<p><div>The Mamur Zapt, Head of Cairo's Secret Police under British Rule, did not concern himself with routine police matters. His are the intrigues, the shadowy and sinister events aimed at creating political instability--such as the discovery of the body of a dog in a Coptic tomb. This supreme Moslem insult could touch off an explosion among the Christian community. Equally volatile is the visit from an English MP intent upon inspecting the Cromer administration's accounts. It is not a welcome time for a command that Captain Owen, the Mamur Zapt, show the MP's niece the sights. Worse, the sights include a dancing dervish stabbed before the lady's very eyes, which was not what her uncle had in mind. Is this all part of a pattern that could lead to blood on the streets and set Cairo's ethnic communities at each other's throats?<br> Michael Pearce, who made his much-praised debut in The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet (Poisoned Pen Press 2001), continues to chart Owen's fortunes with his trademark sly humor and relish for the oddities of Egyptian life.</div><div> </div></p>