I had never read any of the Fletch books, so I decided to give this one a shot when I saw it lying unloved at the bottom of the "take-one-leave-one" book bin at where I work. If you don't mind thinking about Chevy Chase for a few hours (because, let's face it, it's impossible to superimpose another performer or a Fletch of your own mental design onto your brain-book-movie [someone come up with a better word for that, won't you please?]), there is brisk enough fun to be had here. If maybe not a lot else, "Carioca Fletch" did boast the most awesome murder weapon ever: a unwary band of parading capoeiristas.