Cooperman and the TV Business (The Cooperman Variations, 2001)

Howard Engel. The Cooperman Variations. (2001) Benny Cooperman’s languishing from a lack of love (Anna is in Europe) and lack of work. High school not-quite-flame Stella Moss shows up and hires him as a bodyguard. She’s now Vanessa Moss, head of Entertainment at NTC TV network. The puzzle is, Who has been trying to kill her, and will they try again? The usual complications ensue. There are a few more murders, and it’s all tied up when Cooperman is nearly done in himself, on a sailboat yet (a near-death experience telegraphed so strongly that telling it here is no spoiler.) 

Engel, who had some first-hand experience of the business, has concocted a nicely done satire (or is it an exposé?) of the TV business. It could well be that several of the characters are based on CBC/CTV/Global people, but who am I to untangle those clues? As happens in most of Engel’s books, the past casts a long shadow over the present. Engels’ strengths are characterisation and social ambience. He writes a soft-boiled style that nicely conveys Cooperman’s schlemielness. The title is a rather laboured pun.

A couple of the books were made into TV movies starring Saul Rubinek; look for them on YouTube. Pity that there wasn’t a series. I like these books. ***