After Dr. Seth Hazlett sees a young woman conducting some kind of occult ritual, stories begin to appear that the ghost of Patience Terhune, who was burned in the 17th century as a witch, has shown up. Her descendant, Mildred Terhune, the local librarian, is inundated with calls from the media. When Gordon Fairchild, the author of a soon-to-be-published book about Patience, arrives in Cabot Cove with his publicist, Rick Rivers, Jessica Fletcher thinks it's all just a bit too pat. When Mildred's long absent sister Irene arrives unannounced, Seth immediately recognizes her as the "ghost" he's seen. The arrival of an exorcist, Dr. Overman, also adds to the circus atmosphere. When Irene is found dead, however, killed with a blunt instrument, Jessica has a murder to solve. Jessica sets a trap for the killer.
—garykmcd