New Delhi, Apr 26 (PTI) Theatre director, educationist and activist Feisal Alkazi's ambitions to write a detective novel was triggered by the Covid lockdown when roads were deserted and silence hung heavy in the air that was broken ever so often by ambulance sirens.

For the author of 20 books, the atmosphere of the lockdown was “ripe for murder”.

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“The people less roads, the air of expectant danger, the heavy unbroken silence, the sudden sirens of ambulances and the flying squad that arrived every evening at 6pm to ensure that we were off the roads, all engulfed our city in an eerie atmosphere,” Alkazi told PTI.

His debut venture in detective fiction, “The Artful Murders”, is not set in the quiet Delhi of the lockdown but one that is active in its metro rides, its art galleries, the theatres of Mandi House and the hushed gossip of high society.

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The book, which begins with a death in a leafy lane in South Delhi's Greater Kailash-II, quickly introduces characters that are spread far and wide across the national capital's socio-economically diverse landscape.

The death of Lakshmi Krishnamurthi soon makes itself apparent as a murder when a Rs five crore M F Husain painting goes missing from the wall of her house.

Through the eyes and ears of Ragini Malhotra, a neighbour of Krishnamurthi and an amateur sleuth, the book unravels mysteries and more murders across the length and breadth of the country.

Far away from Delhi, on the Mumbai-Pune highway, Pratap, a long-distance driver, is found stabbed to death. In the car with him that night were an unidentified man and Shobhana Shandilya, a glamorous Mumbai socialite, twice divorced, who has set her sights on the well-known scientist Afroz Ahmed.

In this series of murders, the desi Sherlock Holmes is assisted by auto driver Raunaq, Pratap's gay partner Rudy, and private investigator Premlata Puri.

In the book, Alkazi brings together his knowledge of the worlds of art and theatre as Mrs Malhotra joins the dots to bring this intricate mesh of love, betrayal, greed, deceit and art smuggling to a startling conclusion.

The book captures the city's essence, from Delhi's metro rides to its cultural centres and its popular street foods.

“The metro rides of the main character, the now so out of reach Wengers chicken patties, the art galleries and theatres of Mandi House, all cried out to be captured in word pictures. And each with its own unique threat. Everyday spaces and people looked at through a new sinister lens. An oblique salute to the genius of Hitchcock,” Alkazi said.

He added that the multi-layered world he was creating was as much about an auto driver who ferries children to school, as about his gadget friendly gay roommate from Manipur.

“So the terrain that was explored went beyond affluent Delhi to its urban villages overbuilt and crowded - from Karol Bagh to Pul Bangash, from Shahjahanabad to Greater Kailash. All linked by the serpentine underground metro that unites and reveals. And where a sudden push could put you below the wheels of a passing train!” the theatre veteran said.

With underlying themes of gender and sexuality, the agency lies with the women characters in Alkazi's novel, something that he has constantly explored in his plays over the years.

“My novel, the first in a series, has women as both protagonists and antagonists. The agency lies in the women characters. And as she traverses the crime and the city, Mrs M learns more about herself, her world, her increasing sense of independence,” he said.

Over the past forty years he has carved out his own niche with his theatre group, 'Ruchika'.

He has directed over 200 plays in Hindi, English and Urdu, in addition to over 100 productions for schools all over India. Alkazi has also directed 30 documentary films in the field of disability.

Will it make it to the stage under his direction? “Possibly not,” he said while hinting at a possible OTT adaptation.

“...this is not a dialogue heavy story but one that requires constant movement and a lot of quiet introspection. Maybe more suited to OTT as it is already, I am told by readers, very visual,” the author of “Rang Biranga” said.

The book, which will develop into a series, has been published by Speaking Tiger and is available for Rs 499 on online and offline stores.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)