It shows the way to light to those who are eager for a transformation, it gives rays of hopes to the crestfallen, and it also (less)

The accountant of a Hindu monastery has been brutally murdered, and the head priest is the prime suspect. But as both detective and doctor soon discover, their Indian autumn has only just begun.

They are plunged into a series of adventures that take them from Madras and Pondicherry to the princely courts of Hyderabad, the uncharted jungles of the Central Provinces, pine-scented Nainital, and the bustling metropolis of Calcutta. Even as Holmes unravels sinister plots, Watson busies himself helping Ronald Ross track the malaria parasite and advising a schoolboy called Dhyan Chand on the finer points of hockey.

The six stories in Holmes of the Raj are delightful vignettes of life and politics in colonial India. Vithal Rajan breathes life into historical characters, as Holmes and Watson meet Lord Ripon, Madame Blavatsky, Francis Younghusband, Kipling and Kim himself, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, Ramanujan, Motilal Nehru, Tagore, Jinnah, and many, many others.

Sprightly, colourful, and remarkably faithful to Conan Doyle, this is an unforgettable collection. About the Author Vithal Rajan has served as a mediator in Northern Ireland and was founder and faculty member of the School of Peace Studies, Bradford University, UK.

He has worked with numerous civil society organizations and NGOs in India, and has held various positions across Europe such Chair of World Studies, International School of Geneva, and Executive Director for the Alternative Nobel Prize (Sweden). In 2006, he was made Officer of the Order of Canada—the country’s highest national honour—for a lifetime of achievement.

His other fictional works include The Legend of Ramulamma, Sharmaji Padmasree, ‘Not So’ Stories for Older Children, and The Anarkali Diary. top (less)