This book is an inspection of the people who do our dirty work for us. Throughout the centuries there has been no end to the imaginative methods the state has sanctioned to execute those people who have comitted criminal acts.Internationally acclaimed and award-winning mystery writer Howard Engel has written a history, wonderfully wise and witty, abou the methods and the men - and one woman - who throughout history have been our agents of death. (1996)

HOWARD ENGEL is the creator of the acclaimed Benny Cooperman mystery series, which has been published in more than 15 languages and adapted into two TV movies produced by the CBC and broadcast around the world. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2007, won the Writers' Trust of Canada Matt Cohen award for a life in writing in 2004, and received an honourary doctorate from Brock University. Engel experienced a mild stroke several years ago, leaving him unable to read but still able to write. His experiences of this condition, alexia sine agraphia, have been written about by Oliver Sacks in The New Yorker and in a recent book. Since his diagnosis, Engel continues to write prolifically and has detailed living with his condition through a memoir (The Man Who Forgot How To Read) and in his acclaimed Benny Cooperman series (Memory Book).

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