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Cairo lies simmering beneath the blazing sun of an Egyptian summer. British Captain Gareth Owen would like nothing better than to lounge in the shade of his garden with Zeinab, daughter of an Egyptian Pasha and Owen's mistress. But duty calls when Deputy Commandant McPhee goes missing after attending a secret female rite called a Zzarr. As Mamur Zapt, head of Cairo's Secret Police, Owen answers to Egypt's own leader, the Khedive. As a member of the British Administration in Egypt, he's also responsible to the British Consul-General and Garvin, the Commandant of the Police Force. None of these three men want it known that McPhee was involved in a Zzarr. The Nationalist movement would like nothing better than to embarrass the British. McPhee's illicit attendance at a ceremony no man is allowed to see would certainly rank as a source of gossip in Cairo. McPhee is eventually found semi-comatose in a cistern filled with deadly cobras. He is rescued by Owen with the help of Jalila, a snake catcher's daughter. Being female, Jalila is not allowed to join the Rifa'i, the snake catcher's union of Egypt. Still, she can be helpful to Owen in other ways. The Mamur Zapt suspects that McPhee was placed in the cistern by men familiar with snakes. Those same men may be the ones who are attempting to bribe Owen with gifts of jewelry sent to Zeinab. Former policeman Philipides' bribery conviction is being reinvestigated by the Parquet, Egypt's Department of Prosecutions. Philipides's testimony directly contradicts that of Commandant of Police Garvin. When a note is found in the police files supporting Philipides's statement, both Garvin and Owen are faced with disgrace. Jalila's last minute recollections give Owen the clues he needs to clear both his and Garvin's name. Michael Pearce recreates the people and politics of post-WWI Egypt with stunning detail and stylish wit. He describes the disparity between the Egyptian citizenry and their British "advisors", sometimes couching his descriptions in wry terms that point out the absurdity of England's position in the Middle East. At other times Pearce simply tells it like it was, allowing readers to form their own opinions on the British occupation. Gareth Owen is an intelligent chap, but like his fellow civil servants, he's wholly dedicated to the preservation of the British Empire. Part soldier, part statesman, Owen uses his position as Mamur Zapt to solve problems that could threaten the peace in Cairo. The Snake Catcher's Daughter is well worth reading both as a mystery and as social commentary on a bygone time.
Reviewed by Mary V. Welk, February 2003
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