The eighth book published in Gregory McDonald's series featuring journalist Irwin Maurice Fletcher, Fletch Won (1985) rewinds the clock to deliver an origin story of sorts. Here, Fletch is a rookie reporter languishing in the Obituaries section: his destined-to-be long-suffering editor Frank Jaffe chews him out for reporting that one recently deceased woman did nothing with her life, a detail that, after talking with her relations, turns out to be accurate, if indelicate. Fletch is shuffled to the Society pages and his first assignment there is to write a puff piece on Donald Habeck, a lawyer planning to donate five million dollars to a museum. But his subject appears to be so shady that the phrase "criminal lawyer" seems appropriate in multiple ways. When Habeck is found shot in his car in the News-Tribune parking lot, Fletch gets reassigned once more, far away from the dead man. But he knows a good story when he stumbles into one, and soon he is on a search for the killer.
Fletch Won continues the buoyant spirit of the previous books, and its aspirations as a prequel are admirably grounded. It's a lean story that avoids franchise indulgences, even as McDonald has fun shaping the fractious courtship of his hero and Barbara Ralton, first introduced in 1975's Fletch as one of his two ex-wives. There is also mileage gained from jodhpurs, an overstocked item Barbara is tasked to sell at the clothing shop where she works, and of Fletcher's official assignment for the paper, going undercover to infiltrate a bordello disguised as a health spa.
The mystery of the murdered criminal attorney is set up as a traditional whodunit, and the author sketches Habeck's estranged family with colorful and surprising details. The lawyer's wife is a sympathetic eccentric whom Habeck had committed to an at-will mental institution years previously; his son lives in a monastery and his daughter is married to a man who writes celebratory poems of violence. Past clients bearing a grudge are also potential suspects. With a compelling cast of characters from which to uncover a murderer, it is a bit disappointing that Fletch Won falls short of fair play. Motivation and circumstances of the crime are only revealed in the second to last chapter, as the guilty party explains them to Fletch and the reader. The journey is still breezy, witty, and enjoyable, but the puzzle's resolution – just as with the first series novel published a decade prior – feels a little incidental and anti-climactic. Luckily, both books deliver post-confession final scenes as codas that punctuate the narrative and provide a satisfying full-stop for that tale.
The mystery of the murdered criminal attorney is set up as a traditional whodunit, and the author sketches Habeck's estranged family with colorful and surprising details. The lawyer's wife is a sympathetic eccentric whom Habeck had committed to an at-will mental institution years previously; his son lives in a monastery and his daughter is married to a man who writes celebratory poems of violence. Past clients bearing a grudge are also potential suspects. With a compelling cast of characters from which to uncover a murderer, it is a bit disappointing that Fletch Won falls short of fair play. Motivation and circumstances of the crime are only revealed in the second to last chapter, as the guilty party explains them to Fletch and the reader. The journey is still breezy, witty, and enjoyable, but the puzzle's resolution – just as with the first series novel published a decade prior – feels a little incidental and anti-climactic. Luckily, both books deliver post-confession final scenes as codas that punctuate the narrative and provide a satisfying full-stop for that tale.
It looks like Fletch Won has been in development as a feature film for a couple decades already, variously attached to actors like Jason Lee and Jason Sudeikis. A quick browse of Internet message boards shows lots of speculation about how another actor could possibly launch a new screen version of I.M. Fletcher after Chevy Chase's two films from the 1980s. Anyone who actually reads Gregory McDonald's books and tracks the character's curiosity toward others, professional tenacity, and quick-wittedness as a genuinely resourceful reporter will probably answer: easily.
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