Because I Needed a Pearce Fix …

The Mark of the Pasha, by Michael Pearce (‎Poisoned Pen Press; 2010). Sudan-born English novelist Pearce, who died earlier this year, penned 19 mysteries built around Gareth Cadwallader Owen, a Welsh army captain who has gone to serve as the head (or “Mamur Zapt”) of Cairo, Egypt’s secret police in the early 20th century. This congenial series began in 1988 with The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet and concluded in 2016 with The Women of the Souk. The Mark of the Pasha was the 16th installment. Pearce’s 1992 tale, The Mamur Zapt and the Spoils of Egypt, won the Crime Writers’ Association’s Last Laugh Award for funniest crime novel of the year.

Cover illustration by John Dawson.