Fletch

Fletch is lying on the beach when a well-dressed man makes him an offer.  "I want you to kill me."  Fletch is intrigued.  The man says he is dying of cancer and wants to avoid the suffering.  Fletch says, "Sure."  As it happened, Fletch was on the beach to uncover the source of drugs that had been plaguing the area for years.  He is a reporter for the News-Tribune in California and had been posing as a drug addict on the beach for a few weeks.  Not having made much progress on that story, he jumped to investigating the man who wants to be killed.  The story has lots of humor, mostly from Fletch's quirky takes and off-the-wall comments.

As it is Fletch, he can't just have two storylines.  No, his first ex-wife has sent a lawyer to extract alimony from him.  His second ex-wife has also demanded back payment for alimony.  Then there is his editor, an incompetent who only has the position because she is sleeping with the editor-in-chief, who demands that he attend a ceremony to be awarded the Bronze Star that he won in Vietnam.  She thinks it will be a feather in the cap of the paper.

Fletch is a professional at social engineering, able to use tidbits of key knowledge to win the confidence of anyone.  He can step into any setting and immediately set people at ease.  He then proceeds to milk them for information, which they offer willingly with only general steering from Fletch.  Better yet, they find him utterly charming and are eager to invite him for lunch, dinner, or - in the case of ladies - to hop in the sack.

As I had just read Fletch and the Widow Bradley and commented how it wasn't as good as Fletch, I decided to reread it.  I stand by that assessment.  Of note, though written later, the Widow Bradley is a prequel and occurs immediately prior to Fletch.  Gregory McDonald has a quick style that makes for a highly readable novel.  I started the book on Friday and finished on Saturday.  I can't remember the last time I read a book that fast.  Now to watch the Chevy Chase movie again to see how it compares.

Highly recommended.