Customer Reviews

Mingrelian Conspiracy.

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The ninth in the Mamur Zapt Mysteries, but the first one I'd ever read, I'll admit to being a tad lost at times when reading "The Mingrelian Conspiracy." Author Michael Pearce has set up a protagonist with a background and relationships that are obviously better appreciated if you have the first eight books under your belt.

Captain Gareth Owen is the Mamur Zapt of Cairo, 1908, working for the British secret police in their attempts to keep control of colonial Egypt. With an Egyptian girlfriend and a strong grasp of the myriad nationalities around him, Owen is very good at his job, knowing full-well that the city thrives on its café culture. But when a protection racket rears its ugly head, Owen investigates, suspecting that the political movement behind it is collecting funds for an even darker purpose. With a Russian Grand Duke visiting in order to replicate his uncle's visit to the Suez Canal, Owen hurries to uncover an assassination plot among the Mingrelian minority living in the city.

It's a short but engaging historical mystery, with plenty of wit and intrigue. Pearce has a good grasp of his setting, drawing on various tensions between the people of Egypt as well as the early 1900's time-period in order to plot his story. His characters are colorful and interesting, particularly Owen's main suspects: an eccentric old man and his granddaughter, and there are some truly funny moments concerning Owen's dealings with his rather melodramatic girlfriend. The setting is also particularly vivid, from Cairo's sweltering heat to the fragrant gardens, the squalid marketplaces to the comfort of private houses - you get a real sense of both time and place.

The mystery itself isn't really that much of a mystery (it's easy enough to guess the who, how and why) but the rest of the novel's components - the characters, setting and style - are the real draw-card of the book, and I suspect, the rest of the series.

All of Michael Pearces' books are fun to read and sort of by -the- by you get a lot of history and feel of an era. Yhat he knows what he is talking about comes through very clearly. Humorous and insightful but mostly FUN.