Howard Engel Books In Order

Publication Order of Benny Cooperman Books

Publication Order of Mike Ward Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Howard Engel was a Canadian mystery novelist and a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) producer.

Howard passed away on July 16th, 2019.

His popularity peaked after the publication Benny Cooperman series. The detective based set novels are set in the region of Niagara and around the city of Grantham, Ontario-a city of close resemblance to St. Catherine’s, Ontario where the author was born. Engel met the love of his life-Marian Engel (a Canadian writer) and married from the year 1962-1978. The couple had twins named; William and Charlotte born in1965. Charlotte is now a TV producer while William works in the tourism industry. Howard Engel later married Janet Hamilton- a Canadian novelist and both had a son named Jacob Engel in 1989.

In 2000, the author suffered a stroke, which made him develop Alexia sine agraphia- a condition that limits him from reading written words without incurring significant effort but does not affect his writing ability. Despite his health status Engel was able to write a new book Memory Book (2005)- a book in which he uses his common character- Benny Cooperman to communicate about his conditions(Alexia sine agraphia) and his personal experiences.

Later in 2007, the novelist published a The Man Who Forgot How to Read, a narrative of the period he spent recovering from the stroke condition.

Howard Engel Awards

Howard Engel is an award winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for his writing on Crime Fiction genre. He is also an award winner of the Derrick Murdoch Award for being the best-selling Crime Writers of Canada. He was appointed a participant of the Order of Canada in 2007 and later in 2013 he was awarded Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal.

Books written by Howard Engel

The Canadian author has written several book series, novels, non-fiction, and anthologies. Benny Cooperman series features 14 books whose publication began in 1980. The first book in the series is The Suicide Murders of 1980, followed by The Ransom Game of 1981. The last book in the series is East of Suez published in 2008.

Other novels published by Engel include; Murder in Montparnasse, a Childs Christmas in Scarborough and Mr. Doyle and Dr. Bell.

Some of the non-fiction books published by the same author include the famous Lord High Executioner (1996), and Crimes of Passion (2001).

Howard Engel books into movies

The Suicide Murders was adapted as a film in 1985 by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). The film was directed by Graham Parker and featuring Saul Rubinek as the movie star. Again, in 1986, Murder Sees the Light was adapted as a movie by the same name with Saul Rubinek acting as Benny Cooperman, the protagonist.

Description of two Early Books by Howard Engel

The Suicide Murders- is the first book in Benny Cooperman series by Howard Engel. The story unfolds when a lady- Myrna Yates visits Benny Cooperman office requesting him to investigate on her husband, Chester Yates- a contractor. The lady firmly believes that her husband is having an affair. To Benny Cooperman, this is just a simple case to handle until when he finds out that the “cheating” husband has committed suicide. The detective suspects something fishy, and he does not believe that the straying husband committed suicide. This is because, 2hours before his death, Mr. Chester had purchased a 10-speed bicycle. Now what seems to be just an ordinary suicide could be murder? Now it is upon Benny Cooperman to get his hands dirty and dig deep to establish to the events that transpired to what everyone views as “suicide.”

The Ransom Game- is the second book in Benny Cooperman series by Howard Engel. It is wintertime in Grantham, Ontario; Benny Cooperman has nothing to do except to sit, watch ice creeping under his floor, and daydream about joining his folks in Florida until a blue-eyed, tall blond Muriel Falkirk comes knocking on his office door because her boyfriend- Johnny Rosa is reportedly missing.

Jonny is out of prison after serving his time. Ten years have elapsed since Jonny Rosa pulled off a dramatic kidnapping. Muriel Falkirk wants to know about his whereabouts. She is not the only person interested in knowing the whereabouts of her boyfriend, other people want too, and most of them are interested in the un-retrieved half million ransom. Now, Benny must join the ransom game in search of Jonny Rosa. Words spread out that Benny is on the case too and now everyone is looking for him too. Things take a dramatic twist until somebody ends up dead. Will, Benny- the man tasked with finding Jonny figure it out before he ends up dead too? He must dig deep to uncover the killer only to find out later that nobody seems to play by the rules.

A Victim Must be found- Once again Benny Cooperman has been hired by Pambos Kiriakis- the director and the owner of the local town expensively and stylish hotel to find a lost list. Pambos unconventional friend Arthur Tallon, who operated the town art gallery has died and left Pambos with a list of borrowed artworks from the gallery and now in the homes of Politician Alex Favell, Peter MacCulloch- University Vice President, Jonah Abraham- a distillery owner and other notable people in the town. Arthurs Tallon scruffy record makes the missing list the only clue that the gallery still owns those artworks. Benny Cooperman goes ahead to consult with MacCulloch wife- who seems to have other intentions on her mind; he receives a forceful rejection from Favell. While conducting other interviews to find the missing list, he discovers that Pambos has been stabbed to death and a strange object placed next to his coffee cup.

Now, Sergeant Chris takes up the murder case while Benny continues in search of the missing list. A detour to Napoleonic myths and Greek-Turkish clashes- Benny later discovers the villain, a second murder and the truth behind it all. This book is purely entertaining, full of different scenes and many details of Benny Cooperman lifestyle that keeps the readers want to read more and more.