Madlyn Rhue previously appeared in the season 6 episode "Seal of the Confessional" as a different character. Angela Lansbury heard that Madlyn Rhue was in danger of losing her Screen Actors Guild medical coverage because she wasn't working enough to qualify. So she created the part of Jean the librarian to bring Rhue back for four episodes between seasons 10-12.
This is the second of two "Murder, She Wrote" episodes where David Birney and Roy Dotrice appeared together. They previously appeared in S7,E8: "The Great Twain Robbery".