They Only Kill Their Masters is a 1972 American mystery film directed by James Goldstone, written by Lane Slate, and starring James Garner and Katharine Ross, with a supporting cast featuring Hal Holbrook, June Allyson, Tom Ewell, Peter Lawford, Edmond O'Brien, and Arthur O'Connell.

The title refers to Doberman dogs that might have been responsible for a woman's murder currently under investigation by the local police chief (Garner).

[3] In the sleepy California coastal town of Eden Landing, police chief Abel Marsh returns from vacation to learn that divorcée Jenny Campbell has been killed by her pet Doberman, Murphy, on the shore of her beachfront home.

Sarcastically telling Abel that "they only kill their masters," she shows him how Murphy responds readily to voice commands.

Abel questions Jenny's ex-husband, wealthy playboy Lee Campbell, who reveals that he divorced his sexually adventurous wife because she fell in love with another woman.

The small town police chief concept and its main character Abel Marsh were reworked several times by writer Lane Slate.

The first attempt followed a year later with Isn't It Shocking?, starring Alan Alda as similar character Dan Barnes and the setting relocated to rural New England, though filmed in Oregon.

[4] 1974 brought a similar character named Sam McNeill (Andy Griffith) in Winter Kill, intended as the pilot for a series set in a California mountain resort.

Two more reworkings followed in 1976 and 1977 starring Griffith, with the character's name restored to Abel Marsh: The Girl in the Empty Grave and Deadly Game.