Description: Gareth Owen, aka the Mamur Zapt, Head of Cairo's Secret Police, finds himself in a compromising position, and not by accident, either. It gradually emerges that Cairo's senior policemen are the subject of a smear campaign: a campaign which raises uncomfortable questions about the integrity of Garvin, Commandant of the Cairo Police, and his puritannical deputy, McPhee. The Mamur Zapt himself is suspected but is he above suspicion? His girlfriend, Zeinab, is not the only one who'd like to know. Owen's attempts to answer these questions take him into hitherto uncharted territory: the underworld of Cairo's female rites; the arcane profession of one of Egypt's traditional crafts - snake - catching. How do you milk a cobra? Do snakes have ears? 'Diverting, droll and original...Positively oxygenated with charm' PHILIP OAKES, 'Literary Review' 'Pearce...takes apart ancient history and reassembles it with beguiling wit and colour' JOHN COLEMAN, 'Sunday Times'

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