Edwardian Egypt and archaeology go hand in hand, not just for the antiquarian but for the men, whether poor fellahin or rich merchant, who profit from the illegal export of antiquities. Captain Gareth Owen, the Mamur Zapt or head of Cairo's Secret Police, turns his attention to the trade when Miss Skinner arrives. She's a woman with the habit of asking awkward questions. And because her uncle might be the next President of the United States, her queries demand answers. So what is she doing looking at crocodiles? And mummified ones at that? Were they priceless? Are they even antiques? Owen's new brief is to see that Egypt's priceless treasures stay in Egypt. But when Miss Skinner narrowly escapes falling under a conveyance—whether she was just accidentally nudged by a Passover sheep or not—Owen expands his command. As he labors to thwart killers and the flight of national treasures abroad, he faces an even graver problem: whether to risk his career by asking the...

Egypt, 1914. The outbreak of war in Europe casts ripples that can be felt even in Cairo. Gareth Owen, Mamur Zapt and Head of the Khedive's Secret Police, is given the unhappy task of rounding up enemy aliens. But in a land where the adoption of foreign nationality is a popular means of avoiding trial by an Egyptian court, determining who counts as a German proves contentious.And then there's the face in the cemetery. A cat cemetery, at that. Who disturbed the mummified remains by placing a human corpse amongst them? Is the villagers' talk of a mysterious Cat Woman mere superstitious nonsense, or something rather sinister?Owen would prefer to leave these matters in other hands. He has a more pressing concern in the shape of missing rifles (in war time) and dubious gun-toting ghaffirs. Villages usually elect the local idiot as their ghaffir or watchman (who else would want to take on the brigands?), so what are these toughs doing here? Not to mention a heavily armed,...

Michael Pearce's tenth irresistible adventure for Colonial Egypt's the Mamur Zapt is fresh, funny, and "Still as fertile as your favourite oasis." Inevitably, as the tide of Nationalism sweeps the British Protectorate towards the realities of the dawning Twentieth Century, New Egypt is eroding the ways of the Old. But, as Gareth Owen, head of Cairo's Secret Police well knows, "The Old Egypt had a habit of rising up every so often and giving the New an almighty kick in the teeth."It's called the Tree of the Virgin. It's a sycamore, actually, not the English sort but the Egyptian, a species of fig. The tree is a site of religious interest, said to be a spot where the Virgin Mary hid herself from Herod's soldiers in its branches. Or perhaps the Virgin and Child rested there on their flight into Egypt. Whatever, it's perilously close to the gash being cut for the new electric railway running out of Cairo to the New Helipolis being built in the suburbs. Sinister power groups are...

In 1913, a poisoned cat, an exiled Sultan, and a new vision of an ascendant Greece threaten the Balkans with utter chaos and war. Something has to be done, and fast. Who was behind the feline poisoning? British Special Branch officer Seymour is on the case.From the Trade Paperback edition.

From the author of the award-winning Mamur Zapt books, the first in a new series introducing Seymour of Special Branch and set in the British embassies and consulates of Europe in the early 1900s. Trieste in 1906 is one of the greatest seaports in the world, the Austrian Empire's main outlet to the Mediterranean and beyond. But various nationalist movements are threatening to pull the place apart. The heavy-handed militarist regime has trouble keeping a lid on it, the secret police are everywhere, and now the British consul has gone walkabout. Was this the result of some liaison, which it's best not to enquire into too closely? Or could he have fallen foul of the secret police, or the even more secret revolutionaries? And does it matter? Well, yes it does. Britain has commercial interests in the port and there have been rumours of too close a relationship between the consul and some of these. Has something gone wrong? In which case, it would be better to find out about it quick. The Austrian police are of course investigating, but the Foreign Ottice would prefer this matter to be handled with sensitivity so perhaps it would be wise to send someone out. Someone very special from Special Branch, perhaps. Capable of speaking the relevant languages? Special Branch is, alas, not over-endowed with linguistic talent, but there is one man . . . He is not what you might call sound. Capable enough, and rather a good officer but . . . not British. Not straightforwardly so, anyhow. Born here, lived here, but... a member of one of those East End immigrant families from somewhere in Europe. He's all right, but with these blokes you never can tell. You can never quite rely on them. A bit dubious really. Just the man for the job

Someone is running a campaign to discredit Cairo's senior police officials. Is Garvin, the Commandant, playing power games, or is he trying to get to the bottom of the allegations of corruption? What about Garvin's senior deputy, McPhee, a man who might finally be going round the bend? And what of the Mamur Zapt himself? He may be the British head of the city's Secret Police, but is he above suspicion? After all, he does have an Egyptian mistress, placing him not only under the uncomfortable suspicion of having divided loyalties, but bringing him under her own stern scrutiny.Owen's attempts to get answers and avoid political (and personal) embarrassment take him into uncharted territory, the world of Cairo's female rites. And more terrifyingly, into one of Egypt's traditional crafts—snake catching. How do you milk a cobra? Do snakes have ears? Can they be tamed? Can a mere woman fill the traditional role of snake catcher without the undying opposition of the...

The Mamur Zapt, head of Cairo's CID in the heyday of (the indirect) British rule, focused on political, not police, matters. With the bustling new century, the loosening of imperial ties, and the rise of nationalism, his was a busy office. The attempted assassination of a veteran politician raises the spectre of a major terrorist statement at the capital's principal religious festival where the faithful celebrate the Return of the Holy Carpet from Mecca.Easily navigating multiple nationalities, three principal languages, and four competing legal systems, not to mention the intricacies of shadow and actual governments, Captain Owen, the Welsh incumbent, bolsters the Mamur Zapt's office with the aid of a host of memorable characters.

1909 Egypt. It's easy to go adrift in the complex political currents swirling through a country that has long been "advised" by the British after the mess it made of its finances, but now swelling with nationalism. And you can't discount the self-interest of the Khedive, the Royal Family, and of the country's pashas. Nevertheless, Captain Gareth Owen, Head of the Cairo Secret Police, has to ask, "Where's the body?" The girl, perhaps a woman of ill repute but one definitely lost overboard, had been glimpsed lying on a sandbank in the Nile. Then she vanished. Why had Prince Narouz hired the dahabeeyah? Surely not just to cruise to Luxor—the man has no interest in antiquities. And why was Miss Sekhmet on the boat anyway? Was it for the Prince's pleasure, or to embarrass him? Under heavy pressure from politicos and his own mistress, the strong-minded Zeinab, Owen steers a difficult course after a murderer....

It's World War I. Britain's shadow government, headed by its Agent and Consul General under the nominal authority of Egypt's hereditary ruler the Khedive, has ruled Egypt since 1881. The head of the Secret Police is the Mamur Zapt, an office currently held by a Welshman, Captain Gareth Cadwallader Owen. And as the clouds of the war further darken Egypt's sun-lit skies, he has his hands full. On the professional front, there's all that commotion that started in Cairo's Camel Market. On the personal side, Owen has married his longtime lover, the lovely Pasha's daughter, Zeinab. Their union comes with serious consequences for both of them and is riddled with political and social pitfalls. Neither can be fully accepted by the other's culture and community. Against this, the perils of the Great War pale....

It's 1909, and Cairo is the murder capital of the world. Deaths are two a piastre. But the death of an effendi is something different. Effendis—the Egyptian elite—are important. Especially if they happen to be foreign.When effendi Tvardovsky is shot at a gathering of financiers in Crocodilopolis, the ancient City of the Crocodiles, Mamur Zapt Gareth Owen—Chief of Cairo's Secret Police—is called in to investigate. In some countries, if someone goes for a walk or a boat ride with the Head of the Secret Police and doesn't come back, it's best not to ask any questions. And there are powerful people who might prefer Tvardovsky dead.There are still crocodiles—of all kinds—in Egypt. And when the crocodiles start cooperating, it's time to really watch out....