A Cold Touch of Ice

 by Michael Pearce
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Egypt, during the year 1912, rising nationalistic fervor is making the work of Gareth Owen more complicated. Owen is the the Mamur Zapt, the British Chief of the secret police in Cairo. Years ago the British stepped in to Egyptian affairs after a call for help from the Khedive who was the Egyptian ruler and who was concerned about the financial stability of the area.  The British have settled in very nicely now, thank you very much and even though things are better they seem to have put down roots!

The current problems that heating up an already very warm climate are stemming from a war that has broken out between the Ottoman Empire and Italy over the territories now known as Libya.  The Ottoman empire was the major controlling force in Egypt and the Cairenes favored their position and while there were many Italians living in Cairo  anti Italian feelings were growing. When an Italian man who had lived and worked in Egypt for decades was murdered Gareth Owen and his friend Mahmoud of the Egyptian law enforcement wanted to solve this murder quickly before the situation becomes more inflamed.  Morelli had run an auction house in Cairo for a few generations and considered himself a Cairene. His friends were all Egyptian and he spent most evening with them in a cafe playing a board game. One day after work he was strangled on his way to the game. Was the murder because of his nationality or because of something overheard in a back alley about guns?

A backdrop of the story reveals in a subtle way integration into a society can be reversed in mere days as rumours spread and nationalistic feeling surface so that long standing friendships are stressed and no one can be taken at face value.  In A Cold Touch of Ice the title primarily refers to  the ice that is so hard to keep on hand in  an early twentieth century Cairo summer. It also alludes to the shaft of cold that can spread through a community hardening better feelings. The problems are often generational. The older people in a community are more likely to keep a friend they have known since their youth while the younger hotheads simply look for targets to vent their anger on.

This story covers the time during when the famous Lord Kitchener becomes the British consul in Cairo, and when T. E. Lawrence, the archaeologist is settling into the early part of his fame. The sights and scenes of Cairo, the heightened tensions of war times, gun running, spying, secret brotherhoods, all combine to make this an interesting exciting story.


I always take home a great deal more than a mysteries resolution when I read Michael Pearce. It is a trip to a different time and place that is enlightening.