The Last Cut

The Last Cut
Michael Pearce

In this classic mystery from Michael Pearce’s award-winning series, set in the Egypt of the 1900s, the Mamur Zapt investigates the discovery of a young woman’s body at the site of a dam.Cairo, 1908. When an attempt is made to blow up a key regulator in the Cairo Barrage, the Mamur Zapt, British head of Cairo’s secret police, is called in to investigate.To make matters worse, the ceremonial cutting of a dam always requires careful policing, especially on this occasion as it is going to be the Last Cut. Which means the discovery of a young woman’s body at the site of the dam is extremely embarrassing. Is this the traditional ritual sacrifice? Or something more sinister?

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HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 1998

Copyright © Michael Pearce 1998

Michael Pearce asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters

and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Source ISBN: 9780008259495

Ebook Edition © JULY 2012 ISBN: 9780007400300

Version: 2017-09-05

Praise for Michael Pearce (#ulink_0038201b-4c63-596e-9d26-f727f42bf5f9)

‘This series continues to be the most delightful in current detective fiction’

Gerald Kaufman, Scotsman

‘Pearce … takes apart ancient history and reassembles it with beguiling wit and colour’

Sunday Times

‘Irresistible fun’

Time Out

‘The Mamur Zapt’s sly, irreverent humour continues to refresh the parts others seldom reach’

Observer

Contents

Title Page (#uacd8198e-4f84-5f4b-8f0e-ca2c6fe06f48)

Copyright (#u912196be-ba78-5291-a4b8-1d5762bf4c53)

Praise for Michael Pearce (#u72b48019-bd7b-5c32-9b07-765c20ed9c92)

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About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

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About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

1 (#ulink_33d4b15f-eb4e-50ee-a08a-d66d08c17c08)

‘It will be for the last time,’ said Garvin, the Commandant of Police.

‘It seems a pity,’ said the Kadi’s representative, ‘after a thousand years.’

‘Oh, more than that,’ said McPhee, the Deputy Commandant. ‘The rites almost certainly antedate the Arab invasion. The ancient Egyptians –’