Flynn's In

Inspector Flynn receives a call from the Police Commissioner who asks him to pack a bag and head to the Rod & Gun Club, which is located in a neighboring state.  Also, tell no one where he is going.  Flynn wakes his wife and tells her where he is going.  Next, he calls retired Detective Walter "Cocky" Concannon to see if he is up for a drive to the country.  Indeed, he is.  The pair arrive at the retreat for the ultrawealthy and politically powerful to learn that a member has died.  Of course, in order to avoid any legal entanglements at the club, the body was moved to a nearby motel.  Flynn quickly determines that the 'accidental death while cleaning a shotgun' story doesn't fly.  The man was clearly murdered, but by whom?  There are plenty of suspects.  No sooner have Flynn and Cocky begun the investigation than there is another body.  Once again, the corpse is spirited away to prevent a scandal.  With the Police Commissioner onsite and seemingly approving of such antics, Flynn is overruled in his desire to call in the state police.

As with the previous Flynn novel, McDonald explains the workings of the world through Flynn and his observations.  The rich and powerful are mostly amoral fools who nonetheless rule the world.  Laws and ethics don't apply to them.  That wouldn't be so annoying if there was actually a mystery that Flynn solves.  Instead, he finds a basketful of motivation for each person just before that person is murdered.  The members cover up the murder but remain at the lodge, knowing full well that the murderer is still on the loose.  Like I said, fools.  When the murderer is discovered, it came out of the blue.  Though the author repeatedly tells us that Flynn is brilliant, he doesn't show us that he is.  He's no Sherlock Holmes.

While Flynn is stuck at the rich man's lodge, he is often on the phone with the increasingly dull-witted Grover.  Grover is on the case of a hit-and-run, which seems to interest Flynn quite a bit.  Does this somehow tie into the various murders at the Rod & Gun Club?  No, not at all.  No idea why it is even included.  When Flynn was first introduced in Confess, Fletch, the murder tied in with the painting investigation in a surprise twist.  No such thing here.  Just a pointless tangent.

One interesting part of the novel was the ongoing game of chess between Flynn and Cocky.  The moves are all listed as the two discuss the case.  When Flynn makes the final move, Cocky looks at the board bewildered and concedes defeat.  A serious chess fan could setup a board and see how the game went.  Neat idea.

By the end, it was just too ludicrous.  Flynn is all talk and no action.  His deductions lead nowhere and really just tell us how bad these rich and politically-connected fools are.  Skip.