We’re in Cabot Cove Fletcher-fans! Amos Tupper’s night deputy is in an unhappy marriage and it turns out he’s been sleeping around while on duty — with a different lady for every day of the week!
Just the facts ma’am:
Spoilers are in white font, so highlight the text below to reveal the answers.
- The victim was… the night deputy’s wife!
- killed by… the postman!
- in… her kitchen!
- with… her husband’s spare service revolver!
- because… she had the winning New Hampshire lottery ticket!
- vital clues: all news from New Hampshire hasn’t been delivered.
Repeat offenders:
Being that this is a Cabot Cove episode, there are some familiar characters in this episode.
Doctor Seth Hazlitt (William Windom) and Sheriff Amos Tupper (Tom Bosley) figure prominently. Here they are with Amos having invited himself over to have a taste of Seth’s sauce.
Local real estate agent Eve Simpson (Julie Adams) makes her first of 10 appearances on the show. However, I don’t think that at this point in the series we know what her profession is.
A number of ladies from the hair salon also make their first appearance on the show. They proved so popular that they all reappeared in two more episodes. From left to right we see: travel agent Phyllis Grant (Gloria DeHaven); hairdresser Loretta Spiegel (Ruth Roman); divorcee Ideal Molloy (Kathryn Grayson); and hairdressing assistant Corrine (Sally Klein).
Two of the men in this episode also made multiple appearances on the show, although not as the same characters and not in Cabot Cove.
- Rick Lenz (left) appears for the first time on the show as the night deputy Jonathan Martin — he comes back to play a different character in one more episode.
- Ray Girardin (right) plays postman George Tibbits in his last appearance on the show — the actor appeared twice before (in “One Good Bid Deserves Another” and in “Death Takes a Dive“), both of those times playing Boston PD Lt. Casey.
Honourable mentions:
Antoinette Bower plays Mrs. Audrey Martin, the depressed wife of the night deputy. If you’re Canadian, you might recognize her from the show Neon Rider, about a therapist who runs a rehab ranch for teens.
Dody Goodman plays Beverly Hills (yes, that’s the name she’s credited as), Doc Hazlitt’s nurse. Sadly, this is the only episode the character appears in. Goodman’s most prolific roles include voicing Miss Rebecca Miller on Alvin & the Chipmunks and playing Martha Shumway on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
Final thoughts:
Dody Goodman’s character has the honour of being eponymous with the episode title “If it’s Thursday, it must be Beverly”, in reference to the fact that that’s when the night deputy goes to visit her. And consequently, she delivers the best line in the entire episode: “It was good clean sex once a week!”
Given that this is a Cabot Cove episode, we also get some glimpses of the town.
You can also purchase original press photos from the episode on Amazon!
Murder, She Watched 
Love your blog! Your white text trick doesn’t work with my iPhone, for whatever reason, but I’ve watched the series so many times I generally remember the spoilers!
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Thank you! Yes, I have switched to using a different spoiler method in the newer episode summaries I’ve written, but just haven’t had the time to go back and reformat the old ones.
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I felt deeply disturbed by that scene where that lothario gives Jessica a back rub, it was like seeing someone trying to seduce your grandma… uugh. On a bright note, I recently went to Mendocino and used this blog post as a guide to find all the landmarks seen in the episode! The building with the wood panels the mailman is entering is now the side of a bookstore, the travel agency is now a very good restaurant called Trillium, the beauty shop sells crystals and such, and the courthouse is a bank. And the Hill House (where we stayed) still has the sign “Hill House of Cabot Cove”, there’s signed photos of the cast in the lobby.
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That’s awesome! I actually have another blog post that points out all the locations: https://murdershewatched.com/2018/12/10/murder-she-wrote-in-mendocino-california/
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