The Mamur Zapt is the protagonist of an award-winning series of
historical fiction
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ...
police procedural
The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...
s, written by
Sudanese
Sudanese or Sudanic may refer to:
*pertaining to the country of Sudan
**the people of Sudan, see Demographics of Sudan
*pertaining to Sudan (region)
**Sudanic languages
**Sudanic race, subtype of the Africoid racial category
See also
*Sudanese Ci ...
-born British novelist
Michael Pearce. The novels are set in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...
at the turn of the twentieth century. Egypt was ruled notionally by a khedive but the British administered the country at the time. Rather than being a specific person, "Mamur Zapt" was the official title of the head of the Cairo
secret police
Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...
.
Pearce filled this role with Gareth Cadwallader Owen, a
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
army captain.
The first in the series, ''The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet'', was published in 1988.
As of 2016, there are 19 novels in the ''Mamur Zapt'' series.
Titles in the series
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References
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Police procedurals
Historical fiction
Egypt in fiction
Characters in mystery novel series of the 20th century
Characters in mystery novel series of the 21st century
Fictional historical detectives