Thursday, August 01, 2024

Getting Away With Murder (Engel, 1995)


 Howard Engel. Getting Away With Murder (1995) Abram Wise, Grantham’s premier (and never charged) gangster summons Cooperman and engages him to discover who wants him dead. Cooperman has doubts, but Wise was right: he turns up dead a few days later. Cooperman’s failure to protect him doesn’t stop him from trying to find out whodunit. With a little help from his Grantham cop friends, he solves the case (of course). The roots of the crime lie far in the past. The solution explains why Wise has been untouchable.

Engel’s talent is for misdirection, amusing side-trips, and multiplication of characters and subplots. Cooperman is a likable private eye, with a realistic understanding of the perils he bumbles into. Engel has written a first class entertainment. ***

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Scams (Lapham's Quarterly 8-02, Swindle & Fraud)

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