Thrill of the gruesome

Abheek Barua, chief economist of one of India’s leading banks, has stepped into the shoes of a crime fiction author — for the love of suspense and thrill.

Crime fiction has a very special dark allure all its own. And a new book to hit the shelves in this genre author Abheek Barua’s novel City of Death — a nerve-racking account of the murder of a young woman from an influential family and the investigation to find the killer.

Abheek has been the chief economist for one of the leading banks in the country, and is a columnist who writes on India’s economic policies and financial matters. When asked how a crime novel took birth, and how an economist decided to step into a crime author’s shoes, Abheek said, “I have always been an avid reader — particularly crime fiction. I watch a lot of it on television as well. This book was my way to explore the genre and how well I can do as a crime writer. ”

Nordic crime fiction writers and some British authors like Ian Rankin and Kate Atkinson have had a literary influence on his writing. City of Death was released both on the mobile platform as well as a hard copy. “I think the appeal of reading a book on the digital platform as well as having a hard copy is being met here. It’s like having the best of both the worlds for my book,” Abheek adds with a grin.

Writing this debut book hasn’t been easy, being a full time economist, he admits. “It was very difficult to manage my time. I used to write at airports, on flights and at nights. It took me about a year to finish,” he says.

Interestingly, the book was initially released with the title The Beheading which upon feedback from readers was changed to the current title. “After it was released the feedback from the reading platform told us that the story was not just about the crime, but was more about the life of the city and various facets to the city. We realised it needed that change,” Abheek explains.

Although the storyline seems to resemble some of the most infamous crime cases the country has witnessed, Abheek clarifies, “The book is based on some incidents of crime that I have in my memory bank. It could seem similar, but doesn’t refer directly to any particular crime. There could be a sequel to this book on the cards, but till then I’ll keep the readers guessing.”