Sat 30 Oct 2010
GREGORY MCDONALD – Fletch. Bobbs-Merrill; hardcover, 1974. Avon, paperback, 1976; reprinted several times. Vintage, pb, 2002. Film: Universal Pictures, 1985. Starring Chevy Chase as Fletch; screenplay: Andrew Bergman.
Fletch is a reporter working on a drug story. His role as a beach bum, a drifter with no connections, arouses no suspicions along an insidious stretch of Californla beach, and in fact he is convincing enough to be given an unexpected job interview. An aviation executive with cancer has in mind an acceptable alternative to a long, slow death. He hires Fletch to kill him.
Maintaining his watch on the beach for the source of the drugs, Fletch also becomes a skeptical undercover investigator. Details fall into place a little too quickly toward the end, but that in no way detracts from a good amount of nimble-tongued inquiry and observation, and the crackling dialogue that zips by as the plot unthickens.
Fletch’s casually derisive approach to life goes far in preparing for, the final wrap-up, one coming alarmingly close to copping out, but it’s also one that provides a nice amount of chuckling satisfaction as well. A tale told with artistic gusto.
[UPDATE] 10-30-10. By the time I wrote this review, I assume that I knew that the novel had become the first of a series. There were eleven in all, most of them paperback originals, even though this first one came out in hardcover. I’ve seen only parts of the movie. A little Chevy Case goes a long way for me, but I have a hunch that if Fletch the character is remembered at all today, it’s with Chevy Chase’s face.
I didn’t include my letter grade with the review itself, but if you’re curious, I gave it an “A.” Thus I was pleased to see that not only did David Vineyard include Fletch in his second grouping of humorous mysteries, but Jeff Meyerson also included it in his list of 100 overall “best” mysteries. It always feels good when people agree with you.
October 30th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
One of my favorites. First novel I ever read that took place entirely in scenes and dispensed with interior viewpoint.
The film has a bit of a following, but I found it to be much inferior to the book.
October 30th, 2010 at 11:36 pm
I have to agree about FLETCH and Chevy Chase. I liked the book but felt the movie was mediocre. By the way, I wish you would include your grade rating when you reprint your Mystery Fancier or other reviews. When I see an A or an A+, I know right away that you think the book is exceptional and outstanding.
October 31st, 2010 at 9:54 am
Great novel; dull film. Couldn’t agree more about Chevy Chase. Never has a smirk taken a bad actor so far.
October 31st, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Might want to correct that GEORGE MCDONALD.
This book is among my favorites and a must read for anyone interested in humor with their mystery.
Did you guys ever review Flynn, the first in a series featuring my favorite McDonald character?
October 31st, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Michael
Oops and thanks. And done. Both my great-grandfather and my uncle were George MacDonald’s. A natural mistake, I suppose, but still a mistake that shouldn’t have been made.
FLYNN hasn’t been reviewed on this blog, and I while I’ve always meant to read books in the Flynn series, I don’t believe I have. (I don’t know if it makes sense to say that I feel “familiar” with them if I haven’t actually read one, but that’s the way it is.)
— Steve
November 1st, 2010 at 11:50 am
It has been awhile since I read CONFESS, FLETCH, but I believe it featured the character Flynn. Maybe that where you got to know the character.
A smart ass anti-authority authority figure, Flynn was certainly a character of its time. But it was the interaction between the super spy turned cop and his family that appealed most to me.
November 1st, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Michael
You’re quite right about CONFESS, FLETCH. Flynn was in that one. I remember him in that one as Fletch’s primary antagonist. Like you, it’s been a while since I read it, but whether or not he was a major or minor character, it’s fairly clear that I haven’t forgotten it.
— Steve
PS. It’s also clear that finding my copies and reading Flynn’s solo adventures is the next thing I ought to be doing — but reading all of the Fletch/Flynn books in order, filling in the ones I missed the first time around, is starting to sound even awfully tempting…!