Murder Takes the Bus

Jessica Fletcher and Sheriff Amos Tupper take a bus from Cabot Cove bus to Boston and it ends in murder.

The victim is Gilbert Stoner who boarded the bus along the route. He is fresh out of prison for robbery and murder. When the bus develops engine problems, it stops at a diner.

Stoner is found dead on the bus and one of the people on the bus must be the killer. Jessica Fletcher finds out that many of the people who boarded the bus had some kind of link to the victim.

The story is a variant of Murder on the Orient Express with some bluffs and double bluffs. It relies on some clever observation from Jessica Fletcher to figure out the murderer.

There is a cast of well known faces. From Rue McClanahan to Larry Linville and Linda Blair.

Have always been quite fond of 'Murder She Wrote'. It is a fun and relaxing watch that makes you think as you try to unwind in the evening. If one wants more complex, twisty mysteries with lots of tension and suspense 'Murder She Wrote' may not be for you, but if you want something light-hearted and entertaining but still provide good mysteries 'Murder She Wrote' fits the bill just fine.

Alongside "Lovers and Other Killers" and "Paint Me a Murder" (would count the pilot "The Murder of Sherlock Holmes" here too), "Murder Takes the Bus" is in the top 5 best episodes of a generally solid Season 1 (even the weakest episodes are not bad at all). Would go as far to say that it is one of the high points of the whole show.

Can't find anything to fault "Murder Takes the Bus", suspending disbelief of the distance of the bus ride is such a nit-pick and is instantly forgettable when one is enjoying the episode so much.

It's a good-looking episode as always. Nicely shot and attractive fashions that makes one nostalgic for the 80s period (even to those who weren't even alive yet). The music has presence but also not making the mistake of over-scoring, while it is hard to forget or resist the theme tune.

The script is often charming and amiable, while the story is hugely compelling and suspenseful with lots of twists and an ingenious ending.

Angela Lansbury is terrific in one of her best remembered roles one of the roles that is most closely associated with me at any rate). Tom Bosley is good and Linda Blair, Rue McClanahan and Michael Constantine are particularly strong in support.

Overall, wonderful and one of the best. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This episode marks the only "MSW" episode for guest stars Charles Bazaldua, Linda Blair, Terence Knox, Rue McClanahan, Albert Salmi and David Wayne. Larry Linville, Albert Salmi and David Wayne have unfortunately since passed.

Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) boards the Cabot Cove bus en route to Boston, as Sheriff Amos Tupper (Tom Bosley), en route to an officer's banquet experiences automobile difficulty as a result of a storm, and joins her aboard.

Ben Gibbons (Michael Constantine) operates the bus, which contains six additional passengers: Librarian Miriam Radford (Rue McClanahan) and her husband, Professor Kent Radford (Larry Linville), young couple Jane Pascal (Linda Blair) and Steve Pascal (Terence Knox), Cyrus Leffingwell (David Wayne) and Joe Downing (Albert Salmi).

Carey Drayson (Don Stroud) also experiences engine difficulties from the storm, and emerges from his station wagon to flag down the bus, while carrying a briefcase, before entering. The bus also stops to pick up a lone Gilbert Stoner (John Davis Chandler), who enters, recognizing one of its passengers.

But as the bus exits Cabot Cove County (Sheriff Tupper's jurisdiction), its engine also becomes flooded as a result of the downpour, yet manages to arrive at a remote diner, operated by Ralph Leary (Mills Watson), for most of its passengers to seek refuge from the thunderstorm.

Jessica observes the gathering from a vantage point, from which she is also able to scrutinize the bus' interior through its windows, to which she observes activity around the one passenger who does not enter the restaurant--for he has been murdered, and discovered after being stabbed with a screwdriver, with no sign of blood upon his clothing.

As the plot unfolds, Jessica learns that the victim has been paroled from a state penitentiary, after serving time, along with two other men, for his part in a crime which had claimed the life of a young girl.

During the course of the ensuing investigation, it is discovered that a book which the victim had been carrying on board has vanished, that a citizen's band radio in a back room of the diner has been destroyed, that one of the passengers is discovered carrying a concealed weapon, and that there is another door from the diner leading toward the bus.

Jessica and Amos (although outside of his jurisdiction) must now make the connections between the co-conspirators of the crime of which the victim had been convicted, and also a connection, if any, between the child who had perished and anyone else currently stranded at the diner, among the nine sequestered from civilization, who appear at the same time frightened and very guilty-looking, as "Murder Takes the Bus." The cast is rounded out by Man (Charles Bazaldua).

Amos accompanies Jessica on a bus trip to Portland, where she plans to give a speech. The weather takes a turn for the worse, and a worried looking man boards the bus, headed for Portland. As they continue on their journey they break down. All passengers head into a Cafe, as the bus driver remains outside to fix the engine problem. Jessica returns to the bus to collect a book, where she discovers the worried man, dead, with a screwdriver stuck in his shoulder.

There are many fans of the show that would place this episode top of the pile, for good reason. It is a brilliant mystery, has a true whodunit setup. It's dark, stormy, loaded with suspects, the principle cast are all cut off, and there's a big twist at the end. The music is arguably the best score to feature on the show. There are virtually no flaws to this episode, it's a wonderfully interesting cast, the villain has history, he's not just a bad guy upsetting all and sundry, even Amos Tupper shows a level of intelligence, proving he can observe and think, ahead of Jessica.

Every single thing about this episode is spot on, it's brilliant. 10/10

Murder follows wherever Jessica Fletcher goes, even on a bus that she and Tom Bosley are taking to different destinations.

This story is a homage to Agatha Christie's classic Murder On The Orient Express where John Davis Chandler is murdered on the bus. Turns out Chandler was a career criminal just released from prison who stashed a lot of loot from his last job before he was caught.

And like in the fame Christie classic a whole lot of the bus passengers had some kind of connection to Chandler even to one of them just being an insurance investigator hoping Chandler would lead him to the hidden loot. But greed is not the only motive for killing this man.

I have to say the murderer figured a clever way to give himself an alibi, just not clever enough.

We learn that Tom Bosley before he became sheriff drove a bus for a while. His knowledge of the operation of the vehicle turns out to be valuable.

One of the best of the series.