The Last Cut (Mamur Zapt Mysteries, 11) - Softcover

Pearce, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590581768 ISBN 13: 9781590581766

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2004

Synopsis

For millennia, Egypt has depended upon the waters of the Nile. Its annual floods fertilize the land. By the time Britain extends its dominion over Egypt, the Cairo Barrage is the key to control, its name taken from the French term meaning a dam or irrigation channel designed to increase a river's depth or to divert its flow.

An attempt to blow up the Manufiyah regulator in the Barrage is not a petty matter. Gareth Owen, The Mamur Zapt, Chief of Cairo's Secret Police, is hurriedly summoned. He hasn't a clue what a regulator is. Nor can he identify the mysterious Lizard Man who seems to have a grudge against the whole Egyptian irrigation system. But he does know that the ceremonial cutting of the temporary dam thrown up each year across the mouth of the Khalig Canal restarts the whole irrigation cycle, allowing water to pour through the canal and signal the opening of dams all across the land. The cut will require policing. Especially as it is going to be the last cut before the canal is filled in.

While this modernization will wipe out a health hazard, the Cairenes love the party that goes with the cut. They are less than happy with the dam. Things grow worse when a young woman's body is discovered at the site. Owen has to say it's extremely embarrassing. Is this the traditional ritual sacrifice? Or a sign of sabotage? A diversion? Or just plain murder?

About this title

About the Author

Michael Pearce grew up in the (then) Anglo-Egyptian Sudan among the political and other tensions he draws on for his books. He returned there later to teach and retains a human rights interest in the area. His career has followed the standard academic rake's progress from teaching to writing to administration. He finds international politics a pallid imitation of academic ones.

Review

"Witty, intelligent, and charming, Pearce's Mamur Zapt series never fails to please. In the latest installment, the delightful Gareth Owen, Mamur Zapt (chief of the secret police) of Cairo, is called in when one of the city's main dams is sabotaged with a well-placed bomb. It's urgent to find out what happened, since the bombing occurs on the eve of the Cut, a quasi-pagan celebration during which the waters of the Nile are released to irrigate the crops. If the dam is destroyed, the celebration will be a catastrophe. Adding to Owen's worries is the body of a young woman, which has been left on the spot used in past centuries to sacrifice a maiden during the Cut. Now, what with bombings and dead maidens, the locals are worried that the gods are trying to tell them something. Are the tragedies the work of the mythic and mysterious Lizard Man? Owen knows Lizard Man isn't real, but if he doesn't find a logical explanation, panic could rage through Cairo's normally peaceful streets. A gentle gem of a book." --Booklist

“Pearce takes apart ancient history and reassembles it with beguiling wit and colour.”—Sunday Times

“Urbane, intelligent and never patronising, Pearce writes about Egypt with the observant eye of the lover who sees yet forgives all faults.” —Val McDermid

About this edition

• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1590581768
• ISBN 13: 9781590581766
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208