Michael Pearce (1933–2022) was a British author 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 ty ...

and

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 eith ...

s, best known for his series of nineteen " Mamur Zapt" detective novels set in Egypt during the opening years of the twentieth century. Covering a period from approximately 1908 through 1920, the Mamur Zapt novels feature a detective named Gareth Cadwallader Owen whose career and cases reflect the history of British colonialism in the Nile Valley, as well as the history of

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

Christian and Muslim relations, European privileges via the Capitulations, and more.

Biography

Pearce was raised in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. As an adult, he trained as a Russian interpreter during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, and subsequently became involved with

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

. His first novel, ''The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet'', was published in 1988. That was the start of a " Mamur Zapt" series of mysteries. Pearce also published a number of "A Dead Man in..." mysteries, set in the period preceding the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and featuring Sandor Seymour, an officer of Scotland Yard's Special Branch who is sent by the British

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

to deal with various crimes involving members of the British diplomatic service. These mysteries are notable for their attention to period details and settings. Pearce's ''The Mamur Zapt and the Spoils of Egypt'' (1992) won the

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors’ organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its Dagger awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. T ...

's Last Laugh Award for funniest crime novel, and his ''Death of an Effendi'' (1999) was shortlisted for the Ellis Peters Award for best historical crime novel. Pearce died in 2022.

Bibliography

(Note that some reprint editions of the ''Mamur Zapt'' series retitle the books by dropping the opening phrase "The Mamur Zapt and...".)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Michael 1933 births 2022 deaths British mystery writers Writers of historical mysteries