Who Killed the Fonz by James Boice is an entertaining mystery novel about the TV show "Happy Days" which brings back lots of memories. The story was interesting. The characters were as I remember them in their original roles. This was an OK read. Thank you NetGalley for the Advance Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was a fan of Happy Day so this book made me curious.
I was happy to read it as it was great so read about the characters later in their life.
It was an entertaining and engaging book even if it sometime made me feel sad.
It's well written, I liked how the characters were written and how the plot was developed.
The mystery was not what attracted me but it was interesting and with no plot hole.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Simon&Schuster and Netgalley for this ARC

A light fast read that should please fans of Happy Days. If you, like me, were not a particular fan of the show, you might find yourself enjoying it a little less if one because you know, don't you, that there are some inside jokes you are missing. That said, it's an interring premise for a novel and the characters, while obviously adapted, fun. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I enjoyed the first half of this book a lot. There was great nostalgia of a simpler time - of Happy Days (ok - I know that was corny). It was fun remembering some of the great episodes of a fun series. But then in the second half of the book it got pretty silly. For one thing, I just couldn't imagine anyone being able to kill Fonzi so the main premise of the book was unbelievable to me. Some of the story and dialogue got pretty cheesy.

Anyway, it was a fast read and fun just for the nostalgic part.

It's 1984, 20 years after the television show "Happy Days" left off, and Richard Cunningham is returning to his hometown of Milwaukee. It's not a happy occasion, though. He's there to attend a memorial service for his old friend Arthur Fonzarelli, "The Fonz". The time away gives Richard the chance to reflect on his stalled career as a Hollywood screenwriter, friendship, family, and what's important in life.

Fans of "Happy Days" will enjoy reading about grown-up Richie Cunningham. The book has several references to events that happened on the show, as well as tidbits of early 1980s pop culture. Richie is still the honest, loyal guy we loved in the television show and Ralph and Potsie just as goofy as ever. Joanie and Chachi are on a trip for their anniversary, so they're mentioned but we don't get to see any actual scenes with the couple.

While spending time in his hometown mourning his friend, Richard ends up in the middle of a conspiracy. The murder mystery keeps you guessing and although the ending isn't shocking, there were enough twists to the story to be entertaining. This is a fun, quick read that mystery lovers and fans of the the television show will enjoy. To paraphrase one of Ralph Malph's frequent phrases from the TV show, these characters have "still got it." I enjoyed spending time with these characters and loved the touching ending.

I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Simon & Schuster. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Having watched the TV programme I was excited to read this.
The story was enjoyable.
Unfortunately I just could not see the Fonz being killed by anybody which just spoilt it for me.

Who Killed The Fonz is a fun, fast and nostalgic read. In a time of TV revivals, I enjoyed catching up with the gang from Happy Days. The ending of the book was similar to an ending of the TV show, with the story tied up nearty. It read like a long episode of Happy Days. I found myself enjoying the memories of episodes of the show (Fonzie jumping the shark, especially) and could easily picture the characters all grown up as well as the scenery.

In the late 80’s and early 90’s, fondly remembered television series of the past received made-for-television reunion films. James Boice’s Who Killed the Fonz feels like it could be a long-lost reunion movie for the cast of one of my all-time favorite shows, Happy Days.

Beginning in 1984 (the year that Happy Days finally ended its epic run), Who Killed the Fonz finds Richard Cunningham at a crossroads in his Hollywood career. While he’s had success as a writer, including an Oscar nod, he can’t quite get his dream project off the ground. When his agent tells presents him an offer to make write a Star Wars clone, Richard is less thrilled. However, it’s either write the movie he doesn’t want anything to do with or face the end of chasing his dreams in Hollywood.

Then, Richard receives a call from Milwaukee that his old friend, Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli had died in an motorcycle accident. Seems that Fonzie flipped off the front of his bike on a bridge, plunging to his death in the icy waters below. Richard goes back to Milwaukee for the first time in twenty years to bury his old friend and to consider what the next stage in his career will be. (Marion moved out to Hollywood with Richard and Laurie Beth years ago after Howard passed away and they left the famous house to Joanie and Chiachi).

Billed as an 80’s noir thriller, Who Killed the Fonz is a loving homage to the classic series. Boice clearly knows his Happy Days lore, sprinkling in a few nostalgic flashbacks to classic episodes and moments from the series run as Richard comes to terms with the Fonz’s death and that he hasn’t been back to see his old friends in two decades.* He even has Fonzie’s funeral take place at the same funeral home used in the “Fonzie’s Funeral” two-parter late in the run of Richie episodes.

* I will have to call out Boice on one particular flashback that he doesn’t get quite right. Recalling the famous episode where Fonzie did his epic dance, Boice tells us that it’s Joanie who gets the exhausted Fonz back to his feet under threat of a crew cut. That isn’t the case. Jonie and Fonzie bet Joanie’s rival and head cheerleader that if they win, Joanie makes the cheerleading squad and if they lose, Fonzie gets a crewcut. The infamous dance that Fonzie uses to win the dance contest comes after the rival mocks the exhausted Fonz being dragged out on a stretcher that he’ll have to get said crew cut. I know, I know, I’m picking nits here, but that’s just the kind of fan that I am.


But as Richard into the life and death of his old friends, some things just don’t add up. How did Fonzie plunge to his death and was there more involved that meets the eye? And what does a politician running for governor know about why the Fonz passed away?

When I received an e-mail from NetGalley asking me if I wanted to read this book, I couldn’t surf over and hit the request button for this one fast enough. A mystery novel with the death of Fonzie at the center of it seemed right up my alley. Boice wins points on the nostalgia factor alone and his examination of Richard’s dilemma both in his career and trying to find out what happened to the Fonz and his other Milwaukee pals is well done. For the most part, Boice gets the touchstones right and feeling authentic — whether it’s Ralph and Potsie still being part of the band or Arnold’s open but struggling against the Bennigan’s across the street.

Boice blends what we know about the familiar characters with the artists who brought them to life, especially in the story centering on Richard, down to him wanting to move into the world of directing movies.

I will also give Boice credit that he keeps the structure of a “typical” Happy Days episode in how a lot of the events unfold in the novel. To say more would be to give away a lot of the pleasures of the last half of the book (though I will put them in this review behind a big time SPOILER warning so I don’t ruin your enjoyment). But, it’s fun to see how Boice tweaks the conventions and structure of just about any of your favorite Happy Days episodes.

In short, this one is a lot of fun and was a fun hybrid of a story. It may not be the Happy Days reunion movie, but it’s pretty darn cool-a-mundo.

OK, so I have to talk now about the the last half of the book. So, if you don’t want to know, stop reading now. I’m going to get into huge SPOILERS here.


So, as most of us know, the “typical” plot of a Happy Days episode was that Richie and company would get into some type of situation and quickly get in over their heads, requiring the Fonz to show up at the last minute and bail whoever was in trouble out. (Think the episode where Richie becomes a basketball star or the time Joanie tried to prove she was cool by hanging out with the wrong kids). Boice teases us with the reveal of Fonzie showing up to save the day not once, but twice. About two-thirds of the way into the story, Richie starts to run afoul of the police who may or may not have had a role in Fonzie’s death, only to have someone dressed like the Fonz and on a motorcycle that looks like his show up and bail Richard out.

Of course, this turns out not to be the Fonz. Boice saves the Fonz’s big entrance (seriously, you can almost hear the applause track) for when the crooked politician and cop catch Richie, Ralph, and Potsie trying to prove said politician is crooked. Richie is seconds away from death, disgrace, and being framed as an adulterer when the lightning cracks and Fonzie shows up to save everyone. Turns out the Fonz’s old girlfriends have been hiding him out since it was the Fonz who uncovered the crooked politicians to win the governorship and then renege on his big campaign promise. Fonzie threatened to expose him, leading to his “death.”

And yet, as much as I should be rolling my eyes at this series of events, I couldn’t help but love EVERY LAST SECOND of it as the Fonz shows up one more time to save his buddies. It felt like the most Happy Days of Happy Days episode EVER and it was at this point that I found myself wanting to see this book turned into the reunion special we never saw.

This was lacking some suspense for me. I was waiting for there to be more building up to the finale. There were just a couple of moments of suspense but it never built up. This was a unique idea to take the world of Happy Days and put it into a cozy mystery.

Who killed the Fonz is a fun look at if the Happy Days tv show continued to advance through the years. Parts of the book read like a "Where are They Now?" The rest, a mystery in a fun and familiar setting. The old favorites are all there. Parts were pretty campy, but then so was the tv show, so it fits well. A fun look at nostalgia for an old tv favorite.

This was described as being if Happy Days were an '80s crime noir, and that immediately drew me in. The story follows Richie, now Richard, Cunningham who is a 40-something down-on-his-luck Hollywood screenwriter. After a bad meeting with his agent, he gets even worst news: his best friend from back home, the Fonz, has died in a motorcycle accident. When Richard goes back to Milwaukee for the funeral, he uncovers something fishy about the way Fonzie died-- it was no accident, it was murder. I was a fan of Happy Days growing up, and so I really enjoyed all the nods to the show, and how the chapters were laid out like the days of the week like in the theme song. It was also a very quick read, but I felt like it took almost half the book to really get into the mystery behind Fonzie's death, and it turned out to be a bit predictable. Even though I wished it was a bit grittier, I did enjoy it for the nostalgia factor.

1984 - Richard Cunningham is a struggling screenwriter whose day goes from bad to worse. He's informed that one of his closest friends from the past - the Fonz - has died in a motorcycle accident. No body has been found.and he soon finds out it was no accident either - the Fonz has been murdered! He enlists the help of his old friends Ralph and Potsie to uncover the truth about what happened to their old friend.
This book was fun as it gave the reader a nostalgic look back into one of the most popular TV shows of all time. Although the ending was predictable, the writing was good and incorporated enough twists and turns to keep me interested. I enjoyed it!
Thanks to James Boice, Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

Richie moved to California, became Richard, and wrote movies, some very good, some not so much. His agent wants him to write a Star Wars wanna be and he wants to put together a package he’s spent the past three years working on. A call comes from Milwaukee letting him know Fonzie was killed in a motorcycle accident . Richard goes to Milwaukee for the service and on the trip becomes Richie again. Reading this was much like watching “Happy Day’s” twenty years later. It was fun, inoffensive and quick reading. Thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for an e-Galley for an honest review.

Writing was good, final outcome predictable, but it has plot twists and red herrings to keep things interesting.

If you don't remember Happy Days, much less specific episodes, you won't relate to half of this book. It is definitely a lead to purchase the series on DVD or find a classics channel that runs this show. This book is set 20 years after the Happy Days series ended.

Ritchie has become Richard to earn a living as a writer in Hollywood. He'd like to be a director but can't get the opportunity or funding. When he returns to Milwaukee to attend Fonzi's funeral the floodgates of memories has Richard facing who is is now and who he wants to be, based on Richie's life experiences and friendships. Being asked to direct a commercial for the local candidate for Governor by Martin & Margo Sealock is another story within the story that opens new ides and characters.

I give this a 4 out of 5 stars.

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Who Killed The Fonz? imagines what happened to the characters of the legendary TV series Happy Days twenty years after the show left off.

It was fun catching up with the Happy Days group. It was an easy read, not a lot of depth.

3☆

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It is my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.

Who Killed the Fonz by James Boice is an interesting mystery which brings back a lot of memories about the TV show "Happy Days". If you never watched the series you would still enjoy the story, but I suggest you go to YouTube and catch a couple of episodes. It was great to "catch up" with the familiar characters. I was given an early copy to review.

This is what is known as a high concept book , following the life of RIchie,, Fonzie, Potsie, and Ralph into the eighties — with Ralph and Potsie factory workers and Richie a mid-level screenwriter in Los Angeles. Fonzie has apparently died and Richie goes back to Milwaukee for his funeral, visiting his old home, Arnold’s and his old life. A noirish tale of corruption, love and surprises follows. Not successful in my opinion, though I tried hard to like it.

family-dynamics, family, friendship, mystery, Milwaukee, Hollywood, alternate-history, nostalgia

First disclaimer: I've lived in the Milwaukee suburbs all my days.
Second: I rarely got to watch the Fonz because I worked second shift.
It was fun to read about places I know and TV characters that everyone around here are familiar with, but I really have to recommend the murder mystery with complicated relationships, plot twists and red herrings! The publisher's blurb gives some idea of what to expect and I won't do the spoiler thing.
For people other than Milwaukeeans I think that anyone who has binge watched the TV show this will resonate with perception of the place and time.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Simon and Schuster Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!

There is so much nostalgic goodness in this book. I felt like I was reading a reunion show of the show I grew up loving. This book not only was so incredibly fun but it had a bit of a mystery with us finding the killer of our friend Fonz. This book was filled with nostalgia and pop culture reference. I am so glad I was chosen to read this book. Phenomenal storytelling. Seriously worth the time. Grab a copy you won't regret it.