Monday, April 25, 2022

Fletch's Fortune

Fletch returns to his Italian villa from the beach and discovers two men waiting inside.  They are CIA agents who want him to attend a journalists' convention in Virginia.  While there, they expect him to plant bugs in all the rooms and record the private conversations.  Of course, Fletch declines.  At which point, they explain that he has not filed taxes - ever - and has a lot of money for an unemployed journalist.  Threats of extradition and jail convince him.  They are particularly interested in recordings of Walter March, the owner of a large number of newspapers and current President of the American Journalism Alliance.  No sooner does Fletch arrive in the United States than he learns that Walter March has been murdered.  Nonetheless, the CIA want him to continue the operation.

Another page-turner in which Fletch must solve a murder, turn the tables on the CIA, resolve his tax issues, avoid a ceremony to receive his Bronze Star, and get back to his villa in Italy.  The book also provides some background for Fletch's time as a reporter in Chicago, introducing a former colleague and the return of Jack Saunders (Confess, Fletch).  It is entertaining to discover that Fletch solves the case while the reader isn't looking.  He does it right in front of us, a simple line, that comes and goes with nary a thought.

Excellent book.  Highly recommended.

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