Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher (Chevy Chase) is one of the best investigative reporters in the country, and he'll need all his skill when he becomes the main suspect in a murder case. After inheriting a Louisiana plantation from a distant relative, Fletch makes the journey from Los Angeles to check it out. When he winds up in bed with a lawyer -- who in turn winds up dead the next morning -- Fletch has to solve the crime before he ends up behind bars for someone else's misdeed.