****
Superior mystery, winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, introduces the character of Irwin Maurice Fletcher. Here, he's a hot-shot reporter working undercover to expose drug operations on a California beach when a rich industrialist makes him an offer he can't refuse: he'll pay Fletch fifty thousand dollars to kill him. Macdonald relies predominately on dialogue without adornment (James M. Cain-style) to reveal both the mystery and Fletch himself, who is funny, sarcastic, clever, and oddly romantic (a clear precursor to Nelson De Mille's John Corey). Not the "master of disguise" played so well by Chevy Chase in the movie adaptation, Fletch here is just as amusing as an accomplished manipulator of social intercourse, playing off people's expectations to get them to open up to a complete stranger. A fast and thoroughly entertaining read. Followed by Confess, Fletch.
Superior mystery, winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, introduces the character of Irwin Maurice Fletcher. Here, he's a hot-shot reporter working undercover to expose drug operations on a California beach when a rich industrialist makes him an offer he can't refuse: he'll pay Fletch fifty thousand dollars to kill him. Macdonald relies predominately on dialogue without adornment (James M. Cain-style) to reveal both the mystery and Fletch himself, who is funny, sarcastic, clever, and oddly romantic (a clear precursor to Nelson De Mille's John Corey). Not the "master of disguise" played so well by Chevy Chase in the movie adaptation, Fletch here is just as amusing as an accomplished manipulator of social intercourse, playing off people's expectations to get them to open up to a complete stranger. A fast and thoroughly entertaining read. Followed by Confess, Fletch.
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