I stumbled upon this book by accident. It was this post that was shared on Blusky by Paxton Holly’s I Read Movies profile:

This novelization rack is gorgeous. I only just last year found out those Miami Vice novelizations existed. And I’ve only ever seen them once, that day that I found them. There are 5 of them, I covered the first one on the show.

[image or embed]

— I Read Movies 📖 🎥 🍿 (@ireadmovies.com) December 27, 2025 at 10:58 PM

Seeing all these TV series novelizations was cool enough – but seeing one with Arthur Fonzarelli himself on the cover got me exited to find out there were Happy Days books out there. After doing a little digging and finding a bunch for future reads, one other book came up that made my eyes bug out!

“WHO KILLED THE FONZ?” – wait what? My first thought was it was a non-fiction book about television characters and how that “Fonzie-type” character no longer exists.

Nope.

It’s a mystery about who killed Fonzie.

**SPOILER WARNINGS FROM HERE ON OUT**

It’s a short book and a really fast read. I enjoyed it for what it was, but some of it left me wanting MORE Happy Days. The premise of the story is – Richie (now Richard) Cunningham is out in Hollywood as a screenwriter with varying degrees of success. He gets a call from his sister back in Milwaukee that the Fonz died in an accident, so he goes back alone to pay his respects – but things start coming up that hint that maybe it wasn’t an accident after all.

Ralph and Potsie reconnect with Richie and end up helping him investigate things, and Al is around at the diner. Oh and Officer Kirk plays a part in the story too. But…

• Lori Beth stays back in California with the kids.
• Marion is there as well, she lives out there with them now.
• Howard passed away.
• Joanie and Chachi are OUT OF TOWN for some reason.
• Some of the timeline doesn’t add up – like they haven’t spoken in 20 years but it’s been 10 years since Joanie and Chachi got married. Fonzie didn’t come to Howard’s funeral. Didn’t even contact them.
• Oh and if you remember Fonzie adopted a son in the series finale – well that never comes up at all.

I wish the author leaned MORE into the wide array of characters that Happy Days had over the years. Where’s Roger? Flip? Eugene? K.C. (Crystal Bernard, remember?)

Can anyone confirm the whereabouts of Jenny Piccalo?

Sure a lot of these characters were in the later years and not as memorable – but instead he bring in characters that were new for this story? That’s fine and all – but do both – and give a little more respect to the details of the show itself.

Can you tell I love Happy Days? And I am going to love reading those Happy Days novelizations.

This book? Again, I am glad I found it and read it – but for the most part if left me wanting more from it.