Memory Book

In this eleventh Benny Cooperman mystery, the beloved private investigator becomes his own client.

Benny is recovering in a Toronto hospital from a serious blow to the head. He has a condition called alexia sine agraphia; in layman''s terms, it means he can still write but cannot read. And his memory has been affected too: although he can still quote lines from his high-school production of Twelfth Night, he finds himself brushing his teeth with his shaving cream. Even his girlfriend''s name-Anna Abraham-continues to elude him.

When Benny learns that he was found unconscious beside a dead woman in a Dumpster, he figures he must have been close to solving a case. With Anna working as field agent and two Toronto cops reluctantly sharing their discoveries, Benny tries to piece together the events that led to a murder-and his own injuries.

Howard Engel is the creator of the enduring detective Benny Cooperman, who has become an internationally recognized fictional sleuth. Two of Engel's novels have been adapted for TV movies, and his books have been translated into several languages. He lives in Toronto.