C. (Comment, never msg).’s Reviews > A City Called July > Status Update

I could have stayed awake to finish this mystery, which is in its tricky and very invested denouement. Wanting to enjoy it fully is why I saved the last twenty pages. I will reprise it, very soon, even during daylight, with time and a state of full focus to really be entertained by the information and savour how Howard Engel closes his pages. He always ties them sweetly into Benny Cooperman's quiet personal life.

Howard Engel builds believeable stories with realistic people and a familiar sense of place. He is emulated St. Catherine's, Ontario. It is a few minutes from Niagara Falls and we were in both a few years ago. He doesn't zoom along so speedily that there is no personality and heart. He takes time to paint a portrait and we befriend the series through it; without any lagging or irrelevance that dwindles interest.

A non-appreciator of skilled writing might be antsy about Howard Engel taking the time for peripheral description in this novel and want him to "Make with the goods". But Benny Cooperman sticks with this case, never stops poking it, and the wonderful colour really is well-crafted. We cut back to the chase fast enough and who's to say those bits of scenery aren't educational? Dropping clues? To use his lingo. :-)

Here I go with Ontario's dear Howard Engel! I am glad we have, with Eric Wright passed away. Now in their 80s: what masterful writers, yet funny ones, who know their way around a mystery plot and also how to keep us interested and everything moving. Best of all they make real people to whom we relate, whom we befriend. I would love to know Benny, except constantly being broke. Ruth Rendell praised Howard Engel.