Jessica's latest novel, "The Uncaught," lands her in a lot of trouble when TV salesman Dave Novaro tries to sue her for slander. Dave claims the book's a thinly disguised attempt at ripping off his first wife's death and paints him out to be the murderer. Dave and his daughter Rachel try to sue Jessica, while Dave's father-in-law Norman Trent thanks Jessica for "exposing" Dave's crimes.
As Jessica does research on the death of Janet Novaro, she's genuinely shocked seeing her murder and "The Uncaught" truly are similar. Things go from shocking to deadly when Dave Novaro's killed after claiming to have figured out who killed his wife.
Tropes:
- Achievements in Ignorance: Jessica successfully helped expose an unsolved murder thanks to somehow writing a book that mirrored almost the entire crime despite that she had absolutely no clue who the Novaros were until after they sued her.
- Chekhov's Gun: Rachel Novaro has a paste copy of a necklace that was stolen the night her mom was murdered. Dave had it made for Rachel since the original was never found, but Rachel grew to hate the thing and has no idea why she kept it. Jessica has Rachel wear the paste necklace at Dave's funeral to psych out Iris, who immediately heads to a safe deposit box to make sure the real necklace was still there. Iris had no clue about the copy's existence, and the fact she has the real one confirms she murdered Janet Novaro and stole the necklace to make it look like a robbery.
- Contrived Coincidence: Somehow, Jessica constructed an entire novel with major similarities to a real life murder she hadn't heard of until Dave Novaro's lawsuit. In fact, the book's so similar it allowed Dave to figure out Janet was murdered by Iris, his then-secretary.
- Daddy's Girl: Rachel Novaro firmly believes in her dad's innocence and helps him try to sue Jessica for her supposed slander.
- Dramatic Irony: Iris Novaro changed her mind about divorcing Dave, but just as she headed to his store to tell him Dave figured out she killed Janet all those years ago.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Dave had one while reading "The Uncaught," and something about a specific page made him figure out who killed Janet. A page about a garage door opener made him remember years back he'd given Iris his garage door opener to have it repaired. Dave figured out Iris made a copy and used it to get inside the house to kill Janet, since that was the only way someone could've gotten in the house without breaking in.
- Gold Digger: Iris Novaro's lover is revealed to be this when he plans to move in with her after Dave's death, assuming she inherited Dave's money. He visibly deflates and is disbelieving as Iris exclaims she got nothing thanks to a prenup.
- Here We Go Again!: The episode actually starts off as this for Dave Novaro and his family. Several years after Dave was suspected of murdering his wife he now has to deal with that all over again thanks to Jessica accidentally creating a novel that's disturbingly similar to the crime.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Iris killed Janet all those years ago to get her hands on Dave.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Subverted in that Dave Novaro spent years with people thinking he killed his first wife and had only just lived it down when Jessica's book stirred everything up again. His second wife Iris is also pissed off because she was originally Dave's secretary, and now everyone's acting like she either slept with Dave while Janet was still alive and/or she married Dave just for his money which she also dealt with years ago.
- Papa Wolf: Norman Trent's spent years believing Dave Novaro murdered his daughter Janet, and even planned to murder Dave but lost his nerve. Unfortunately, he left his cane behind and Iris used it to kill Dave herself.
- Pet the Dog: Just before Dave gets killed, he gives a few dollars to a local homeless woman who often comes around looking for change.
- Yandere: Iris Novaro, Dave's second wife, murdered Janet all those years ago to get Dave to herself. However, after several years she grew bored and started having an affair before almost considering divorce thanks to Jessica's book. Ironically, Iris was going to tell Dave she wanted to stay with him just as he finally figured out she killed Janet.
