Ashwin Sanghi is out with the second in the Private India series, which he co-writes with the hugely popular American crime fiction writer, James Patterson. Private Delhi is the quintessential murder mystery, with a serial killer doing very cruel things, people in high places being even more awful, an underground racket that goes right to the top, a TV journalist who is everywhere, a tortured former cop as the lead detective and a spunky lady as his sidekick (though Nisha Gandhe will gnash her teeth if she knew we’re calling her Santosh Wagh’s ‘sidekick’!). Ashwin answered some questions for t2 over email...
First of all, congratulations on committing the perfect crime. I couldn’t tell till the very end who the killer was! Do you think that’s the true mark of a good whodunit?
I am delighted that you enjoyed reading it. Being unable to tell who the killer is until the very end is one of the important characteristics of a whodunit but certainly not the only one. Balancing suspense and surprise is a key element. In addition, leaving enough hooks to propel readers forward with ample red herrings to misdirect them are others.
The story of how this collaboration with James Patterson came about is very interesting... could you recount it for our
readers?
I like to call it an arranged marriage of sorts. One of my dear friends in publishing was working in London and ended up meeting another person in that very office who represented James Patterson. The two ladies felt that combining the strengths of two different thriller writers from exceptionally different cultures would be interesting. The match was made by them. The two authors entered the frame much later.
Given that the two of you are in different continents, how did this book get written?
The process that we followed for both Private India and Private Delhi was similar. I developed an initial plot outline that got reworked between James Patterson and I over several back-and-forth routines. I then proceeded to write the first draft. The second and third drafts were written by James, before the editors took over.
Why did you choose Delhi as the setting of your second book in the series?
The Private series is an international series that is a global bestseller. The previous cities covered by the series included Los Angeles, Sydney, Berlin, Paris, Las Vegas, London, Rio and Mumbai. This second outing in India also needed to be set in a globally recognised city and Delhi was the obvious choice. In recent years, the magnificent success of Delhi as a political and commercial centre has also earned it the dubious moniker of ‘India’s crime capital’. Delhi was thus an
obvious choice.
You were here last month for the Kolkata Literary Meet, where you said our city could be the setting of a psychological thriller. Why so?
Because the city is known for its intellectual and artistic prowess. I am fascinated by the idea of an incredibly intelligent killer. He or she is well-read, has an incredible IQ, appreciates good food, wine, art, music and theatre. Where would such a person come from? The choice is indisputable. Calcutta!
Ashwin Sanghi never repeats genres — this is what we have known about you. What about the Private series made you break your own rule?
Actually, my rule is that I am open to trying new genres, but I do repeat within the same genre. My Bharat
series (The Rozabal Line, Chanakya’s Chant, The Krishna Key and The Sialkot Saga) are firmly within the historical-mythological space. My 13 Steps books (13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck and 13 Steps to Bloody Good Wealth) are clearly in the non-fiction self-help space. And my Private series (Private India and Private Delhi) are in the crime thriller space.
What kind of crime fiction do you like to read? Did you do a lot of reading to get into the headspace of a killer?
My favourite writers in the crime thriller space include Stieg Larsson, Thomas Harris, James Patterson, Gillian Flynn, Robin Cook, Lee Child, Boris Starling, Ian Rankin and Paula Hawkins. I do read a lot of crime thrillers but not as much as I would like to. Most of my reading time is consumed by books that I need to research for my next project. Before writing Private Delhi, I finished reading all the previous novels in the Private series just to ensure that character consistency and an overarching continuity was maintained.
We know you’ve grown up reading all kinds of books sent by your grandfather and books handed down by your mother. Were there any mystery/crime fiction titles among those?
I received several Sherlock Holmes short story collections by Arthur Conan Doyle, several books of Agatha Christie, and some short stories of Edgar Allen Poe from my grandfather. In later years, he also sent me The Adventures of Feluda in English, and some works by P.D. James.
And will there be more in the Private India series?
Judging by James Patterson’s legendary output, I would imagine that there should be more but we haven’t yet decided. Let me leave you in suspense, because that’s my job!