A City Called July was published by Penguin Canada in 1986, and it engages directly with the forces transforming Canadian cities in the 1980s: real estate development, gentrification, and the political corruption that accompanies both. A developer planning to transform Grantham’s waterfront is murdered, and Benny’s investigation reveals the web of connections between local politics, organized crime, and the apparently legitimate business of urban development.
Engel’s Grantham — the fictional stand-in for St. Catharines — is a city in transition: the old downtown is declining, the developers want to reinvent it, and the established interests (political, criminal, commercial) are maneuvering to profit from the change. Benny navigates this landscape with his characteristic combination of persistence and irony, understanding that crime is never separate from politics, and that the line between legitimate enterprise and criminal activity is often a matter of legal classification rather than moral substance.
The novel also develops Benny’s personal life — his relationship with his parents, his on-again-off-again involvement with various women, and his stubborn attachment to a profession that barely pays the bills. Engel never romanticizes the private detective’s life: Benny is usually broke, frequently uncomfortable, and always aware that his work involves intruding on other people’s privacy.
Collecting A City Called July
First edition (Penguin Canada, Toronto, 1986): Paperback original.
Market values:
- First Canadian edition: $10–$25
- First US edition (St. Martin’s): $15–$40