Book Review: Manuscript for Murder | Jon Land & Jessica Fletcher | Murder, She Wrote

Clever and addictive, this newest installment in the Murder She Wrote mysteries by Jon Land will have you on the edge of your seat, unable to put this book down! I am one happy mystery-lover after reading Manuscript for Murder. This story was outlandish enough to be fun, but also down-to-earth enough to feel like with a small stretch of the imagination, it could really be happening. I am delighted with this cozy mystery, and I think other mystery fans will be too!!!

About the Book

Jessica Fletcher investigates a mysterious manuscript with deadly consequences in the latest entry in this USA Today bestselling series…

Jessica Fletcher has had plenty to worry about over her storied career, both as a bestselling novelist and amateur sleuth. But she never had any reason to worry about her longtime publisher, Lane Barfield, who also happens to be a trusted friend. When mounting evidence of financial malfeasance leads to an FBI investigation of Lane, Jessica can’t believe what she’s reading.

So when Barfield turns up dead, Jessica takes on the task of proving Barfield’s innocence–she can’t fathom someone she’s known and trusted for so long cheating her. Sure enough, Jessica’s lone wolf investigation turns up several oddities and inconsistencies in Barfield’s murder. Jessica knows something is being covered up, but what exactly? The trail she takes to answer that question reveals something far more nefarious afoot, involving shadowy characters from the heights of power in Washington. At the heart of Jessica’s investigation lies a manuscript Barfield had intended to bring out after all other publishers had turned it down. The problem is that manuscript has disappeared, all traces of its submission and very existence having been wiped off the books.

With her own life now in jeopardy, Jessica refuses to back off and sets her sights on learning the contents of that manuscript and what about it may have led to several murders. Every step she takes brings her closer to the truth of what lies in the pages, as well as the person who penned them.

Reflection

When I say this book is unputdownable, I mean it! I have been super busy, with a really hectic job and an MBA course I’m teaching (plus finishing my dissertation). But I  managed to finish this in two days despite all of that! I was sneaking a few pages every chance I got – waiting in line at the coffee shop, sneaking out on my lunch break to read, staying up late into the night frantically consuming pages. I found myself pondering it in the shower, as I tried to fall asleep, while I was walking to the train. I absolutely loved this mystery!

From the time I was a young girl I watched Murder She Wrote with my grandmother, so I love Jessica Fletcher like she is a member of my family! It may have started because my grandmother told me she was the voice of Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast, but it is also one of my earliest mystery loves (the other being Nancy Drew, of course).

Here we have Jessica just as bold and intelligent as ever, with a certain loveable humbleness that defies the accolades she has received in her career. As Jessica begins to look into the mysterious deaths, she realizes the manuscript she was asked to read may be more valuable than she could have ever realized. And being Jessica Fletcher, she doesn’t shy away of the string of bodies in the wake of this manuscript. In fact, Jessica shuttles the manuscript right onto the train back to Maine, fiercely protecting the 800-page behemoth! I think any book lover will find themselves tickled at the idea of an unpublished manuscript holding the key to a mystery that may take Jessica all the way to the White House. I am buzzing with energy right now even thinking about how much that premise excites me, and I already read the book!

And of course, I will never spoil the book. But I do want to tease you and say the conclusion is a delight to the mystery-lover soul! Intelligent and satisfying—you will leave this book wanting more Jessica Fletcher in your life! Jon Land has crafted this wonderful cozy mystery with a bit of thriller to it—an homage to the book within the book, I’d imagine! I can’t wait to read more in this iteration of Murder She Wrote!