Thursday, November 15, 2007

Mystery Book Review: A Dead Man in Tangier by Michael Pearce

Mysterious ReviewsMysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of A Dead Man in Tangier by Michael Pearce. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.A Dead Man in Tangier by Michael Pearce

A Dead Man in Tangier by Michael Pearce
A Seymour of Scotland Yard Mystery

Carroll & Graf (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-7867-2045-X (078672045X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7867-2045-3 (9780786720453)
Publication Date: September 2007
List Price: $24.99

Synopsis (from the publisher): Pig-sticking is a dangerous sport. Mainly for the pigs of course, but sometimes for the huntsman too, like the unfortunate Monsieur Bossu, an important member of Tangier's foreign community, for whom pig-sticking is a popular recreation. One day, while pursuing that recreation, Monsieur Bossu gets stuck himself

Something for the local police? Well, yes and no. In the Tangier of 1912 sometimes the police are present ... and sometimes not. And who exactly are they answerable to? The new international committee to which, as it happens, Monsieur Bossu was clerk? The chairman is the British Consul, who is naturally above suspicion. But no one else is, so it is decided to bring in an external investigator, Seymour of Scotland Yard, a man who can be safely disowned if things go wrong.

And things inevitably do go wrong in Tangier. This is a country caught between the ancient and the modern, where tradition can be harsh, especially for women, and the future takes the crushing form of a military boot. Soon Seymour realizes that the nearer he comes to the truth of Monsieur Bossu's demise, the more he will be in danger of getting stuck too.

Review: A Dead Man in Tangier is the fourth mystery in this series by Michael Pearce to feature Sandor Seymour of the Special Branch of the Scotland Yard Foreign Office. It takes place in 1912 just after Morocco was decreed to be a protectorate of France.

It is a Frenchman, one Monsieur Bossu, an official with an international committee in Tangier, who has been murdered while pig-sticking, a sport of dubious merits. Seymour is brought in as an independent, and politically neutral, consultant to investigate the crime. He takes a sophisticated approach to solving this crime and through careful observation and methodical questioning, Seymour arrives at the only possible solution to the crime, all the while navigating a fluid bureaucracy and prudently avoiding a series of political landmines that lie in his path.

Much of the appeal of A Dead Man in Tangier is how Pearce captures the substance of this exotic region and succinctly instills in his narrative and characters its very essence. The author also manages to convey the political sensitivities of Tangier at the time this story takes place without being overly burdensome. The solution to the murder is simple yet elegantly presented, in many ways reflecting the book as a whole.

Michael Pearce is also the author of another series, the Mamur Zapt mysteries, set in Egypt during this same time period. It's difficult not to compare the two, but the Seymour of the Special Branch series seem to be a bit more atmospheric and refined. Not necessarily better, but different ... in a good way.

Special thanks to Da Capo Press for providing a copy of A Dead Man in Tangier for this review.

Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

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