The Tower of Silence

by Phiroshaw Jamsetjee Chaiwala

A long-lost Sexton Blake mystery, 1920s detective fiction at its best

Historian Gyan Prakash of Princeton University stumbled upon part of the unpublished manuscript of Tower of Silence by Phiroshaw Jamsetjee Chevalier (or Chaiwala, as he called himself) in the British Library. After scouring several Mumbai libraries, he found the missing pages.

It is a thrilling tale that begins on a blistering April afternoon in Poona with the click of a camera shutter. An aerial photograph is taken from a small aircraft flying directly over the Tower of Silence. The Zorastrian community is thrown into turmoil and horrified grief at this heinous act.

Beram, a suave wealthy man who drives around in a Rolls Royce but is a devout Parsi, decides to exact revenge. Thus begins a sensational cat-and-mouse game between Beram and Sexton Blake, Englands most famous detective.

Genres: Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2013

Reviews

[Feeling-bookish · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is also listed on GR as The Tower Of Silence by Gyan Prakash, who was instrumental in bringing it back in publication after 1928. The premise is interesting, but like a typical Bollywood masala potboiler, as we say in Indian English, 'anything happens anytime', and logic and continuity are not really considerations. The pacing is great, and the story twists and turns in mind-bogglingly amusing ways. The Beram vs. Blake rivalry of equals is well done.

I read it partly out of curiosity (first published in 1928? really?) and partly out of respect for Mr. Gyan Prakash's doggedness and determination in tracing the full manuscript and finding out about its author. The book isn't bad, especially for those used to the standard fare in Indian films and TV shows.

Carrying my curiosity further, I found this intriguing Wikipedia entry about Sexton Blake and loads of Sexton Blake books at archive.org.

[Parwati Singari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chaiwallah...
The tower of silence
Author: Phiroshaw Jamsetjee Chevalier “Chaiwala”
Publisher Harpar Collins
ISBN978-93-5029-637-0

Being house bound with the rains, this monsoons seem to herald the beautiful narrative writers, who allow the readers to create their visuals, first Belinda, then Jessica Now Phiroshaw JamsetJee Chevalier
I would like to be in an old musty library with a chaiwallah vendor outside, the rains to get 100% of this book, I am at 95, sitting at my window, hurdled, sipping the green tea and feeling the rain breeze.
The book to me, presented two quests, first of Gyan Prakash, in the quest of Phiroshaw Jamsetjee Chevalier ‘Chaiwala’ where we get the glimpse of dying Parsi community trying to maintain its uniqueness, the underlying resignation, none of which is ever presented in Hindi movie that is supposed to be Parsi centric. Once the quest is complete Gyan Prakash presents the novel.
The book is a thriller, must have been very contemporary in the era when it was written. Today it appears quaint. A pune which is long gone and Bombay in its dying days, the book takes us to the colonial India.
The protagonist a Parsi Vigilante Beram, is out to avenge the violation of the communities privacy by a photographer, and Sexton Blake is out to outwit him. Disguise, intrigues, plots and counter plots the book is interesting. For Sexton Blake the favourite detective from yesteryears this is a come back with one his greatest challenges yet.

The writer Mr.Chaiwala, being a Parsi himself reveals, the community in its internal form a community of faith, purity, borderline fanaticism, and morbidly private. The thriller moves from Britain to Burma, the other Indian communities like the Hindu’s and Muslims are mentioned in passing, referring to a background of Gandhi an movement only fixes the chronological dates without otherwise contributing to the story line.
Over all an interesting read.
Mr.Gyan Prakash looking forward to a novel that shares your quest for The Chaiwala.
About the author: Phiroshaw Jamsetjee Chevalier Chaiwala—please go through Mr. Gyan Prakash’s manuscript, Mr. Gyan Prakash is a historian of Princeton University who stumbled on part of the this unpublished manuscript in the British library, he then diligently scourged through the libraries’ and archives of Mumbai and the Parsi community to bring forth this publication.

[Sukanto · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books you simply chance upon while looking for something else. Just like the historian Gyan Prakash did - coming across the incomplete manuscript while researching something else. The tale of discovery of this book and its original author is more captivating than the book itself. But the book is not without its merits either - meant to be written as a thriller but also ending up as some sort of a comical chase narration as well. Written in the sackful of adjectives fashion of the early 20th century writing, The Tower of Silence also gives the reader great insights into the Parsi community in Bombay. Overall making for a very enjoyable reading experience.

[Suddha Bagchi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book's revival from oblivion presents for a better story than the book itself. However, the importance of the book is in the picture it presents of the ways of a particular ethnic group as also 1920's Mumbai and Pune. The famed detective Sexton Blake, his assistant, the almost invincible supervillain and the high octane action, overlooking the obvious plot holes and inconsistencies in the narrative, makes this Indian English pulp fiction an almost interesting read.

[Shruti Buddhavarapu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brilliant premise. This Gyan Prakash wrote one misleadingly brilliant introduction about his literary pursuit for this book which suckered people like me into buying the book. It's really alright, but perhaps there was a reason it slept the slumber of lost books.

[T.F. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a novel with a good premise. But read more like a comic book. Somehow did not have the seriousness of a novel. But definitely worth a read.