And weeeeeeee're off to the races TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE! Place your bets* on the killer of the week or on our favorite dirty nose* Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), persistent meddler and murder mystery writer who this week is at the track to help exonerate yet another family member, this time niece Tracy (Linda Grovenor).

Detective of the week Misko (Roy Thinnes in a stupid hat) joins Jessica to determine who's behind the murder, centered around Anchors Away, a 20-to-1. The usual jockey, Carlos Gallegos (Bert Rosario), gets replaced by Tracy at the last minute, a major boon for a rookie steeplechaser*. It's all just in time for Aunt Jessica to learn from his wife, Vicky (Priscilla Barnes), and a couple of gambling eccentrics (Carole Cook and Jack Carter) all the reasons why the sleeper won't win; but when he does, it's almost more shocking than the corpse found soon after. Is it a ringer?* A fix* Something clubhouse turn?*

It's a story of mob ties, undocumented Panamanians, food poisoning, lip tattoos, and carrots; this is DEAD HEAT.

Norman Fell joins the cast as a mobster in a great suit, Clu Gulager returns as a horse vet whose medical bag goes missing, Ramon Bieiri is the cranky security guard, and Derrel Maury is Cookie the horse wrangler and our latest inductee into the #HotGuysOfMurderSheWrote.

(* horse racing talk, sorry.)