- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; New Ed edition (5 May 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0006499686
- ISBN-13: 978-0006499688
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 11 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,203,577 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
Acclaim for Michael Pearce and the Mamur Zapt novels:
‘Pearce takes apart ancient history and reassembles it with beguiling wit and colour’
John Coleman, Sunday Times
‘Marvellously convoluted… Dryly and deeply funny’
Philip Oakes, Literary Review
Product Description
Another witty and fascinating novel in the series described as ‘irresistible fun’ (Time Out) from one of the most original of British crime writers.
Why was the body put on the line? Chance? Or did someone want to halt the progress of the new electric railway out from Cairo to the City of Pleasure being built in the suburbs? Was it just another of Egypt’s traditional revenge killings? Or had the murdered man somehow got caught up in the manoeuvrings of the sinister power groups jostling for position around the new railway?
In this, the tenth novel in Michael Pearce’s award-winning series, Old Egypt is pitted against New and in the middle is the Mamur Zapt, British Head of Cairo’s Secret Police. To answer these questions he has to look both in the luxurious quarters of the dazzling New Heliopolis and in the more humble houses of the dead man’s village, and in neither place are things quite as straightforward as they seem.
What is the significance of the Tree of the Virgin? Does it matter that the gathering place for the Mecca caravan is only a mile or two away? And what of the ostrich that passed in the night?
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Michael Pearce is the well known author of several historic crime novels set in Egypt at the beginning of the last century. Mr. Owen, the Mamur Zapt (i.e.Chief of the Egyptian Secret Service) is an intelligent, witty investigator who always manages to get his answers while everybody else thinks he is rather clueless. This novel is as recommendable as all the other Mamur Zapt novels and consists of marvellous ironic dialogues which strongly remind the reader of Eric Ambler or Agatha Christie. Read it!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Exciting mystery
2 Dec 2003
Format:Hardcover
Owen Gareth, the Mamur Zapt, the head of Cairo's secret police, becomes involved in a dispute over a corpse. The local Parquait should work what seems like a non-political murder, but an incident could occur before the law enforcement official arrives on the scene. The electric railroad construction workers want to leave the crime scene pure, but Sheikh Isa insists on moving the body. The Mamur Zapt manages to stall the groups until the Parquait arrives.
Because the case is not political Owen feels he has no further involvement. However, his superiors, the foreign investors, and even the local Islamic leaders want him to look into the murder that is linked to a fig tree that many believe is the Tree of the Virgin. Thus religious differences have surfaced as well as international and social issues. As he investigates the crime, the Mamur Zapt finds himself embroiled into the construction of a pleasure city with a casino that is at the crossroads of the caravans to Mecca. Egypt is divided between varying interests with only Gareth seeking the truth.
The tenth early twentieth century Mamur Zapt mystery is a superb tale that as with the previous ones emphasizes Egypt during a pivotal moment in the country's history. Ancient Egypt battles with modernization as depicted by caravan vs. railroad. The investigation is brilliantly managed to enhance the era so that the audience receives a powerful who-done-it and why, but an even greater insight into the clashing social classes. Michael Pearce continues to demonstrate he is one of the best writers of historical mysteries with this delightful look at Egypt at the crossroads.
Harriet Klausner
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