Reviews for The Camel of Destruction: A Mamur Zapt Mystery

The average rating for The Camel of Destruction: A Mamur Zapt Mystery based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-02-11 00:00:00 Mark Bauer The Mamur Zapt was no longer the powerful right-hand man of the Sultan he had been in the seventeenth century ' indeed, there was no longer a Sultan ' but lots of people did not know that and still insisted on writing to him. Corruption in high places and poor people in low places - Owen must investigate them all. Egypt in the 1900s The British, had come into Egypt twenty years before to help the Khedive sort out his finances and were still helping. Every Minister, Egyptian, had an Adviser, British, right beside him. The Prime Minister did not; but found it politic to draw abundantly on the wisdom of the Consul-General before adopting a course of action. The system worked surprisingly well. From the British point of view, of course. Follow the money 'A financial disaster!' said the British, who were there, after all, to help the Egyptians avoid financial disasters. The Bank, in their view, was underfunded. This was not the view of the foreign bankers, however. Nor was it the view of Abdul Aziz Filmi. The money was there, all right. Or should have been there. 'Where has it gone?' 'Costs of the recession,' said the Governor of the Bank of Egypt. 'Administrative expenses,' said the Adviser. 'Inefficiency and waste,' said the overseas bankers. 'Corruption,' said Abdul Aziz Filmi. Money matters 'Yes, it's beautiful, darling,' said Owen. 'You don't sound very enthusiastic,' said Zeinab. 'Don't you like it?' 'Oh yes, oh yes. It's'it's just the price.' 'If you want good things you have to pay for them,' said Zeinab. 'Anyway, I'm the one who's paying, not you.' 'Yes, but if'when we get married'' 'You can pay,' said Zeinab generously. 'That's just it. I'm not sure that I'll be able to. My salary, you know'' 'Get a higher one.' 'That's easier said than done.' 'Oh, I don't know. You're a clever chap, everybody knows that, I think you're brilliant'usually, that is. You don't value yourself as you should, that's the problem. Why don't you just ask them?' 'It doesn't work in that way. Anyway, I'd have to be promoted to Field Marshal before we could afford hats like that.' 'Oh dear!' said Zeinab. 'Look, does it matter that much? If we love each other, I mean?' 'Money certainly does matter,' said Zeinab. The conversations may be sparse, but there is deep subtext Enjoy! .

Review # 2 was written on 2012-11-21 00:00:00 Joan Rubik Originally published on my blog here in June 2001. The camel of destruction is apparently a figure from Arab legend, which has an aptly descriptive name. In this novel, more serious in tone than most of the Mamur Zapt stories, a plan to build new roads right through ancient parts of the city of Cairo is likened to the camel. The case which Owen, as Mamur Zapt in charge of order in the city of Cairo in the early part of the twentieth century, investigates is the suicide of a civil servant, trying to find out what put him under so much pressure that he killed himself and who paid for the improvements recently carried out on his family house. It seems to be connected with the murky and complicated world of Egyptian finance, including schemes to attract foreign investment (and make vast amounts of money on the side) like the road. It is the complex political machinations which take up the space generally occupied by humour in this series, but that doesn't stop The Camel of Destruction being an entertaining detective story with an atmospheric historical background.