Michael Pearce’s Mamur Zapt series is one of my top five favorite mystery series. I love Pearce’s dry humor, and I’m a huge Egyptophile, so I enjoy the settings in Cairo and its environs. And Pearce, who was born in the early 1930s and raised in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, nails the historical background, complete with the myriad of competing factions and nationalities in 1900s Egypt.
Pearce’s protagonist, Garth Owen, sits uneasily between the British “shadow administration”, to which he more-or-less belongs (although he often makes it clear that he is Welch, not English); and the Egyptian Khedive, for whom he officially works as the Mamur Zapt, the head of the Khedive’s Secret Police. And, just to complicate things a bit more, since Egypt itself is nominally part of the Ottoman empire, the Khedive himself theoretically owes allegiance to the Sultan in Istanbul. Owen is a delightful character who has a deft and amusing touch with everyone from local fellahin to Pashas and the British Consul-General, and of course, manages to solve a few mysteries along the way. And his Egyptian girlfriend, Zeinab, the more-modern-than-usual daughter of a Pasha, is even more of a treat. The Mamur Zapt books are books I have to read (and re-read) alone, because I’m likely to laugh out loud without warning from time to time.
And now two titles in the series have dropped to £1.99 each at Kindle UK.
The Mingrelian Conspiracy, #9
Buy at Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07563NR4J
The Fig Tree Murder, #10
Buy at Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0753ZHSH8
As I’ve mentioned a time or two, I love both of Michael Pearce’s historical series, his Mamur Zapt series, and his “Dead Man in” series. But most of the Mamur Zapt books don’t seem to go on sale very often, so it’s nice to see the fourth one, The Mamur Zapt and the Men Behind , drop to £0.99 at Kindle UK.
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0758Z35YG
And, since I’m talking about this series, the seventeenth one, The Bride Box , is $1.99 in the US. This one is one of the few that drops in price a lot, but since I was talking about the series, here’s the info on that one too. (And it’s discountable at Kobo US…)
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DN8GOW4
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-bride-box-1
The Mark of the Pasha by Michael Pearce is the sixteenth in Pearce’s Mamur Zapt series. Books in this series (other than the last few, which are published by a different publisher) only rarely go on sale, so it’s nice to see this one on sale for $1.99 at Kindle US.
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VQKQ7HP
The Bride Box is now £1.59 at Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DN8GOW4
Three books in the awesome Mamur Zapt series are on sale for $1.99 each right now in the US, and discountable at Kobo US…
Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet, #1
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VNH2S9M
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mamur-zapt-the-return-of-the-carpet
The Camel of Destruction, #7
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VLBRY5F
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-camel-of-destruction-3
The Mark of the Pasha, #16
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VQKQ7HP
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-mark-of-the-pasha-3
Three more books in the series on sale…
The Mamur Zapt and The Donkey-Vous, #3, $1.99 – this was actually the first book I read in this series, and the one that made me fall in love with it…
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VQGTY7V
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-donkey-vous-3
The Face in the Cemetery, #14, $1.99
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VQMMJYH
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-face-in-the-cemetery-4
The Point in the Market, #15, $2.99
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VPKSBWH
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-point-in-the-market-3
All are discountable at Kobo US…
Four more books in the excellent IMO Mamur Zapt series are on sale for $1.99 each in the US.
The Night of the Dog, #2
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VQKQ4V6
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-night-of-the-dog-1
The Fig Tree Murder, #10
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VQN7TPL
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-fig-tree-murder-4
A Cold Touch of Ice, #13
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VQL5HKT
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-cold-touch-of-ice-4
The Face in the Cemetery, #14
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VQMMJYH
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-face-in-the-cemetery-4
The first book in this series, The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet is now on sale again for $1.99, which is good news. However, possibly better news is that more than half of the titles published by Poisoned Pen Press (which is all but the last three) are now $2.99 at Kindle US, although sadly not on sale at Kobo US. I had one hole left in my Mamur Zapt collection, and was just now able to fill it – woo-hoo! I’d have preferred to get that last one at $1.99, but I’ve been looking for it on sale for a while, so $2.99 is okay too.
There are too many sale titles for me to list, so here’s a link to the series webpage at Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MZQ7KYJ?binding=kindle_edition