Great direction, great acting. But flawed plot. For example, normally a police detective would check all the phone records of the two (or three) main locales--even in 1971. If Columbo did that he would have solved the case in five minutes. I don't want to give away much more, but I was astounded that Jack Cassidy's character was not concerned with his fingerprints on the list. Of course, police departments are not always reliable when it comes to procedure. I worked briefly as an insurance investigator and I once spoke to a police constable who assured me that you couldn't get fingerprints off of paper. I just shrugged and held in my objection. I also agree that the ending should have been sharper. And yet, the episode is still very striking, even today.
Review of Murder by the Book
