Jessica's publisher, Edward Graham is plagued by Hearing Voices since the death of his wife. Jessica appears on the scene, first to try and be there for him in this dark time, and then, once Edward turns up dead in an apparent suicide, to serve as the executor of his will. But Edward's death was not a suicide, and soon Jessica finds herself trying to avenge him.
Tropes:
- Continuity Nod: The NYPD detective assigned to investigate Edward's death is Lieutenant Nick Acosta who worked with Jessica in the season 8 opener Bite the Big Apple. He refers to that episode's killer and how the pair of them took them down.
- Gaslighting: Edward is made to think that either he's insane or his wife's ghost wants him to kill himself for the first half of the episode.
- The Ghost: Edward's sister, who is a beneficiary of his will but lives out of town and never appears.
- Internal Reveal: The audience is shown that a masked man pushed Edward of the roof when he refrained from jumping at the last second but the characters spend a while believing it was suicide.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Company Comptroller Leonard Ambler seems stern and unemotional but does tell Steve that Edward was wrong to fire him and that he's dragging his feet putting through the termination papers. Later though he shows a more self-centered and mercenary side, Being the mastermind behind the conspiracy to drive Edward crazy and kill him, after all.
- Long-Lost Relative: Edward's niece Lori, the daughter of his half-brother. He comments that he hadn't even known she existed until a few months ago. She turns out to be an imposter working for Leonard, but whether or not there ever was a Lori who this girl assumed the identity of or whether she's an Invented Individual is unclear.
- The Lost Lenore: Edward clearly misses his late wife, which is exploited to make him either commit suicide or make a case for suicide if killing him becomes necessary.
- Mean Boss: Edward, although it's due to the enormous mental strain he's under and he does try to apologize when he's more clear headed.
- Mood-Swinger: One of the clues Jessica receives to there being something wrong with Edward is his out-of-nowhere mood shifts. He first praises Jessica's latest draft and proclaims it'll be another best seller, but the next time they discuss it he's now telling her it's awful and will require a total rewrite. Jessica finds out the "health drinks" Edward's doctor prescribed him were deliberately causing this.
- Never Suicide: Jessica picks up that it seems odd Edward would have made a dinner reservation if he planned to kill himself.
- Rank Up: Sergeant Nick Acosta from seaon 8's Bite the Big Apple is now Lieutenant Nick Acosta.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Ted Hartley, Edward's boss who is confused and concerned with Edward's mental state and decisions and is a trusted associate to Jessica.
- The Shrink: Edward's therapist, Dr. Santana.
- Unexpected Inheritance: Edward leaves something (albeit rarely something terribly valuable) to just about everyone in his life, with people Jessica visits being surprised to get things like a Gold Watch, his book collection, his house, his music collection etc.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Dr. Santanna was an accomplice, but ends up murdered himself.
