Customer Reviews

The Point in the Market (Mamur Zapt Mysteries)

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"The Point in the Market" is a succinct novel set in 1915 Egypt in the middle of the Gallipoli campaign of World War One. Egypt has been ruled by the British Consul General since 1881. The hereditary Egyptian ruler, the Khedive, has been set up as a figurehead.

Captain Gareth Owen is serving as the Mamur Zaput, head of the Sultan's secret police. One of his underlings, an uneducated camel driver Sabri, who had done undercover work for Owen is found murdered, his body hidden in the Cairo camel market. Owen whose jurisdiction generally involves political matters feels it's his personal responsibilty to investigate the crime.

Egypt at this time is a country of mixed allegiances. Ruled for many years under the Ottoman Empire, many of the traditional rulers, the pashas, are of Turkish background. Under the resented rule of the British who are on opposite sides as the Turks in WW 1, the Egyptians have a problem in picking up guns against their fellow Muslims. This conflict of loyalties makes it difficult for Owen to get cooperation in his inquest. Locals feel that he has ulterior motives other than looking after the murdered Sabri's family who seek vengeance for his death.

All the while Owen's new wife Zeinab, daughter of a pasha and of Turkish-Egyptian extract is being stonewalled in society much as her husband is, for having married a foreigner. More of a modern woman she is frustrated in the inability of women to attain meaningful positions in society. The influx of wounded soldiers pouring into Cairo from the surrounding battlefields gives her an opportunity become involved in hospital administration.

Working within the framework of a confusing system, Owen painstakingly tracks down clues and information to help him solve, what turns out to be, a politically motivated crime.

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 Sabri 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 of 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 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 by an Englishman. They make quite a couple. The Egyptian culture during World War I is exquisitely detailed as if Michael Peace 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

Another Mamur Zapt mystery will appeal both to prior fans and newcomers; for you needn't be a Mamur Zapt expert to pick up The Point In The Market as an introduction to the mystery setting. The changing Mamur Zapt is head of the Secret Police in Egypt, currently fielded by Welshman Gareth Owen, who has married his longtime lover Zeinab but finds both social and political dangers abound in his actions. Blend cultural conflict, romance, and intrigue and you have a novel packed with intriguing sub-plots and action.

Another Mamur Zapt mystery will appeal both to prior fans and newcomers; for you needn't be a Mamur Zapt expert to pick up The Point In The Market as an introduction to the mystery setting. The changing Mamur Zapt is head of the Secret Police in Egypt, currently fielded by Welshman Gareth Owen, who has married his longtime lover Zeinab but finds both social and political dangers abound in his actions. Blend cultural conflict, romance, and intrigue and you have a novel packed with intriguing sub-plots and action.

As always, Pearce paints a great picture of Egypt under the British during the early 20th century. In this novel, he doesn't seem as sure of himself as he did in the past, perhaps because World War I outside of Europe is difficult to bring into sharp focus, laying as it does in the shadow of World War II.

Finally Michael Pearce's excellent Mamur Zapt series of tongue-in-cheek mysteries set in Cairo in the early years of the 20th century has reached the First World War. But it all seems so implausible...

The first dozen or so books in the series all seemed to be stuck around 1910. The war arrived in the previous book, "The Face in the Cemetery", but it had only just begun, and Gareth Owen, the Mamur Zapt, head of the British secret police, had very little war-related to do, except to gather up German citizens for internment.

In this book the war has truly arrived. The Turks are in Sinai and Cairo is filled with Australian soldiers, some new arrivals, some badly wounded survivors of Gallipoli. But the head of the British intelligence efforts still seems to have almost no handle on the war.

It's hard not to compare these books with the excellent contemporary adventures of Amelia Peabody and her archaeological family. In those stories, the Peabodies are very much caught up in World War I, some in the trenches, others chasing spies in Cairo. In the Peabody books, of which several are placed during the war, there are spies everywhere, British traitors, and feverish Nationalist plans for an uprising coordinated with a Turkish attack across the Suez Canal.

Pearce's Mamur Zapt seems to be completely oblivious to any such activities. The only "spy" he tracks down is a 12 year girl who is inspired by the Nationalists, but not a spy for anyone.

That said, the book is as delightful as the rest of the series. Each of the books has one or two themes, and in this one it is the whole concept of nationality in the Cairo mix. The ruling class suddenly remembers its Turkish roots, and the question is who or what is a true Egyptian?

There's one crossover character from the Peabody books. The historical T.E. Lawrence, who will be later known as Lawrence of Arabia, has a larger role here than in his cameo appearances with Amelia Peabody.