The Mamur Zapt and the Donkey-Vous

PEARCE, MICHAEL

ISBN 10: 0892964863 / ISBN 13: 9780892964864

Published by Mysterious Press, New York, NY, 1992

About this Item

First American Edition. Third entry in Pearce's wry and suspenseful series set in British-ruled Cairo circa 1908 featuring Cadwallader Owen, head of Cairo's Secret Police. Fine in fine dustjacket.

Seller Inventory # 5383

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Mamur Zapt and the Donkey-Vous
• Publisher: Mysterious Press, New York, NY
• Publication Date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0892964863
• ISBN 13: 9780892964864
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Captain Cadwallader Owen, the Mamur Zapt or Head of the Political Police in 1908 Cairo, must investigate when two tourists are apparently kidnapped from the Shepheard's Hotel

Reviews

The setting--Cairo, c. 1908--is everything in this tale of missing persons, which is more successful as armchair travel than as armchair detection. Introduced in The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet , British Capt . Cadwallader Owen, as head of the political end of police operations, is known as the Mamur Zapt. He is responsible for investigating the disappearances of European visitors from the terrace of Shepheard's Hotel, Cairo's posh watering spot. The incidents are all the more puzzling, since they occur before the eyes of numerous witnesses, including such memorably depicted characters as a snake charmer, a strawberry seller, a vendor of filthy postcards and a bevy of "donkey-vous" lads who offer transport on their donkeys. The sleuthing here demands that the reader understand period and place, but does not demand much of the Mamur Zapt and his cohorts, whose fast footwork through Cairo's colorful streets is the most engaging aspect of the solution.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Pearce hits his stride with this third tale of Gereth Cadwallader Owen, the Mamur Zapt (...and the Return of the Carpet, ...and the Night of the Dog) of the Anglo-Egyptian political police. The problem- -how did French contractor Octave Moulin disappear from the crowded terrace at Shepheard's Hotel without anyone noticing (and who kidnapped him, and why)?--is more interesting than before, and the mystification better focused, without any loss to Pearce's deft background portraits: from the Colthorpe Hartleys--two useless witnesses, a devoted wife and an irrepressible daughter, covering for a blind-drunk father who shortly becomes a second kidnapping victim-- to those courteous terrorists, the Zawia Group (or is it the Wekil Group?) to the donkey-boys who must know more about these disappearances than they're saying. If you're not expecting a whodunit--as usual, there are no big surprises saved for the end--this is as charming a historical mystery as you'll find this summer. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.