Product Description
Romantically linked to the beauty found beaten to death, young Tennessee rogue Skylar Whitfield is jailed for her murder, and discovering that he cannot charm his way out of prison, he escapes to search for the real killer. Reprint. AB. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Fun romp and fabulous mystery
Skylar begins with a fun, sexy younger character. I think he's 19 or 20.Skylar is a southern guy who spends his time making love with his childhood friend Tandy or working on his family farm with his friend Doofus.My descriptions lack the wonderful nature of all these characters they are written exceptionally well and full of life and fun.Skylar's family is being visited by his cousin "JONTHAN" while Jonathan is recovering from Mono.Funny thing is that Jonathan walks in full of upper crust bravado and snobbery into a down home country welcome.
That is not even best to describe the fun in this book when the girl that everyone thinks is Skylar's girlfriend is murdered.The town is turned upside down as all fingers point to Skylar for the murder.
From the beginning this book is full of heat with the chemistry of Skylar and Tandy to the off beat comedy of the local police deputies whose ineptness is hilarious.Add in a jail with a roof that comes off to a serious murder mystery.This story manages to have a little of it all wrapped up in one.

This isn't a serious read it's FUN and meant to be fun!5 stars for it and now I'm off to read the sequel Skylar in Yankeeland.

Nothing Special
As a longtime fan of the "Fletch" and "Flynn" series', I can understand other reviewers' excitement about the appearance of the "Skylar" books; it represents Gregory MacDonalds' departure from "literature" and return to what he does best - writing crime novels starring quirky, likeable characters who view the world through humorous eyes.

However, just because MacDonald is leaning back in that direction, it doesn't necessarily mean he's put his heart into it."Skylar" is a partially-realized novel full of stereotypes (some offensive), caricatures and cardboard cutouts.Nothing here seems anchored in the real world.

The story: Jonathan Whitfield, stereotypical yuppie relative from the north, appears in quaint, southern (cardboard cutout) Greendowns County, Tennessee, to visit his Uncle and family, including sharp-as-a-tack, hayseed caricature, cousin Skylar, a youthful Matlock-clone.

In terms of mystery, MacDonald had me going to the end, even throwing in a shocker of a twist that both surprised and saddened me.Basically, someone beats Skylar's sweetheart to death and Skylar is the only suspect.Because the local Sheriff & deputies are hayseed caricatures of Southern cops, Skylar knows it will be up to him to solve the murder and clear his name.Cousin Jonathan is along as an observer, someone to represent us, the reader, goggle-eyed and confused by all the southern charm.

As characters go, Sheriff Culpepper was the only fellow I really liked.Everyone else is so damned self-absorbed they may as well be carrying around mirrors to talk to instead of each other.

MacDonald can be a great writer when he wants to be, but with "Skylar", I got the impression that he just needed to toss off another book so no one would forget him.Don't kid yourself for even an instant that this book is written in the "Fletch" mold.

"Skylar" scores!
This book was fabulous!Written in the spirit of the "Fletch" series, this book introduces us to the character of Skylar Whitfield, a Southern boy accused of the murder of one of his oldest friends.Throw in his snooty Yankee cousin, Jon than, Skyler's good-ole-boy charm and intelligence that rivals Albert Einstein, and you have a wonderful, easy read with no idea whodunnit.A must read for "Fletch" fans, and a real page turner for new McDonald readers.

A fair effort, but a tad familiar to fans of Fletch
Skylar Whitfield conjures up memories of a younger, less savvy I.M. Fletcher (see "Fletch")as he careens around his redneck hometown trying to clear himself of murder charges.His interplay with his Harvard trained cousin seems forced and phony at times, and the "smarter than the average redneck" attitude has been seen before in "Son of Fletch".If you haven't read the "Fletch" series, "Skylar" can be a fun read, but for "Fletch" and "Flynn" fans, the book is a case of been-there, done-that.

It's not Fletch but...
I love the work Gregory McDonald has over the years with "Fletch".Well, Gregory is back bigger than ever with another page turner.Skylar starts a little slow, but within three chapters the night light was going to stay on until this book was finished.Skylar is a great character, in the Fletch mold.This book had me guessing and changing my mind on whodunit on nearly every page. A great finish. Look forward to more Skylar ... Read more

Product Description
On medical leave from the Boston Police Department, the eccentric Police Inspector and offbeat operative, Francis Xavier Flynn might have his most perplexing assignment yet. Someone is giving away hundreds of millions of dollars, and Flynn has to find out who in a hurry. As he races from Texas to Las Vegas, from Massachusetts to Russia, Flynn quickly discovers that this is not the pastime of an eccentric billionaire, nor is it a nefarious counterfeiting scheme. Someone is looking to wreck the nation’s economy and bizarrely enough, spending a lot of money to do it. With every lead going nowhere, Flynn’s most dizzying logic is put to the test, but the clue he needs could be somewhere in his own murky past. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A Good Fun Mystery-Adventure
If you like wisecracking private investigators, the FLYNN books are for you.This book whirls around a unique and intriguing plot which begins with every person in small towns across America waking up to find $100,000 cash on their doorsteps.Naturally, chaos ensues!THE BUCK PASSES FLYNN was published in 1981, so a lot of the technology and social mores are dated.Nevertheless, the storytelling and the wry, dry, intelligent hero hold up very well.Not all of the plot points ultimately pay off, but this mystery-adventure was good fun.

Hypocritical and slow moving
After someone leaves envelopes containing $100,000 each in several small towns across America, Boston Police Inspector and Secret Agent Francis Xavier Flynn is called in to investigate.

After finishing reading MacDonald's "Fletch" series of books, I decided to give the "Flynn" books a try, but the simple fact is that the "Flynn" books just aren't as good as the "Fletch" books. "The Buck Passes Flynn" is the second Flynn book, and not only is there no murder for Flynn to solve (yes, I am aware that it is possible to have a mystery story without a murder, but they're generally not as interesting), but the whole novel is essentially just a vehicle for MacDonald to voice his opinions on the evils of money. The story is slow-moving, far-fetched and totally hypocritical. The message of this book seems to be that money only brings misery, and yet MacDonald seems to overlook the fact that Flynn himself is very rich (this fact is mentioned in the first Flynn novel and in "Confess, Fletch", but is conveniently omitted in this book) and I'm sure MacDonald isn't a charity case either. I own copies of the other two "Flynn" novels, so I will probably keep reading them, but after this book and "Flynn", I am beginning to have my doubts as to whether I will actually enjoy them.

Thrilling and thoughtful
Have you read a Fletch book? Flynn is, in some ways, Fletch's flipside - he is a perfect gentleman, a devoted family man even, who works for the forces of law and order - but if free spirit Fletch lives in fun stories that might give you some pause for thought, reliable Reluctant Flynn lives in hilarious stories that might later keep you up nights in deep contemplation.

McDonald is a damn good storyteller, running his clever characters through a series of plausible situations with snowballing root causes that give broad opportunity for adventure and the display of wry wit. Flynn and Fletch are his vehicles for some of the best dialogue I've seen in print.

This is one of my favorite McDonald books. My biggest problem with the work is that I keep giving copies away to friends and having to purchase more.

Great premise
Thought-provoking idea, well-written in McDonald's excellent style... witty, inventive.I love the Flynn series!More, more, please!

The best of the "Flynn" series
McDonald's hero "Flynn" is not as popular as his "Fletch" series, but "The Buck Passes Flynn" is thebest of the series and every bit as good as a Fetch novel.The theme, thatsomeone is making random $100,000 deposits on the doorsteps of every homein small communities around the country and creating havoc in the process,is quite fascinating (though admittedly dated, it would probably be about$250,000 today).It is a mystery worthy of the great Inspector Flynn, andis told in a humorous style for which McDonald is known.Overall, a greatbook for fans of detective fiction. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Mashed Potatoes funny and Touching
Mark Edwards is a newspaper reporter forced to become his paper's advice columnist.He decides to be frank, blunt, and outrageous in dispensing his advice.Before long, he's not only everyone's favorite advice columnist,he's also learning how to deal with his own personal life better.GregoryMcDonald is a hilarious, sharp, observant writer (and I'm not even relatedto him or a friend of his ) whose awards have been well-earned.Ihave and have read nearly all of his works of fiction and this is myabsolute favorite. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Best Plot and Dialogue of All Time
Please read this book.The plot is amazing.Perfect in its pacing and just enough left to your imagination to make it fun.The dialogue is a stitch.If you saw the movie "Fletch" with Chevy Chase, you can just see and hear Chevy Chase delivering the lines.There is no shortage of laughs in this book.Very little in the book happens outside of Fletch's view so you see what he sees.The book abounds in dialogue and is told almost exclusively through dialogue, pages and pages of it.The wit is amazing.Read and enjoy.

Funny as Hell!
I agree with the previous two reviewers: this is a great mystery, intricately plotted and w/ great characterizations. But they don't stress nearly enough just how hilarious the novel is. In fact, the book is only "dark" in comparison to the incredibly fluffy movie of the same name. If you want a great read w/ some priceless humor, then read this book. One of my all time favorites. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Unsung Tom Sawyer (please give me first time review $$)
The protagonist of Safekeeping, Robbie James St. James Burnes WalterFarhall-Pladroman, is a boy-hero cut of the same cloth as any archetypalboy-hero, but no one knows who he is!No one has to read about his trip toAmerica in their English class at school, nor do they have to hear abouthis being placed in the charge of Thadeus Lowry, a journalist who is likeW.C. Fields with a typewriter, or his subsequent run from a mob hitman, orhis hiding out in the home of a Harlem prostitiute. That's just a shame.The author's notoriety for his Fletch books and movies seem to haveovershadowed this little-known gem he produced in the early '80s.Therewas not much in the arena of children's literature suitable for adultconsumption for him to compete with in the latter half of the twentiethcentury, but the book was published with nary a ripple in the literarypond. Pick it up.For the love of a hero.For the love of words strung sotightly and beautifully together that they cradle a reader like the motherRobbie is left without. For your children, the same reason that compelledmy mother to pick it up for me.It's not readily available here, butfinding it is worth the effort, and saving it from obscurity is a noble,noble crusade.

An ignored classic, and a reviewer who wants 1st time $$$
This book was given to me by my mother based on a bit on the back cover that compared the author to Mark Twain.As wrong as that may be, I'm glad she picked it up. The fellow who wrote it is actually better known for theFletch character and the related books. The same whimsical, tongue-in-cheektone is present here, but where the book really distinguishes itself is incharacter development. The personalities of Robbie, Thadeus Lowry, and theSavalos are trompe l'oeil paintings of people done in the broadest strokes,and the evocation of the war era in New York is magnificent. While athrilling and entertaining read, the book also affords insights intoAmerica, as seen through the eyes of Robbie, a young stranger here.Themost amazing thing about Safekeeping, and the thing that has stayed with mefor well over ten years (the time since first I read the book) is thecultural differences between America and England being so clearlyillustrated by Robbie's ten-year old eyes taking in America as a whole asif it was an unfinished work, waiting for his more mature hand to coax somebeauty out of it and out of the lives of the people he meets here. ... Read more

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Title: FLETCH "The Best Mysteries Of All Time"Binding: HardcoverPublication date: 2009Pages: 259 ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Gregory (Christopher) Mcdonald, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 4148 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author