The Mystery of the Parsee Lawyer

Arthur Conan Doyle, George Edalji and the Case of the Foreigner in the English Village

By: Shrabani Basu

Narrated by: Aysha Kala

Bloomsbury presents The Mystery of the Parsee Lawyer by Shrabani Basu, read by Aysha Kala.

Basu's account of how Arthur Conan Doyle set about trying to get a pardon for Edalji is in itself a fine piece of detective work.' The Times
‘Compulsive reading.’ A.N. Wilson
'Nails the nastiness of a peculiarly English scandal.' The Spectator
'A potent mix of racial injustice, Sherlockian mystery and Shrabani's signature storytelling.' Lucy Worsley

In the village of Great Wyrley near Birmingham, someone is mutilating horses. Someone is also sending threatening letters to the vicarage, where the vicar, Shahpur Edalji, is a Parsi convert to Christianity and the first Indian to have a parish in England. His son George – quiet, socially awkward and the only boy at school with distinctly Indian features – grows up into a successful barrister, till he is improbably linked to and then prosecuted for the above crimes in a case that left many convinced that justice hadn’t been served.

When he is released early, his conviction still hangs over him. Having lost faith in the police and the legal system, George Edalji turns to the one man he believes can clear his name – the one whose novels he spent his time reading in prison, the creator of the world’s greatest detective. When he writes to Arthur Conan Doyle asking him to meet, Conan Doyle agrees.

From the author of Victoria and Abdul comes an eye-opening look at race and an unexpected friendship in the early days of the twentieth century, and the perils of being foreign in a country built on empire.©2021 Shrabani Basu (P)2021 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Critic reviews

Basu's account of how Arthur Conan Doyle set about trying to get a pardon and compensation for Edalji is in itself a fine piece of detective work.

Compulsive reading. The bizarre story of Conan Doyle as detective and champion of justice has all the hallmarks of Shrabani Basu’s genius.

It nails the nastiness of a peculiarly English scandal.

A potent mix of racial injustice, Sherlockian mystery and Shrabani's signature storytelling. (Lucy Worsley)

Compelling.

An absorbing mystery

Today we wonder at the racism prevalent in England and other countries until recent times. We hope that concepts of inherent evil in people of a different colour are scoffed at today. This true story alerts us that racism is disgracefully still alive and well.