Fletch

Fletch is a 1974 mystery novel by Gregory Mcdonald, the first in a series featuring the character Irwin Maurice Fletcher. Synopsis The novel introduces I. M. Fletcher, a journalist and former Marine camping on a beach watching the drug culture for a story, waiting to find the origin of a dealer's seemingly endless supply of drugs before publishing an exposé. A millionaire businessman named Alan Stanwyck approaches Fletch to hire Fletch to murder him; the man tells Fletch that he is dying of bone cancer and wants to avoid a slow, painful death and his life insurance is invalid if he kills himself. Fletch accepts $1,000 in cash to listen to the proposition. Stanwyck offers him $20,000 for the murder, and Fletch talks him up to $50,000 in an effort to see if the man is serious. He appears to be sincere, and Fletch begins investigating the man's story. Additional pressure comes from Fletch avoiding the two attorneys chasing him for alimony for each of his ex-wives.