I regard Howard Engel highly and dipped to four stars, because interest rose slowly. I bonded with no one. As a detective, mysteries would seldom tie to Benny personally. However I was drawn in previously because I saw why he accepted those cases, how he felt about those clients. “Murder On Location” starts with bland reconnaissance at a hotel. We drift into acquaintance with actors and Howard’s humour was reserved for later. In place was awkwardness at being cornered by a chatty, veteran star. Benny was hired to locate an estranged wife, likely seeking a film role in Niagara Falls. I didn’t take to her, nor a scarcely-relevant mafia connection.Curiosity ignited after a screenwriter was murdered, who was from Benny’s town, Grantham decades ago. A chief screenwriter knew the missing spouse and a stranger bore looking into, who assaulted the screenwriter publicly. His personal motive raised the bar, however this is another story that required scrutinizing thirty year-old history; not only that of the disreputable screenwriter but an actress too. A good mystery pursues numerous sources in identifying a guilty party. The problem was, the parties themselves and their plot threads were too numerous for a reader’s anticipation to grow. I especially found a zodiac angle erroneously stretched. My principal issue is that the woman and mafia were superfluous weight. The jumble of crimes would exist without them.This time my enthrallment may have been muted but Howard weaved and plotted these multitudinous angels well. They do devolve into high stakes action that intensifies the atmosphere and my keenness to see what became of them. What I liked best was my ability to picture where Benny went because I know Niagara Falls well. His brainstorming of a second killing was ingenious. I appreciated this novel in bits and pieces.
