Michael Pearce, The Point in the Market

The Point in the Market

Michael Pearce

Poisoned Pen, Mar 2005, $24.95, 212 pp.

ISBN: 1590581377

The British presence in Egypt has in fact ruled the country, but not in name until now; with World War I raging on two continents, Egypt has become a protectorate of the British Empire. The Khedive has been ousted and replaced by a sultan who answers to the British. Captain Gareth Owen, the Mamur Zapt (head of the secret police) has enough work to keep a dozen people busy. One of his spies was murdered; the inquiry has led Gareth to believe the man had information to sell to him.

Owen married his lover, the Pasha's daughter Zeinab, who is ostracized by her former friends for entangling herself with the Welsh expatriate. A number of fires in liquor houses have swept through the city and Owen learns that it is not the heat or the arid conditions that are the cause, but a person, and Owen wants to apprehend him before a tragedy engulfs the entire area. The Egyptians await an attack by the Turks so that they can align with the victors. With all this and more going on, Owen remains steadfast that justice will prevail for the murdered Sabri and comes up with an ingenious plan to achieve his goal.

The fifteenth Mamur Zapt historical mystery retains the uniqueness, excitement and freshness that are the character traits of all the novels in this exciting series. Zeinab is a "modern" woman who demands freedom to make choices while Owen is a mother hen worried that his beloved might be hurt by those who scorn her marriage to an Englishman. They make quite a couple. The Egyptian culture during World War I is exquisitely detailed as if Michael Pearce was there. All this wealth of information is adroitly used to enhance the who-done-it so that fans of historical novels and those of historical mysteries receive quite a treat.

Harriet Klausner