A Cold Touch of Ice (A Mamur Zapt mystery) (Hardcover)

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

One of the most sheerly entertaining sequences in crime fiction is Pearce's ingenious Mamur Zapt mysteries. His protagonist, who has been granted the title Mamur Zapt, is a Welsh captain serving in Edwardian Cairo, ostensibly answering to the Khedive (the chief of the Cairo secret police), but ultimately with the Egyptian natives, and the greatest possible use is made of richly delineated local colour. In fact, the cosmopolitan setting, with its heady mix of religions and social divisions, always affords even more pleasure than the convoluted plots. Here a heated political discussion is followed by a brutal murder with Owen obliged to balance the demands of justice and political expediency. In as series as long-running as this, refreshing the customary ingredients must be a Herculean task, but such is Pearce's understated professionalism that we are never conscious of having encountered these particular situations before. We have observed Owen's inner struggles before, but they are handled in this latest book with a sharply observed and satisfying skill, set against a colourful new cast of characters. (Kirkus UK)

The Mamur Zapt investigates a murder and related events that highlight racial tensions in 1912 Cairo. When auctioneer Sidi Morelli is found strangled in a dark alleyway, the murder investigation falls to British Chief of Secret Police Gareth Cadwallader Owen, the Mamur Zapt of colonial Cairo. Though Morelli and his widow lived in Cairo for 40 years and considered themselves Egyptian, his Italian birth made him a target of racial prejudice. Even Owen, as a Welshman, has suffered some local snubbing and discomfort among his British colleagues. Since Morelli was strangled and not garrotted, Owen is convinced that the killing wasn't the work of a professional. Who, then? Morelli's best friend, shopkeeper Mahmoud, insists that the Italian had no enemies. Owen's low-key investigation, interwoven with plans for a new railroad, brings him up against three strong women. Mahmoud's arranged marriage to young Aisha, whom he has never met, hit some predictable bumps and an unexpected backlash. Owen's relationship with Zeinab, his Egyptian mistress, is threatened by jealousy and her father's decision to move to Constantinople. And a vibrant German adventuress named Trudi von Ramsberg is obviously visiting Cairo on a mission, but what? This 13th case for the Mamur Zapt (The Fig Tree Murder, 2003, etc.) overflows with superb historical color and interesting characters. Newcomers may be a little lost, but are likely to want more. (Kirkus Reviews)

The latest novel in Michael Pearce's award-winning series, set in the Egypt of the 1900s. 'Irresistible fun' Time Out The world is changing around the Mamur Zapt, British Chief of Cairo's Secret Police. It's 1912 and there's a war on that no one's ever heard of. A man is killed. Is this an attempt at -- or the beginning, perhaps -- of some kind of ethnic cleansing? 'One of us' Morelli may have been, but was he 'one of us' enough? And were the guns in his warehouse anything to do with it? Gareth Owen -- the Mamur Zapt -- has to find out fast. And then, as external pressures crowd in, there are other difficult questions. What is Trudi von Ramsberg really doing in Cairo? Not to mention that other noted traveller, Gertrude Bell, or the irritating little archaeologist, T. E. Lawrence? And why has the post of Khedive's Librarian suddenly become so important? Owen is just the man to solve these problems. He is less successful, though, with his relationship to Zeinab, especially now that she's approaching thirty. As Cromer's Egypt gives way to Kitchener's Egypt, Morelli is not the only one who has problems over where his allegiance lies. Maybe the solution is for Owen to go to Zanzibar...