The Face In The Cemetery
In 1914 Egypt, the Mamur Zapt – equivalent of the head of the Political Branch of England’s C.I.D – was usually summoned only for matters with political implications. So, why is Gareth Owen in a cat cemetery surrounded by “tenderly mummified” felines? Because a larger mummy with fresh bandages reveals a very modern, fair-headed and very dead German woman. The locals suggest suicide, but no suicide wraps herself in mummy’s bandages after doing the deed. The explanation must be more sinister.
Along with the ministry’s instructions to detain all Germans in the area, Owen must link the German woman’s murder with the truth despite the distractions of marauders, missing guns, corruption and Owen’s own heated relationship with a beautiful Egyptian. Except for a couple of distracting modern expressions, the story entertains with elements of a subtle thriller combined with British bureaucracy versus the easygoing and often amusing Egyptian methods of handling their Anglo-Egyptian environment.
