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RETURN OF THE CARPET: A MAMUR ZAPT MYSTERY
by Michael Pearce
Poisoned Pen Press, November 2001
240 pages
$13.95
ISBN: 1890208779


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

It is 1908 in Cairo, Egypt and Gareth Owen, the Mamur Zapt (British head of the Political CID and the secret police) is asked to look into the attempted assassination of a veteran Egyptian politician, Nuri Pasha. The man who pulled the trigger (Mustafa) has been caught and is in the custody of the Parquet (the Department of Prosecutions and the Ministry of Justice). It all seems to be too easy. Mustafa certainly had good reason to shoot Nuri as Nuri had violated his daughter. But more questions seem to pop up than answers. Mustafa should not have missed Nuri, but was so high on hashish he was lucky to not shoot himself. Where did he get the money to buy the pistol, a pistol just recently assigned to the British army? Could there be a third person involved? Could the attempt be tied to politics? At this time in Cairo, almost everything is tied to politics and when a case of grenades goes missing, Owenıs problems mount. The celebration and procession of the return of the Holy Carpet from Mecca is coming soon and he worries about terrorists using the grenades.

Pearce transports the reader back to Cairo at the turn of the century. He describes and brings to life the bathhouses, harems, coffee houses, and markets. You can smell the wet dirt as the streets are sprinkled with water to keep down the dust. The British still have indirect rule in Egypt in 1908, but a nationalist movement is growing. The Mamur Zapt must wade through British, French, Turkish and Egyptian politics. Itıs a wonder he doesnıt drown in all the political hoopla. This is where Pearce shines. He brings it all to life with wit, humor and a sympathy for the Egyptian people and the people involved with keeping the peace. Readers of historical mysteries, especially Elizabeth Petersı Amelia Peabody and those who have an interest in the history of Great Britain and Egypt, may find these mysteries of interest.

THE MAMUR ZAPT AND THE RETURN OF THE CARPET, first published in 1988, is the first in the Mamur Zapt series to be republished by Poisoned Pen Press.

Reviewed by Lane Wright, January 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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