In the late 1980s, inspired by the mystery soap opera "The Edge of Night" , I proceeded to write some mystery novels. I was actually on and off with that genre for 20 something years, and even recently have been on and off with novel number 8 in the past year. The problem with me is that I am by self confession the least disciplined writer I know. There is no set time when I sit and try to crank out dialogue and description, dialogue being the most fun. ANother problem there is that I do not have a particularly good place to write. My computer has been in either the master bedroom or the family/living room in either apartment or house. There is a small window of opportunity in the morning to get thoughts down, though morning is generally not my most creative time. It is the afternoon (like now) or evening when the juices warm up and by then the earlier solitude is long gone.
I was introduced to the concept of blogs in my master's program at Lesley (motto: "Any business office suite can be made into a college campus if you remove the cubicles"). The blog, unlike novel writing, can be written in anything between thirty minutes and two hours, depending on what needs to get down. In this format, I can much more easily sit down at any time of day and write whatever crap is infecting my brain. In my blog entries, I have written song lyrics, short stories, and, for which I am cursed by many, the infernal book review.
Why book reviews? Well, quite simply, I enjoy reading, often REreading books, whether they are travelogues like my recent acquisition about the Lincoln Highway or a good old mystery novel. After I read, I need an outlet for my thoughts. You're welcome!
I have previously written about Fletch (1974), the novel that inspired the 1985 Chevy Chase vehicle. A sequel was made 4 years later based on no novel at all.Personally, I feel that Chevy Chase was too old to be playing an undercover reporter in his late 20s/early 30s. Someone like Jameson Parker or Woody Harrelson would have been a better fit.
The literary Fletch, full name Irwin Maurice Fletcher, is serious about many things: good reporting, art. He listens well and for the most part is successful at solving murders and mysteries...with one exception.
In my opinion, the first 3 novels were the best of the 9 total: "Fletch", "Confess, Fletch", and "Fletch's Fortune.", though the others were quite enjoyable as well. Those 3 seemed to fit into a natual trilogy of sorts. Other later novels filled in some gaps as to what happened before the first novel, then a few after the events of the third and finally one focusing what happened immediately after the first. Gregory McDonald seemed to enjoy writing them out of sequence...almost like a literary "Pulp Fiction", though the novels within themselves are quite linear.
"Fletch's Fortune"
Cutting to soon after the the events of "Confess, Fletch", he is captured, in a way, by 2 supposed CIA agents in Italy, and blackmailed to attend a journalists convention in rural Virginia, with the threat of tax evasion charges if he does not cooperate. The goal is to record all of the goings-on in the individual bedrooms of the journalists. Before Fletch even arrives, the president of the journalists association, Walter March, has been found dead in his room. The weapon is a pair of scissors.
The rest of the book is laid out in a sort of timeline in accordance with the convention schedule of events and speakers, mixed in with Fletch's listening in on the various bedrooms he has bugged and mealtime discussions with fellow journalists.
The journalists themselves are a mixed bag of egos, many of them having dealt in one way or another with Walter March, Fletch included. Most prominent in the story are Crystal Faoni, a big beautiful woman who was fired by March for being pregnant but not married; Bob McConnell who once left a March newspaper to work on a presidential campaign, only to see March successfully backing the opponent and forcing Bob back to journalism with his tail between his legs and heavy in debt; Fredericka (Freddie) Arbuthnot, a beautiful magazine reporter Fletch suspects of spying on him (she isn't); Hy Litwack, a famous anchorman who is shallow on air, only honest with his wife; Eleanor Earles, an older reporter who defends Walter March and has had an illegitimate son with him; Lewis Graham, an older reporter who quotes other people and books extensively; and Rolly Wisham, an idealistic reporter who has deep-seated anger for March for destroying his father's newspaper career.
This book is a great showcase of Fletch watching and observing, and it seems as though he learned a lot from Flynn in the previous story in terms of the art of listening, for listening is what helps him solve March's murder, both to people in person and on the tape machine.
For my Fletch review, click here: https://bitethismapquest.blogspot.com/2014/04/ill-take-noveland-novel.html
For my Confess, Fletch review, click here: https://bitethismapquest.blogspot.com/2017/07/its-another-book-review-i-confess.html
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