Gregory Mcdonald (born February 15, 1937 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts) is an American mystery writer best known for his Fletch character, as played by Chevy Chase in the movie of the same name. The Fletch series, currently consisting of nine novels, also spawned the 'Flynn' series, as well as the 'Son of Fletch' series. Two of the Fletch books have 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.
In the novel "Son of Fletch" McDonald introduced the character of Jack Faoni, who is said to be the illegitimate son of Irwin Maurice Fletcher. As a result, Texas-born journalist Jay Embry, inspired by the works of McDonald, adopted the pen name of Jack Faoni.
He has also written two novels in the Skylar series, as well as a number of non-series (and non-mystery) novels.
Before writing the Fletch novels, Mcdonald was a journalist for the Boston Globe.
