The Last Cut

Michael Pearce continues to display his mastery of the light historical in The Last Cut: A Mamur Zapt Mystery, in which his quick-witted and personable hero, Gareth Owen, tries to defuse tensions arising from two crimes centered on a major Nile dam. A compelling whodunit, in addition to the usual witty writing and convincing evocation of colonial Egypt, makes this one of the author's better efforts in the series.