The Last Cut - Hardcover

Pearce, Michael

3.89

89 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1590580672 ISBN 13: 9781590580677

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Pr, 2004

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For millennia, Egypt has depended upon the waters of the Nile. Its annual floods fertilize the land. By the time Britain extends its dominion over Egypt, the Cairo Barrage is the key to control, its name taken from the French term meaning a dam or irrigation channel designed to increase a river's depth or to divert its flow.

An attempt to blow up the Manufiyah regulator in the Barrage is not a petty matter. Gareth Owen, The Mamur Zapt, Chief of Cairo's Secret Police, is hurriedly summoned. He hasn't a clue what a regulator is. Nor can he identify the mysterious Lizard Man who seems to have a grudge against the whole Egyptian irrigation system. But he does know that the ceremonial cutting of the temporary dam thrown up each year across the mouth of the Khalig Canal restarts the whole irrigation cycle, allowing water to pour through the canal and signal the opening of dams all across the land. The cut will require policing. Especially as it is going to be the last cut before the canal is filled in.

While this modernization will wipe out a health hazard, the Cairenes love the party that goes with the cut. They are less than happy with the dam. Things grow worse when a young woman's body is discovered at the site. Owen has to say it's extremely embarrassing. Is this the traditional ritual sacrifice? Or a sign of sabotage? A diversion? Or just plain murder?

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Review:

‘Takes apart ancient history and reassembles it with beguiling wit and colour’ Sunday Times

‘Marvellously convoluted... Dryly and deeply funny’ Literary Review

‘Urbane, intelligent and never patronising, Pearce writes about Egypt with the observant eye of the lover who sees yet forgives all faults’ Val McDermid

‘Irresistible fun’ Time Out

‘An entertaining story in which the author has cleverly woven a mystery into the background of the city, bringing it and its varied population to noisy life’ Sunday Telegraph

From the Back Cover:

Everything in Egypt depends on the waters of the Nile. So when an attempt is made to blow up a key regulator in the Cairo Barrage, Gareth Owen – the Mamur Zapt, Chief of Cairo’s Secret Police – is hurriedly called in.

What exactly is a regulator though? Owen doesn’t know. But then, there are many things he doesn’t know. Who is the Lizard Man, for example, and why does he appear to have a grudge against Egypt’s irrigation system?

Quite unconnected – or is it? – is the ceremonial cutting of a dam which allows water to flow through the city. It is a ceremony which always requires careful policing, but on this occasion more than ever, it is going to be the Last Cut.

Which makes the discovery of a young woman’s body at the site of the dam extremely embarrassing. Is this the traditional ritual sacrifice? Definitely not, says Owen – but this could be another of the things he doesn’t know...

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