CONFESS, FLETCH - Gregory McDonald

I'm quite certain I read one or more Fletch books, probably in the mid-1980's when the Chevy Chase films were coming out and I was managing a book store, but I don't remember much about the books, so I was quite interested in looking at this, Confess, Fletch, being reissued to coincide with the new film.

I. M. "Fletch" Fletcher is back in the United States (from Italy), Boston specifically, and staying in an upscale townhouse that he's renting. The rental comes complete with all the usual amenities plus a few frills - including the naked, dead body of a young woman in the living room.

Inspector Flynn, investigating the murder, has Fletch as his prime suspect and he makes no bones about it, constantly encouraging Fletch to make it easy on all of them and just confess. Fletch is exactly uncooperative, but he's steady and steadfast in maintaining his innocence. Flynn is equally resolute in believing Fletch is guilty, but he feels there just enough lack of evidence to make the arrest.

While Fletch works to prove his innocence (by finding the actual killer) he's also hard at work trying to track down some stolen artwork and using some less-than-legal means to do so.  Having a police tail complicates things, but Fletch is always cool under pressure.

This feels like a nice cross between the classic pulp detective novels (and I mean that in the best of ways) and the more 'modern' mystery fiction. Of course Fletch is not an actual detective, and the true detective here is the foil (however, a trustworthy one), and our protagonist operates on the border of the law.

This is most definitely a character-driven book (the entire series features Fletch's name in the title) and we have here a very interesting character in Fletch. As a journalist, he's got some investigating chops, and as a former Marine he can handle himself in some tricky situations. He's calm and cool and often quite aloof which is a big part of his charm. It's hard to imagine Chevy Chase playing him (back in the 1980's) but I'm really curious to see the film version of this particular book with Jon Hamm in the title role.

It's really nice to have new films if for no other reason that to see book reissues of a series that deserves to find new readership.

Looking for a good book? Confess, Fletch, by Gregory McDonald, might best be described as a 'modern pulp' mystery and is worthy of your reading time.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

* * * * * *

Confess, Fletch

author: Gregory McDonald

series: Fletch #2

publisher: Blackstone Publishing

ISBN: 9798212338233

paperback, 264 pages


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in...
Read more

THE WALLED CITY - Ryan Graudin

Image
  Jin and her sister, Mei Yee, were taken and sold and then sent to the lawless Walled City to serve as prostitutes or slaves to anyone willing to pay. Jin managed to escape her captivity, but not the Walled City and she now lurks about, disguised as a boy and is trying to track down the brothel where her sister is still captive. Jin will work odd delivery jobs to earn a small bit of money and hopefully have a legitimate means of coming in contact with her sister's captors.  This is how she meets up with Dai, a mysterious boy who has somehow managed to avoid running with any of the gangs in the city but he seems to have his own unusual connections, which Jon could desperately use if she has any hope of finding Mei Yee. But Dai has his own desperate needs.  The story is told from the different perspectives of each character and we do bounce around quite a bit as the chapters are generally short. This never bothered me, which is slightly unusual as often I find this techni...
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - ...
Read more