The Tower of Silence

Set largely in Poona (Pune), the novel combines mystery, crime and historical fiction. After an aerial photograph captures the inside of a Parsi Tower of Silence, wealthy Parsi man Beram seeks revenge. Detective Sexton Blake becomes involved, beginning a tense pursuit across the city.

Phiroshaw Jamsetjee Chevalier Chaiwala is the mysterious original author of the novel. The manuscript was rediscovered by historian Gyan Prakash, a historian and Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Princeton University. Prakash located portions of the lost manuscript and helped bring the work to publication.

The story opens in 1920s Poona when an aerial photographer takes a picture over a Parsi Tower of Silence, exposing what lies inside. The photograph causes shock and anger within the Zoroastrian community. Beram, a wealthy and devoted Parsi, decides to seek revenge for the perceived insult. His actions draw the attention of the famous detective Sexton Blake, leading to a suspenseful cat-and-mouse chase. The novel blends mystery, revenge, Parsi culture and early 20th-century detective fiction.