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Benny Cooperman #8
There Was an Old Woman
Benny Cooperman, the working-stiff private eye in Grantham, Canada, is back - this time trying to sort out the kerfuffle surrounding plumbing in his office building, a dead old woman, and a crooked politician.
It all starts with a noisy toilet. Benny's janitor, Kogan, is too preoccupied with the death of his girlfriend, Lizzy Oldridge, an elderly woman who appears to have starved to death. Lizzy may have died hungry, but Benny soon learns that she had plenty of money. He also learns that former alderman and mayoralty candidate Thurleigh Ramsden, an unsavoury character if there ever was one, has gained control of it.
As Benny gets enmeshed in the case, the body count increases alarmingly. And the question remains, what’s happened with the plumbing?
Librarian's note: characters, settings, etc. have been completed for the series of 12 novels and 2 novellas: #1. The Suicide Murders (1980), #2. The Ransom Game (1981), #3. Murder On Location (1982), #4. Murder Sees The Light (1984), #5. A City Called July (1986), #6. A Victim Must Be Found (1988), #7. Dead And Buried (1990), #7A. The Whole Megillah (1991) (a novella), #8. There Was An Old Woman (1993), #9. Getting Away With Murder (1995), #10. The Cooperman Variations (2001), #10A. My Brother's Keeper (2001) with co-author Eric Wright (a novella), #11. Memory Book (2005), and #12, East Of Suez (2008). A thirteenth, Over the River, was scheduled for 2018 but never came out.
It all starts with a noisy toilet. Benny's janitor, Kogan, is too preoccupied with the death of his girlfriend, Lizzy Oldridge, an elderly woman who appears to have starved to death. Lizzy may have died hungry, but Benny soon learns that she had plenty of money. He also learns that former alderman and mayoralty candidate Thurleigh Ramsden, an unsavoury character if there ever was one, has gained control of it.
As Benny gets enmeshed in the case, the body count increases alarmingly. And the question remains, what’s happened with the plumbing?
Librarian's note: characters, settings, etc. have been completed for the series of 12 novels and 2 novellas: #1. The Suicide Murders (1980), #2. The Ransom Game (1981), #3. Murder On Location (1982), #4. Murder Sees The Light (1984), #5. A City Called July (1986), #6. A Victim Must Be Found (1988), #7. Dead And Buried (1990), #7A. The Whole Megillah (1991) (a novella), #8. There Was An Old Woman (1993), #9. Getting Away With Murder (1995), #10. The Cooperman Variations (2001), #10A. My Brother's Keeper (2001) with co-author Eric Wright (a novella), #11. Memory Book (2005), and #12, East Of Suez (2008). A thirteenth, Over the River, was scheduled for 2018 but never came out.
320 pages, Paperback
First published September 23, 1993
About the author
Howard Engel
32 books29 followersHoward Engel was a pioneering, award-winning Canadian mystery and non-fiction author. He is famous for his Benny Cooperman private-eye series, set in the Niagara Region of Ontario.
He and Eric Wright are two of the authors responsible for founding Crime Writers Of Canada. He had twins Charlotte and William with authoress, Marian Engel. He has a son, Jacob, with his late wife, authoress Janet Hamilton: with whom he co-wrote "Murder In Space".
A stroke in 2001 famously caused "alexia sine agraphia". It was a disease that hampered Howard's ability to comprehend written words, even though he could continue to write! He retired in Toronto, where he continued to inspire and mentor future authors and writers of all kinds. Maureen Jennings, creator of the Murdoch novels and still-running television series, is among them.
Unfortunately, he died of pneumonia that arose after a stroke. True animal-lovers: Howard's beloved living cat, Kali, is included by their family in his obituary.
He and Eric Wright are two of the authors responsible for founding Crime Writers Of Canada. He had twins Charlotte and William with authoress, Marian Engel. He has a son, Jacob, with his late wife, authoress Janet Hamilton: with whom he co-wrote "Murder In Space".
A stroke in 2001 famously caused "alexia sine agraphia". It was a disease that hampered Howard's ability to comprehend written words, even though he could continue to write! He retired in Toronto, where he continued to inspire and mentor future authors and writers of all kinds. Maureen Jennings, creator of the Murdoch novels and still-running television series, is among them.
Unfortunately, he died of pneumonia that arose after a stroke. True animal-lovers: Howard's beloved living cat, Kali, is included by their family in his obituary.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 30, 2019
Howard Engel has been one of my favourite authors from the moment I started his endearing Benny Cooperman series in 2014. Set near Niagara Falls: Ste. Catherine’s, Ontario; this is one of the first modern series to show me that our literature isn’t all about pioneers. Over and above that, Howard is a superb writer, coming up with clever wordplay and astute observations I wouldn’t think of; often in the height of humour.
In “There Was An Old Woman”, 1993: I savour a quote on page 34. Benny waits in a men’s club library. He sees shadows in other wingchairs and can’t help thinking: “Together, we looked like a living cartoon waiting for the right caption”. Wow! I surveyed the eight volumes I have read. I awarded 5 stars 5 times and never gave fewer than 4. There was one scene so zany, featuring Benny’s Jewish Mom, unsurprisingly; that eyes would have rolled if anyone but Howard had tried to pull it off. Serious, diverse topics drove this mystery and were well-served by levity.
An elderly lady in the last, derelict house, on the site of a business boom, was barred from her money. A lot of ethical angles and diversity are juggled: a news anchor set to marry a black man, a media magnate family with all kinds of secrets, decades-old blackmail, and old-fashioned greed. Benny could be our friend. He is not tough: he is intelligent and loveable. Sometimes he travels, sometimes cases are local. All of them are unique. This novel was clever, skilfully-descriptive, whacky, and warm. Ruth Rendell deemed his books events to look forward to.
I finished this eighth story on August 8. When I came on-line to write my five-star appreciation: I was sad to read that our dear Howard Engel died two weeks before, at 88! May readers keep acquainting him. I honour Howard and his family, with gratitude for wonderful books to love! Sincerely, Carolyn. https://www.thestar.com/entertainment...
In “There Was An Old Woman”, 1993: I savour a quote on page 34. Benny waits in a men’s club library. He sees shadows in other wingchairs and can’t help thinking: “Together, we looked like a living cartoon waiting for the right caption”. Wow! I surveyed the eight volumes I have read. I awarded 5 stars 5 times and never gave fewer than 4. There was one scene so zany, featuring Benny’s Jewish Mom, unsurprisingly; that eyes would have rolled if anyone but Howard had tried to pull it off. Serious, diverse topics drove this mystery and were well-served by levity.
An elderly lady in the last, derelict house, on the site of a business boom, was barred from her money. A lot of ethical angles and diversity are juggled: a news anchor set to marry a black man, a media magnate family with all kinds of secrets, decades-old blackmail, and old-fashioned greed. Benny could be our friend. He is not tough: he is intelligent and loveable. Sometimes he travels, sometimes cases are local. All of them are unique. This novel was clever, skilfully-descriptive, whacky, and warm. Ruth Rendell deemed his books events to look forward to.
I finished this eighth story on August 8. When I came on-line to write my five-star appreciation: I was sad to read that our dear Howard Engel died two weeks before, at 88! May readers keep acquainting him. I honour Howard and his family, with gratitude for wonderful books to love! Sincerely, Carolyn. https://www.thestar.com/entertainment...
October 17, 2025
4 Stars. In this one, we find Benny Cooperman at his best as a private eye. He seems to sense what's not right and plug away at the inconsistencies without being too offensive, he's Canadian after all, until the various clues fit coherently into a narrative. In the end, that's what he delivers. That is, after we've become thoroughly befuddled. He works in Grantham, Ontario, only a touch disguised from it's real existence as St. Catharines. Nearby Hamilton, Toronto, and the Niagara peninsula make guest appearances. Benny's upset that the toilet doesn't flush properly in his office at 220 1/2 St. Andrew Street. Trying to help a homeless man get a leg up, he and the other tenant, foot doctor Frank Bushmill, persuade their landlady to hire Kogan as cleaning and maintenance man. You know, fix the toilet occasionally! But Benny finds the facility still bubbling away and Kogan distraught by the death of his friend, Lizzy Oldridge. On inquiring, Cooperman determines that she may have starved to death even though she had significant funds. But they were under the control of a notorious former politician, Thurleigh Ramsden. Here we go. You'll enjoy it. (Oc2023/Oc2025)
October 27, 2017
There were moments of humour, moments of clarity but overall this book was not the usual delivery of cases from Grantham clients that made sense or held interest. The "old woman" of the book's title was treated to some very bad treatment indeed, and one successful titan of the town engaged Benny on another investigation to keep him away from how the "old woman" starved to death when she had a good sum of money kept from her by unprecedented legal trickery.
In one case Benny and his girlfriend were invited to a party to keep him diverted.
"Parties have always been a chore for me. For every conversation you get interested in, there are ten that don't go anywhere. I sometimes think that the coats on the bed are having a better time than I am."
Speaking of parties, there was one rather funny incident with Benny's mother who went grocery shopping after midnight without her purse and caused quite a scene. The store manager called Benny and he got over to the store as quickly as he could. Among the customers being entertained by the scene was one woman he had been following who had called him out on it. She and all the people at the grocery store, including the manager and workers were invited over to Benny's mother's home for a party. First they had to collect the spilled oranges at the store. This would only be funny to a reader of the series.
Thrown into this mix was the casual aside that Benny had given up his Players a few years earlier. Maybe this will all gel in the next book, but for me...things seemed very random in this book.
In one case Benny and his girlfriend were invited to a party to keep him diverted.
"Parties have always been a chore for me. For every conversation you get interested in, there are ten that don't go anywhere. I sometimes think that the coats on the bed are having a better time than I am."
Speaking of parties, there was one rather funny incident with Benny's mother who went grocery shopping after midnight without her purse and caused quite a scene. The store manager called Benny and he got over to the store as quickly as he could. Among the customers being entertained by the scene was one woman he had been following who had called him out on it. She and all the people at the grocery store, including the manager and workers were invited over to Benny's mother's home for a party. First they had to collect the spilled oranges at the store. This would only be funny to a reader of the series.
Thrown into this mix was the casual aside that Benny had given up his Players a few years earlier. Maybe this will all gel in the next book, but for me...things seemed very random in this book.
September 5, 2016
In re-reading the Benny Cooperman series from the start, There Was An Old Woman so far has been my favourite. By now in the series (#8) I am so familiar with Benny and Grantham the town itself , not just as a location but it's characters & quirks - that the story just flows. I'm more in-tune with Howard Engel and more easily pick up the clues that are scattered throughout, or maybe the author just made them more obvious in this book.
But it is the writing that shines through. When the author sprinkles phrases such as "I hope you get more than he told the inquest. He was as vague as a fifth carbon copy when I was there." you know he's found his groove. The Benny Cooperman series is such a delight, a small-town private investigator sleuthing in the 1990's with a 1970's demeanor.
But it is the writing that shines through. When the author sprinkles phrases such as "I hope you get more than he told the inquest. He was as vague as a fifth carbon copy when I was there." you know he's found his groove. The Benny Cooperman series is such a delight, a small-town private investigator sleuthing in the 1990's with a 1970's demeanor.
September 18, 2013
Private investigator Benny Cooperman is hired to tail a television newsreader. The woman leads such an unexceptional life that Benny can't even figure out why anyone wants to know what she's doing--until his mother gives him a clue. Meanwhile, he tries to find out about an eccentric woman who recently died after being unable to access her money in the bank. This leads him into a tangle of highly-placed rich people--the kind Benny distrusts--some of whom own the local television station.
July 22, 2010
Benny Cooperman #8
May 21, 2024
This book from 1993 has sat on my shelf for a long time. I quite enjoyed it and hope to read more Benny Cooperman mysteries.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews