her old pal Harry McGraw and gets pulled into a puzzling murder case.

Invited to deliver a lecture at the Boston Public Library, Jessica Fletcher excitedly makes plans to see local friends. Naturally that includes dinner at Gilhooley’s with PI Harry McGraw. Harry excitedly talks about his latest client, the CEO of Cure All Pharmaceuticals, who’s received anonymous blackmail demands and wants Harry to identify the culprit. Cookie, Gilhooley’s longtime bartender, also has something he wants to tell Jessica: he asked Harry to investigate his daughter Aileen’s boyfriend, who Cookie thinks is too slick by half, but now Harry is too wrapped up in this new case. While Jessica wonders how best to approach Aileen, the young woman stumbles into Gilhooley’s covered in blood. She just discovered her boyfriend’s corpse — and quickly becomes the chief suspect in his murder!

About the author
Terrie Farley Moran is co-author, along with Jessica Fletcher, of ten mysteries in the long running Murder, She Wrote series. Murder, She Wrote A Body in Boston (July 2025) will be followed by Murder, She Wrote The Body in the Trees (December 2025). She has also written the beachside Read ‘Em and Eat cozy mystery series, and is co-author of four novels in Laura Childs’ New Orleans scrapbooking mysteries. Her short stories have been published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly Magazine and numerous anthologies. Terrie is a recipient of both the Agatha and the Derringer awards. Find her online at www.terriefarleymoran.com.