Book Details
| Title: | Carioca Fletch | |
| Author: | Gregory Mcdonald | |
| Times Read: | 1 | |
| Last Read: | 11.29.24 |
Other Books Read By This Author (7)
- Confess, Fletch
- Fletch
- Fletch and the Man Who
- Fletch and the Widow Bradley
- Fletch Won
- Fletch's Fortune
- Fletch's Moxie
| Date Read | Note |
| 11.29.24 | The Seventh Fletch book, and I think the second out of order. This takes place between Fletch and Confess, Fletch and refers to a single line of dialogue in either Confess, Fletch or Fletch's Fortune where he mentions spending some time in Brazil after the events of the first book. It's also the shortest book yet at a lean 230 pages and probably the biggest departure since we're now in a foreign country and the murdery mystery is 47 years old. Just to get it out of the way, I liked this one a lot. It's up there with the first two I think, I may have even liked it more than Confess, Fletch. For me it reveled in an unironic marvel at the exoticism and mystery of Rio de Janiero that I feel like either the world is too small or people feel the need to act too cool to indulge in today. And you know, maybe 2024 Rio isn't that cool but 1983 Rio sure as shit was. So instead of snarky comments and dealing with a cast of suspects Fletch is clueless and just trying to keep up. Yet he still finds the company of beautiful women and madcap adventure, but there's also a tint of mysticism and wonder that comes along with Carnival. It reminded me in some ways of the Mardi Gras episodes of Treme along with other pulp novels I read way back dealing with Peru. If Mcdonald spent time down there then it definitely shows; if he didn't then he's a tremendous author. Now, I do tend to be a fan of series outliers. I liked Super Mario 2, Castlevania 2, and Zelda 2. I can see how fans of the series may think this one's a waste of time because it doesn't adhere to the formula, but after the last one where he's on the campaign trail I welcome an injection of new energy. Finding more and more scenes to plug an investigative reporter like Fletch into is gonna run thin. I suspect Mcdonald felt the same because the rest of the series is either prequels or whatever the last two are (I'll find out). So if you're reading them in narrative order then I can see how this is an odd blip in the middle of Fletch's life (which it should be! He just came into a lot of money!) but reading in order of publication this seems like an author who's grown a little bored and wanted to put his fantasy-version of himself in a fun place. And he does describe Rio as adventurous. |
 |