Cairo in 1909 is the murder capital of the world. Gareth Owen, aka the Mamur Zapt, Chief of the city's Secret Police, investigates a surprising death: one of the Effendi—the Egyptian elite—is shot at a gathering of financiers. Powerful people may have wanted him killed. Is the Mamur Zapt next?

Cairo in 1909 is the murder capital of the world. But the death of an Effendi? Effendis—the Egyptian elite—are important. When Tvardovsky, an effendi and a foreigner, is shot at a gathering of financiers, Gareth Owen, aka the Mamur Zapt, Chief of Cairo's Secret Police, is called in to investigate. But is he the right man for the job? There are powerful people who might have preferred Tvardovsky dead.