Unsquare Dance

Review

I picked this one up because I wanted something I could read quick during a break in reading Cryptonomicon, which has been great but is a long book that will take a while to finish, and I am trying to keep my numbers up.

I read two other Fletch books years ago - “Fletch Won” and “Fletch Too”, both of which I picked up because of the rumblings about a new movie being made. I don’t remember much about either of them, but it seems like they were both a little bit more light-hearted than this, the original Fletch novel.

When this book was translated into a movie, not to mention a Chevy Chase movie, a lot of changes were made. Sure, the original book is funny, and Fletch has a way with witty banter and sarcasm, but the movie really glosses over the “drugs on The Beach” storyline that Fletch spends a large part of the book pursuing. It’s not surprising, considering it’s a much darker mystery concerning heroin use and teenage overdoses. From what I remember, the movie focuses on the storyline where Fletch is hired to murder a millionaire.

The nicest thing about this book - apart from the fact that it was an incredibly quick read - is that it’s a genuine mystery story that let you try to make connections just like Fletch does. I find myself really enjoying the occasional mystery novel, and I think I’m definitely going to keep reading the Fletch books (I’ve already got two more lined up on my shelf).