The Donkey-Vous (Mamur Zapt Mysteries, 3) - Softcover

Michael Pearce grew up in the (then) Anglo-Egyptian Sudan among the political and other tensions he draws on for his books. He returned there later to teach and retains a human rights interest in the area. In between whiles his career has followed the standard academic rake's progress from teaching to writing to administration. He finds international politics a pallid imitation of academic ones.

Pearce hits his stride with this third tale of Gereth Cadwallader Owen, the Mamur Zapt (...and the Return of the Carpet, ...and the Night of the Dog) of the Anglo-Egyptian political police. The problem- -how did French contractor Octave Moulin disappear from the crowded terrace at Shepheard's Hotel without anyone noticing (and who kidnapped him, and why)?--is more interesting than before, and the mystification better focused, without any loss to Pearce's deft background portraits: from the Colthorpe Hartleys--two useless witnesses, a devoted wife and an irrepressible daughter, covering for a blind-drunk father who shortly becomes a second kidnapping victim-- to those courteous terrorists, the Zawia Group (or is it the Wekil Group?) to the donkey-boys who must know more about these disappearances than they're saying. If you're not expecting a whodunit--as usual, there are no big surprises saved for the end--this is as charming a historical mystery as you'll find this summer. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.