McDonald, Gregory

Gregory Mcdonald (February 15, 1937 – September 7, 2008) was an American mystery writer best known for his creation of the character Irwin Maurice Fletcher, an investigative reporter who preferred the nickname "Fletch." Two of the Fletch books earned Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America: Fletch was named Best First Novel in 1975, and Confess, Fletch won for Best Paperback Original in 1977. This is the only time a novel and its sequel won back-to-back Edgars. Mcdonald would go on to write seven more Fletch novels, including the prequels Fletch Won and Fletch Too. The original book became a 1985 movie of the same name starring Chevy Chase. Mcdonald was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. He was educated at Harvard, paying his own way by operating yachts, and worked as a teacher before becoming a journalist for the Boston Globe in the late 1960s. He finally left his newspaper position to become a novelist full-time with the publication of Fletch. In the mid-1980s, he moved to Pulaski, a city in Giles County, Tennessee. There, he bought an antebellum farm and became involved in local politics.^[1] He died at his home from prostate cancer in 2008.

My opinion: Haven't read any of his books in several years but loved the Fletch series. Reasonable mystery content but terrific humor. The Flynn books were a spinoff from the Fletch books and were equally good reading. I recommend his books as an enjoyable interlude between more serious readings.

Novels

• • Running Scared (1964)

• Fletch (1974) X

  • Confess, Fletch (1976)

• Flynn (1977) X

• Fletch's Fortune (1978) X

  • Love Among the Mashed Potatoes apa Dear M.E. (1978)

  • Who Took Toby Rinaldi? (US title)/Snatched (UK title) (1978)

  • The Buck Passes Flynn (1981)

• Fletch and the Widow Bradley (198) X

• Fletch's Moxie (1982) X1) X

  • Fletch and the Man Who (1983)

• Flynn's In (1984) X

  • Carioca Fletch (1984)

  • Safekeeping (1985)

  • Fletch Won (1985)

• Fletch, Too (1986) X

  • A World Too Wide (1987)

  • Exits and Entrances (1988)

  • Merely Players (1988)

  • The Brave (1991)

  • Son of Fletch (1993)

  • Fletch Reflected (1994)

  • Skylar (1995)

  • Skylar in Yankeeland (1997)

  • Flynn's World (1999 as e-book; 2003 on paper)

  • Wise Saws (Unpublished)

If you want to learn more about this author, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Mcdonald