The Camel of Destruction: A Mamur Zapt Mystery

Praise for The Camel of Destruction... "Subterfuge, political intrigue, and state-of-the-art business chicanery, circa 1910...and a glimpse of Egypt so pungent you can almost smell the camel dung." -Kirkus Reviews Cairo, 1910. Captain Owen, The Mamur Zapt, is the head of Egypt's Political CID in the heyday of British Rule. He is ultimately responsible for law and order in the Khedive's Cairo. When the rules, whether obvious or hidden, are flouted, he steps into action although it sometimes looks like he's merely stepped sideways, out of the way. Now it is the end of the boom, leaving banks belea- guered and borrowers in trouble whether the poorest land-working fellahin or the richest land-owning Pasha. Then a civil servant suspiciously dies at his desk. The whiff of corruption is in the air. Even the Mamur Zapt, supposed to be investigating the affair, appears to be living beyond his means. As he turns to such unlikely allies as the Grand Mufti, the local barber, and the Widow Shawquat, he penetrates to the heart of such sinister organizations as the Khedivial Agricultural Society. The rich are tricky, and money speaks louder than words, challenging Captain Owen to use all his skills to stop the Camel of Destruction.... 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.