Andea Camilleri 1925-July 2019

The first book in Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano series, The Shape of Water, was not published until the author was almost 70 years of age in 1994. (This should encourage some of our would be writers who think that they may have left it too late to start writing.) The twenty fifth title The Safety Night, was already scheduled for publication in March 2020. That will probably not be the last of the Montalbano series, as in 2007, Camilleri is reputed to have written the final novel in the series. The manuscript deposited with his publishing house was there for when Camilleri either got fed up with the character or could not write anymore. The success of the Montalbano series which was already considerable was enhanced in 1999 when a television series based on the books was produced by RAI the Italian state broadcaster. It is still running.

Howard Engel 1931-July 2019

Howard Engel was the author of the Benny Cooperman mysteries, based in Grantham, a fictional re-incarnation of St. Catherines, Ontario. In addition to his Cooperman mysteries, Engel also wrote fiction and non-fiction, including a memoir, The Man Who Forgot How to Read, detailing his experience suffering alexia sine agraphia, a neurological condition which robbed him of the ability to read although not the ability to write. In 2005, he used the experience in one of the Benny Cooperman novels, Memory Book. Cooperman was hit on the head during an investigation and suffered the same effect. He was a founding member of the Crime Writers of Canada.