The Bride Box

Mamur Zapt leads an investigation into a deftly plotted, cleverly written, highly entertaining mystery set in Cairo during the Great War.
 
Cairo, 1912. The Pasha receives an unexpected gift: a traditional Bride Box. When opened, however, the box contains an unwelcome jolt from the past . . . At the same time, a little girl is discovered riding under a train from Luxor—and the Mamur Zapt, Head of the Khedive’s Secret Police, is called in to investigate.
 
He soon finds himself confronting a political storm as the end of British rule approaches and his investigations uncover a tangled web of family loyalties and betrayals, with its roots in a slave trade long supposed to have been stamped out in Egypt.
 
“This is a deftly plotted, cleverly written, highly entertaining mystery, but it’s the gentle humor and the warmth of the characters that earns it two thumbs decisively up.” —Booklist (starred review)
 
“As always in this comically understated series, both crime and punishment are consistently upstaged by a lovingly detailed portrait of Egypt during the Great War. The result is a bit like a police procedural reimagined by Douglas Adams.” —Kirkus Reviews