[Dixielandjazz] Murder She Wrote

[Robert Ringwald]

Derek Coller noted biographer, writer and jazz critic from the UK, Posed the following question. Anyone have an answer? 



Bob Ringwald



MURDER, SHE WROTE



         Is this the time for a little light relief, before the Spring arrives?  A time to reveal my guilty secret?



The long-running television series, Murder, She Wrote, featured Angela Lansbury as mystery writer J.B. Fletcher, the greatest amateur detective since Agatha Christie's heyday. During 2019, repeats of the series were shown as I was settling down to my evening meal, with the result that I watched quite a few.



        During one such viewing I realized that some of the characters had  names that sounded familiar.  My memory is that there were at least six such, all connected with the early Bob Crosby orchestra. I do recall Clark Randall, Sterling Bose and Kay Weber.



Subsequently there were five other episodes where I noted jazz connections. One had Edmond Hall and a detective Gowans, another was set in Paris, with Hughes Panassie, Violet Bechet, Maxim Soury (not Saury!), Lu Watters, Eva Taylor and Peter Appleyard.



One episode with a baseball background included Harry Dial, Pete Briggs, Al Sidell, Flip Phillips, and bandleaders Freddie Masters and Mike Warlop. Another repeated these same names, except for Johnny Eaton instead of Michael (Mike) Warlop. There was also a story set in New Orleans, involving jazz musicians, though I failed to spot any familiar names.



A quick check via Google found that Murder, She Wrote ran for 264 episodes between 1984 and 1996. There is a rather long list of all the actors who participated, with their photographs, and their character names. A short sampling revealed a few more examples - Frances Hunt, Boyce Brown, Larry Shields, Kim (!) Bechet, and Detective Bess Stacy!



Credits are usually difficult to read as they unscroll, but the story editor is generally one Robert Swanson. So the mystery here is, was Mr. Swanson the guilty party? Was he the enthusiast who influenced the writers or was there a secret jazz collector hidden among them? Who can unmask the culprit? Can we put J.B. Fletcher on the case?



Derek Coller


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