In the original pilot for "Murder, She Wrote", Preston Giles (Arthur Hill) is proven to be a two-time murderer. Amazingly, in "The Return of Preston Giles", he's been paroled from prison and when you think about it, this makes no sense. While seven years in prison isn't that unusual for murder, only seven years is tough to believe for a man who killed two people. To enjoy the show, you need to suspend disbelief about this.
The show begins with a publisher (Michael McKeon) arranging for the parole of Preston. However, while at first it seems that the publisher is being a nice and forgiving guy, it soon becomes obvious that the publisher is a sleaze-bag and has ulterior motives and is setting up Giles to be accused of yet another killing. Can Jessica sort it all out?
The best thing about this show is Arthur Hill. While not a household name, he was a fine, fine TV actor and leant a nice touch to his character. This alone is the reason to watch this one....as well as to see McKeon play up his sleazy role. Well made and very well acted.