It's late October in Cabot Cove, and as Halloween approaches, something strange is in the air. The arrival of a self-righteous, fire-and-brimstone spiritual medium has some townspeople on the lookout for curses and evil omens; a reclusive, eccentric woman has others whispering that she is a real-life witch; and the upcoming annual Halloween party has Jessica Fletcher frantically searching for the perfect costume. Then the whole town ends up spooked when the alleged witch ends up dead in the graveyard, and everyone at the party is a suspect. Jess takes it upon herself to stir through a witches' brew of motives--and concocts a scary scheme of her own to make sure a guilty ghoul doesn't get away with murder.