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A Cold Touch of Ice |
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A Cold Touch of Ice byMichael Pearce Harper Collins (Collins Crime) 216 pages, 2000 ISBN 0002326973 Reviewed by our UK Editor Rachel A. Hyde Michael Pearce’s Mamur Zapt series has delighted fans with its enjoyable mix of history, murder and humor. Now he is back for a thirteenth outing in A Cold Touch of Ice. It is 1912 and there is a war on. Italy has invaded Tripolitania and Turkey has declared war. Britain wants to stay neutral but most Egyptian sympathies lie with Turkey, since Egypt is still officially part of the Ottoman Empire. When an Italian is murdered, it looks as though the war is being brought into the streets of Cairo. People say that Morelli was "almost one of us" but he is still dead. Ammunition is being smuggled and it is hard to know who to point the finger at – seasoned travellers Gertude Bel, Trudi von Ramsberg or the usual suspects (of whom there are far too many). To cap it all, Zeinab is turning thirty and wants to know if she has any future with Owen. Would Owen be better off getting another job, even if it's only as Commander of the Royal Guard in Zanzibar or as a currant salesman in Aleppo. As always, it is obvious that Pearce knows his stuff. He allows the story to unroll before the reader like an Eastern carpet. Humor is the salt and pepper, aptly complementing rather than overwhelming the story, with plenty of action thrown in. I hope this series goes on for many more books; Pearce shows no sign of a loss of quality and improves with every installment. |
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