Jessica Fletcher’s sleuthing landed the fictional author a Guinness World Record title. She holds a Guinness World Record for being the most prolific amateur sleuth. Including the series and the subsequent television movies, the character has appeared on television solving crimes more than anyone else. Fletcher was neither the first nor the last female detective (amateur or otherwise) to solve crime on the small screen, but her appearance on “Murder, She Wrote” was more than enough to put her in her own lane. It’s no wonder she’s one of the most influential fictional detectives to ever hit the TV screen, per Yard Barker.
Lansbury would say that she had to put her own spin on the character in the early years of filming the show. She stated that she modeled her character to reflect an older woman that people of all ages could still relate to, per Biography.
In a 2018 interview with Parade, the actress said that how she shaped Fletcher resulted in the character’s lifespan on television. “I didn’t want her to be a character — I wanted her to be every woman. I think that’s what gave her the longevity. Every woman could connect with her, and every man could. She was a strong, real woman, and men like that in women,” said Lansbury.
