Fletch Won

This brought me back and restored my faith in Gregory McDonald, especially after the dreadful Fletch and the Widow Bradley, and Fletch and the Man Who. The pacing returned, the story didn't feel like it had been phoned in, and the comic situations and Fletch's irreverence were all fresh and new again.

Gregory MacDonald sure wrote the Fletch books in a confusing order. Despite this being about the 8th Fletch book, chronologically it's the first. In this story Fletch has only been working at the News-Tribune for a few months and is getting less and less respect from Frank each day as his sarcasm and pranks are riling everybody up. Frank shifts Fletch from one section of the newspaper to the next, never knowing where he's going to cause the least trouble. Some local lawyer wants an interview to announce that he's giving 5 million dollars to a museum and Fletch is to run the (small) story. Trouble is, the lawyer, one Donald Habeck, is killed in the News-Tribune parking lot almost that very second. Frank pulls Fletch of the story right away gives it to a big bully who's been with the paper for years. Fletch is now left with investigating some whorehouse and that he does. But he's not giving up on the Habeck story as the circumstances seem mighty suspicious, especially when he finds out that the firm Habeck worked for is probably the most crooked law firm on the planet. It's fast-paced and full of witty, and sometimes odd, dialogue and neat little gimmicks and ironies. Fletch's detective work and level-headedness provide a sense of balance in relation to all the wierd and eccentric characters around him. And the crooked cops and authorities seem right out of a James Ellroy book. I did find a few anachronisms though. If this is set before the first Fletch book then surely there wouldn't be carphones and computers in every office. At least not a computer thats not as big as the office itself. It's a tiny little complaint though. A good read and an involving mystery. Fletch is the best unsung hero of crime fiction.

I enjoyed this book pretty well. I've seen the Fletch movies and I'm a huge fan of both, but I've never read the Fletch books. I thought I'd start with this one. The author seemed to begin to delve into some other storylines and then stopped. We were intorduced to characters that were unimportant to the story. I think maybe he was trying to use up page space or something. Anyway, the book was entertaining at best. I gave it 4 stars because I don't think the author meant it to be anything other than entertaining!

I hate reading non-fiction books, but I loved Fletch Won. As a fan of the Chevy Chase flicks and a fan of Kevin Smith (who will write and direct the movie version of this book), I took a chance on Fletch One to see what the fuss was about the Fletch books. If you are looking for a great mystery, look elsewhere. If you are looking for an entertaining book that is hilarious and an easy read, pick this book up. I can't wait to put my hands on the other Fletch books.

This book is sort of a prequel to Fletch. In this book, Fletch tries his first case as an investigative reporter. This book is a great mystery novel.