The Mamur Zapt and the Donkey-Vous

London: William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1990. BG3 - A first edition (First published March 1990 stated) hardcover book SIGNED by Michael Pearce with "With best wishes" written on the front free endpaper in very good condition in very good dust jacket that is mylar protected. Dust jacket has some wrinkling and chipping on the edges and corners, dust jacket and book have some bumped corners, light tanning and shelf wear. Although not marked in any way, this copy comes from the personal collection of Otto Penzler, legendary editor and founder of the Mysterious Press, an award-winning icon in the genre. 8.75"x5.25", 224 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. 'Tourists are quite safe provided they don't do anything stupidly reckless.' Owen assured the Press. 'Like having tea on the terrace at Shepheard's?' asked the man from Paris-Soir. Because that was where Monsieur Moulin had been when he was kidnapped. And it was where Mr Colthorpe Hartley was when he too, disappeared. 'About the most conspicuous place in Cairo,' Owen commented bitterly. Owen, Head of Egypt's Political CID in the heyday of British rule, was ultimately responsible for law and order in Cairo. And when they were so openly flouted he had to do something about it. But that was not so easy. To start with, nobody had actually seen the victims go… And was it just an ordinary kidnapping? Or was it intended as a deliberately symbolic blow at British prestige? Or the start of a sinister campaign directed particularly at tourism? What lay behind the sudden interest of the Khedive in market gardening? And who was the missing dragoman? Owen's attempts to solve these puzzles take him into the circle of the Khedive's closest intimates. But also to the donkey-vous beneath Shepheard's famous terrace, the base of Cairo's lowly, but enterprising, donkey-boys. It is there that Owen finds his answer - thought perhaps not quite the one he expected.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.