About

The Secret Solicitor

Born in London, of Pakistani heritage, the Secret Solicitor has been practising as a civil litigator for over 25 years. Her ordinary world of handling catastrophic and serious personal injury claims, nappies and night feeds was turned upside down by her mother’s suspicious death.

Shunned repeatedly by the Metropolitan Police, overnight, the Secret Solicitor was forced to become a forensic and handwriting expert, to discover how her mother died.

As a solicitor, she had the connections and resources to privately undertake her own inquiries. Whilst investigating, the Secret Solicitor came across other Britons affected in similar scenarios, details of which are set out in the Cases tab.

With drafting detailed legal documents and witness statements on a routine basis in her daily job as a personal injury lawyer, it became a natural progression for the Secret Solicitor to write about her investigation. Through documenting her story, she found healing.

In May 2024, the Secret Solicitor returned to Lahore for a final time, where her journey took a dark turn and she was forced to go into hiding, where she wrote a new last chapter. She left the manuscript with a trusted friend, not knowing if it would be her last flight.

The Secret Solicitor was recently agented by A for Authors, Literary Agency.

Last Flight

Noor Merchant dies suddenly in Lahore before her scheduled return flight to London in June 2014. Sara and her sisters are informed by their maternal uncle that their mother suffered a fatal heart attack. With no reason to think otherwise, Sara and her sisters undertake the heartbreaking task of repatriating their mother’s body to the UK.

One year later, Sara stumbles upon a chilling revelation: her family’s overseas assets were sold to her uncle’s friend for a fraction of the value, mere hours before her mother’s sudden demise. Scrutiny of the sales documents reveals fraudulent signatures, causing Sara to suspect her parents were ruthlessly defrauded by their own family and friends, raising suspicions about Noor’s death. Sara turns to the Metropolitan Police and is shunned repeatedly on jurisdictional grounds.

After hiring a private detective, they uncover a web of deceit, leading to an exhumation of Noor’s body. Despite the forensic evidence, Sara finds every door slamming firmly shut. Sara, who took a solicitor’s oath to always act with integrity, is thrusted headfirst as an unwilling participant into Pakistan’s shady underworld of cash drops, forgeries, guns, and violence where she navigates a perilous journey, putting her and her sister’s lives in grave danger. They step onto the plane to Lahore, not knowing if it will be their last flight.

Why the Secrecy?

Firstly, she was threatened against speaking adversely about Pakistan (even though such data is readily available on the internet).

If the Secret Solicitor can save one family from immeasurable pain by highlighting the entrenched corruption, where scams and crime are commonplace; a place where no one flutters an eyelid, then telling her story has done its job. Property fraud is rampant, often affecting British nationals, with no recourse from the Pakistani authorities. The scale of rot is mostly invisible to unsuspecting Brits and foreigners, with local authorities susceptible to bribery.

Secondly, in combatting the fraud the Secret Solicitor was asked to participate in matters which her regulator might consider as unsavoury.

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