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Benny Cooperman #9
Getting Away with Murder
We open with Gotham private detective Benny Cooperman being shanghaied from his comfortable bed and forcibly introduced to infamous crime boss Abram Wise. He wants Benny to find out who is trying to kill him!
Benny is plunged into a world of murder, Middle Eastern food, and fashion in a complex mystery that combines both past and present. The question for Benny and you? Did anyone get away with murder?
Librarian's note #1: characters, pub dates, settings, and pagination have been entered and the description checked - but corrections welcome!
Librarian's note #2: the series consists 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 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.
Benny is plunged into a world of murder, Middle Eastern food, and fashion in a complex mystery that combines both past and present. The question for Benny and you? Did anyone get away with murder?
Librarian's note #1: characters, pub dates, settings, and pagination have been entered and the description checked - but corrections welcome!
Librarian's note #2: the series consists 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 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.
248 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
4 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
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 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 17, 2025
4 Stars. A good one. The plot is complicated and requires readers to keep the title in mind. What does it mean? Does someone get away with murder? Mysteries are usually wrapped up by the end. Or unwrapped! Believe me, there's a lot of wrapping here. But I'm not about to give it away! Benny Cooperman, our intrepid private investigator in Grantham, Ontario, Canada [read St. Catharines just west of Niagara Falls], is suddenly awoken at home by three thugs who forcibly take him to meet Abram Wise, the "biggest crook in North America who's never been to prison." He's a Grantham resident and wants to hire Benny to find out who's trying to murder him. To modify a phrase from The Godfather, it's a job offer Benny can't refuse. He soon finds there are a huge number of suspects. Let's see, the children of Abram's two ex-wives, Hank and Julie, the wives themselves, Lily and Paulette, Ed Neustadt, a probably corrupt police detective recently deceased (a car he was repairing fell on him, hmm), and Wise's household staff including the three thugs, especially Mickey Armstrong. Plus a car dealer on the make. I could go on. Yours to discover. (De2023/Oc2025)
October 31, 2017
Another lost review of book I read and enjoyed. Crime boss shenanigans.
December 16, 2020
This is a 1995 book by Canadian author Howard Engel and is the 10th book in the private detective Benny Cooperman series. The setting is in 1990s Grantham, a city in the Niagara Region in Ontario, Canada. I think both the story and the writing are decent but not spectacular. It is kind of a police procedural book except it is PI procedural. Benny took a methodological approach and the book is filled with pages of witness interviews. However, I feel the ending is rushed and unsatisfactory. Benny kind of leaps to his conclusion without a lot of analysis even though subsequent events proved him to be correct.
The story started with Benny being kidnapped to meet top crime boss Abram Wise who then forces Benny to take him on as a client. There has been two failed assassination attempts on Abram and he wants Benny to find out who wants to kill him. Benny started by interviewing friends and families of Abram and dug into Abram’s career and personal life. Before Benny finishes his investigation, Abram was murdered in his well-guarded home. The gun was found next to the body, but the silencer has disappeared. A short while ago, a retired deputy police chief Ed Neustadt has also been murdered. Benny thought the two cases might be connected and started digging into events that dated back to 1952.
Spoiler alert. It turns out what caused Abram and Ed’s death can be traced back to a chain of events that happened to the Tatatski family between 1946 and 1952. In 1946, Joseph Tatatski returned to Canada after serving in World War II and lived with his wife Anastasia and daughters Margaret and Mary and a son Freddy. Not too long after his return, there was a burglary attempt on his home and Joseph was killed. Joseph’s murderer was never found. In 1951, there was another burglary attempt on the Tatatski home and Anastasia was murdered this time. Ed Neustadt (only a corporal at the time) was in charge with both cases. After Anastasia was murdered, Ed promptly arrested Mary (a rebellious youth and an unmarried mother with a baby girl) and she was convicted on flimsy evidence in 1952 and was hanged. A week before her hanging, young Abram Wise (a young burglar at that time) was caught red-handed for burglary at another home and sent to Ed Neustadt to interrogate. For reasons nobody can figure out at that time, Ed released Abram with no charge filed. It turns out what happened was Abram was the one who burglarized the Tatatski house and murdered Anastasia when Anastasia caught him. Abram confessed to Ed in the interrogation. However, at that time, Mary has already been convicted for the Anastasia murder and is just one week before she is scheduled to be hanged. If Ed were to charge Abram for the murder, it would be a big blemish on Ed’s career as a hardnosed and successful bullying cop. So Ed made a deal with Abram to let him go but to keep his mouth shut so that Ed can avoid having to have made a mistake in the high profile case of the murder of Anastasia by her daughter. Years later, the daughter of the wrongfully hanged Mary, Alexandrina Tait, were able to put all the pieces together and figured out the conspiracy that killed her mother. As revenge, she changed her name and took a job at Abram’s house as housekeeper. She then murdered Ed Neustadt and later Abram.
The name of the book is an interesting play on the word getting away with murder. It turns out the wrongfully convicted Mary was actually responsible for the murder of her father Joseph Tatatski in 1947. She murdered him and faked the burglary because he refused to let her see her boyfriend. Joseph’s case was never solved so she got away with murder in the Joseph case. Ironically, she was framed for the second murder and was hanged for it.
The story started with Benny being kidnapped to meet top crime boss Abram Wise who then forces Benny to take him on as a client. There has been two failed assassination attempts on Abram and he wants Benny to find out who wants to kill him. Benny started by interviewing friends and families of Abram and dug into Abram’s career and personal life. Before Benny finishes his investigation, Abram was murdered in his well-guarded home. The gun was found next to the body, but the silencer has disappeared. A short while ago, a retired deputy police chief Ed Neustadt has also been murdered. Benny thought the two cases might be connected and started digging into events that dated back to 1952.
Spoiler alert. It turns out what caused Abram and Ed’s death can be traced back to a chain of events that happened to the Tatatski family between 1946 and 1952. In 1946, Joseph Tatatski returned to Canada after serving in World War II and lived with his wife Anastasia and daughters Margaret and Mary and a son Freddy. Not too long after his return, there was a burglary attempt on his home and Joseph was killed. Joseph’s murderer was never found. In 1951, there was another burglary attempt on the Tatatski home and Anastasia was murdered this time. Ed Neustadt (only a corporal at the time) was in charge with both cases. After Anastasia was murdered, Ed promptly arrested Mary (a rebellious youth and an unmarried mother with a baby girl) and she was convicted on flimsy evidence in 1952 and was hanged. A week before her hanging, young Abram Wise (a young burglar at that time) was caught red-handed for burglary at another home and sent to Ed Neustadt to interrogate. For reasons nobody can figure out at that time, Ed released Abram with no charge filed. It turns out what happened was Abram was the one who burglarized the Tatatski house and murdered Anastasia when Anastasia caught him. Abram confessed to Ed in the interrogation. However, at that time, Mary has already been convicted for the Anastasia murder and is just one week before she is scheduled to be hanged. If Ed were to charge Abram for the murder, it would be a big blemish on Ed’s career as a hardnosed and successful bullying cop. So Ed made a deal with Abram to let him go but to keep his mouth shut so that Ed can avoid having to have made a mistake in the high profile case of the murder of Anastasia by her daughter. Years later, the daughter of the wrongfully hanged Mary, Alexandrina Tait, were able to put all the pieces together and figured out the conspiracy that killed her mother. As revenge, she changed her name and took a job at Abram’s house as housekeeper. She then murdered Ed Neustadt and later Abram.
The name of the book is an interesting play on the word getting away with murder. It turns out the wrongfully convicted Mary was actually responsible for the murder of her father Joseph Tatatski in 1947. She murdered him and faked the burglary because he refused to let her see her boyfriend. Joseph’s case was never solved so she got away with murder in the Joseph case. Ironically, she was framed for the second murder and was hanged for it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2010
Benny Cooperman #9
April 21, 2025
I knew the murderer halfway through the book, but Benny Cooperman is always fun to spend time with.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews