Golapbala By Lane by Suddhasatya Ghosh [Paperback]

(A Historical Detective Novel Based on Inspector Priyonath’s Investigations)

From opium farming to the slave trade, from shipbreaking to the spice business, from serving as middlemen for the British to selling the nation, and even turning village daughters into courtesans—such were the foundations of the commercial hub of Kolkata and its elite babu society. While the newly rich, under the patronage of colonial rulers, committed great crimes and walked free as kings and ministers, the so-called underworld, branded and marked, merely imitated their greed and desires. Amid all this, the fundamental truths of human life—justice, ethics, and morality—lay buried under deception.

This story delves into the search for truth in 18th and 19th-century India. The idea that crime is determined by birth was a lesson instilled by the colonial regime—this narrative does not subscribe to it. The historical detective Priyonath, the fictional truth-seeker Rijusman, and his mother, Maitreyee, navigate a world entangled in forgery, murder, assault, rape, treason, and revolution. The lanes of Kolkata intertwine with the rural outskirts of Bengal, extending toward the northeastern states of Assam and Manipur. Every region’s history has been scarred by the blade of the British Empire, where independence was sacrificed at the altar of imperial ambition. When one empire robs another of its freedom, when the enslaved are branded as criminals—who, then, should be called criminals? And what, indeed, defines crime?

Rijusman aspired to be a detective. But was he truly capable? His greatest test came from his mother. Was his father’s death a natural passing or a murder? What began as a personal quest soon expanded into a grand historical and political mystery, unfolding in a relentless whirlwind of events. The clash between multiple versions of the truth leaves no room for pause, making this story an exhilarating journey through time and justice.