Category: Cabot Cove

Captain Ethan Cragg

Captain Ethan Cragg (Claude Akins) is one of Jessica’s Cabot Cove friends. He is very protective of Jessica, and has a warm, but combative, relationship with the Cabot Cove Sheriff, Amos Tupper.

Captain Cragg runs Cragg’s Charter Services from his boat out of Cabot Cove. He comes to the rescue by land (S1 E7: “Hit, Run and Homicide”) and by sea (S1 E2: “Deadly Lady”). When he’s not volunteering for the Coast Guard or helping the Sheriff, Ethan’s hobbies include fishing, softball, and arcade games.

Unfortunately, Ethan only appears in Season 1. His character is more or less replaced by Dr. Hazlitt later in the series. I wish this wasn’t the case, I really like the character of Ethan. I feel like there is room in Jessica’s life for more than one gruff but well meaning gentleman at a time. Plus, Ethan has a certain… Gorton’s Fisherman appeal that I miss in later seasons.

Appearances

An Iconic Victorian

Jessica Fletcher’s white Victorian is an iconic element of Murder, She Wrote. It’s a pivotal location for many episodes set in Cabot Cove. The Blair House in Mendocino, CA, was used for the exterior shots.

Many of the scenes in the Cabot Cove episodes are set in and around Jessica’s house. The floor plan below is a work in progress, and is based on the exterior and interior shots so far presented.

MSW did a very good job of marrying the layout of the set used for the interior with the shots of Blair House used for the exterior. This isn’t always the case. (I’m looking at you, Brady Bunch House.)

So far, the most noticeable departure is the elevated floor used for the front entry. While it’s not impossible that this is true to the original building, it’s almost certainly a change made for ease of staging. You often see elevated entries on interior sets during this era of television.

There are a few differences between the footprint of Blair House and the MSW set, mainly on the right side of the house. I’ve tried my best to find a happy blend.

The Kitchen

Jessica’s kitchen is truly the heart of her home in Cabot Cove. It’s far and away the room that appears most frequently, and it’s the room in which we see her typewriter, so we can imagine the many hours she spends in her kitchen writing.

  • A MSWSW Kitchen Floor Plan
  • Jessica’s beautiful antique range appears to be either a Magic Chef or Glenwood six-burner circa 1920-1940.
  • A wood burning stove sits in the back corner.
  • A 1975 edition of Joy of Cooking graces the top of the refrigerator.
  • “Hello, Letitia?” This avocado green telephone is an instrumental part of the kitchen.

The Dining Room

Jessica’s dining room is modest in size. It’s often used as a pass through from the kitchen to the parlor. A couple of Season 1 dinner parties offer a detailed look at the dining room:

The Parlor

Many dramatic scenes take place in Jessica’s parlor over the course of the series. Like the rest of the house, it is full of cozy maximalist details.

The Entry

Jessica’s elevated entry is an architectural feature well suited to staging scenes:

  • A dramatic scene in “Death Takes a Curtain Call” is aided by the risers the elevated entry provides.
  • The entry steps to the parlor are dramatically lit in “Deadly Lady.”
  • A glimpse of the exterior door’s french windows
  • A rare perspective on the entry from the hall
  • Jessica upon her elevated entry. Behind her we can see the staircase and a pocket door to a mysterious room.

Rare Nooks and Crannies

Some of the lesser-seen corners of Jessica’s home:

  • Jessica in her back hall
  • Jessica making use of her linen closet in the back hall
  • The dark and stormy night of “Deadly Lady” is, so far, the only glimpse of Jessica’s back porch.
  • A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it view of a sink in the WC across the hall from the kitchen.

Around Town

Cabot Cove is a pretty small town, and over the course of Murder, She Wrote we’ll see a lot of it.

A Quick Tour

  • Cabot Cove Harbor. Also: Jaws.
  • Guillermo’s “Beautique” and Beauty Salon is the setting for Jessica’s S1 E1 makeover montage.
  • A busy Cabot Cove street seen in S1 E1 is identical to Main Street in Concord, MA.
  • Cabot Cove High School
  • Cabot Cove Booksellers
  • Cobb’s Mortuary
  • Cabot Cove Sheriff
  • Hill House of Cabot Cove
  • Cotter’s Beach
  • Downtown Cabot Cove
  • Cabot Cove’s Softball Field
  • Cabot Cove Hospital
  • Jessica cycles past Cabot Cove’s iconic sign
  • Cabot Point Lighthouse

Places of Interest

These are Cabot Cove locations we’ll see in more than one episode.

Cabot Cove Harbor

Cabot Cove’s harbor is the town’s hub and it’s heart.

Cabot Cove Sheriff

We’ll visit the Sheriff in nearly every episode set in Cabot Cove, and usually find at least one innocent person temporarily behind bars.

Hill House

Hill House is the upscale hotel in town. In S1 E2: “Deadly Lady” the multi-millionaire Earl sisters stay here, including the deadly lady herself.