Son of Fletch

Despite a couple of shaky plot turns, readers will gladly succumb to McDonald's laconic wit and smooth pacing in this 10th entry in the Fletch series. Ex-reporter Irwin Maurice Fletcher--just Fletch, please--is in semi-retirement in Tennessee where, after three marriages, he has settled in with Carrie, a plainspoken ``Southern country woman.'' One dark and stormy night (yes!), Fletch's heretofore unknown son, Jack, arrives, accompanied by a South African killer, a kidnapper and a drug dealer who escaped from federal prison with him. Beguiled by 20-ish Jack, Fletch is soon effectively in charge of getting the escapees away from the cops and in to Alabama where a group of white supremacists have encamped to await their leader, the killer. Although in looks and manners, Jack surely has not fallen far from the paternal tree, Fletch still seeks proof of their relationship, but is soon more worried about the dangers awaiting the young man in the camp. Fletch wins the day in great style as the supremacists, cartoonish screw-ups barely capable of organizing a beer blast, mainly self-destruct. Fletch, Carrie and the enterprising Jack, however, are all fully dimensioned characters who rate readers' attention and applause. Mystery Guild alternate. (Oct.)