When Daisy visited her son in prison, Jonathan told her about an old man serving a life sentence for a crime he hadn’t committed. The facts had taken place in Zambia long ago, when it was a British colony, so Daisy started her investigation among ex-colonials living in England. But soon she had to go looking for answers in the African bush.

Haunted by the loss of a childhood world

While visiting her son Jonathan in prison, Daisy heard a strange story. He’d befriended an old man who was serving a life sentence for a crime he hadn’t committed. Of course every inmate says that, but Johnny-John believed this man’s protestations of innocence and begged his mother to look into it.

The facts of the case had taken place in Zambia long ago, when it was a British colony, so Daisy started her investigation among ex-colonials who’d returned to England. However, it soon became clear that the people holding the key to the mystery were still living in Africa, so Daisy took a flight to Lusaka to seek out these witnesses.

The truth turned out to be as strange as life in the African bush can be. It slowly emerged from a missionary daughter’s rambling memoir about the long-lost world she grew up in. Daisy had to follow a winding trail, but in the end she was mysteriously led to unexpected revelations.

“Nick Aaron presents a missionary daughter growing up in the African bush, who tells us she’s very gullible. But the downside of being gullible is that “once you have the wrong idea in your head, it’s very hard to get rid of it.”