A
Aravid Adiga
The white tiger 2008
Last man in tower 2011
A.X.Ahmed
The caretaker A Ranjit Singh novel 2013
The last taxi ride(this novel may not be set in India but Indians in it) 2014
Pulkit Ahuja
Googled by God 2015
Ajay
Resonance
Tariq Ali
The assasination. Who killed Indira G? 2008 Seagull pub, New York
Ambai
As the day darkens
Rukmani Anandani
A mysterious death at Sainik farms rupa publications
Anu Kumar
It takes a murder 2012
Ramesh S Arunachalam
Where angels prey 2015
Don't look down (Penguin)
…………
B
Meenal Baghel
Death in Mumbai 2011
Anirudh Bahal
Bunker13 2004 Paperback
Prachi Bahumik & Debra Freeman Thorpe(ed) Kate BirchTarunik (ed)
Art of leaving-a graphic illustrated novella inspired by the brutal Delhi bus rape case 2014 Kindle Publisher: Prachi Bhaumik
Balakarthiga.M
Three girls and a crime-the beachhouse affair (kindle) 2015
Shakuntala Banaji
Truth lake 2015 kindle
Ashok K Banker (some of his books are available only as e-books; some or one was published as an online serial)
The iron bra 1992
Ten dead admen 1993
Murder and champagne 1993
4 books in Kali rising series i.e.
Blood red sari 2012
Burnt saffron sky 2012(ebook only)
Rust black heart 2013 (ebook only)
Silver acid rain 2013(ebook only)
Abheek Barua
City of death
Kunal Basu
The opium clerk 2002 ( I personally consider this as crime fiction as it has to do with opium) this book is set in British India.
Somnath Batabyal
The price you pay 2013
Raghuram Belur
Death by marathon 2017
Moitrayee Bhaduri
The sinister silence 2015
Juggi Bhasin
The terrorist 2012
The avenger 2013
Blood song 2014
Bollywood deception 2016
Madhumita Bhattacharya
The masala murder 2012
Dead in a Mumbai minute 2014
Goa undercover 2016
Mario Bolduc (author)Nigel Spencer (translator)
The Kashmir trap-A Max O'Brien mystery 2016 paperback and Kindle
Ruskin Bond(born in 1934 and writing since 1951, his stories have captured the charm of a new young independent India to the India of more recent times...below are not 'typical' crime fiction
1 The Rupa book of great crime stories
2 Great escape stories and great crime stories
3 The Rupa book of true tales of mystery and adventure PB
4 The Rupa book of great suspense stories and snappy surprises
5 Shikar stories and great animal stories
6 Tigers for dinner:Tall tales by Jim Corbett's Khansama
7 Season of ghosts
8.Death under the Deodars. The adventures of Miss Ripley Bean (Penguin paperback)
9.Whispers in the dark-a book of spooks. (Penguin publication)
Guy Newell Boothby (1867-1905 an Australian writer who lived and died in England)
A prince of swindlers 1897! (six short crime stories set in India and London) Two stories set in India are 'A criminal in disguise' and 'The den of iniquity'. This book has been recently reissued by Penguin
Patrick Bryson
The sad demise of Manpreet Singh 2014, Kindle and paperback(good reviews)
Robert Brightwell
Flashwell and the cobra Adventures of Thomas Flashman-book 2 2013 (This is set in British India and the book's protagonist had been created by another author i.e. George Macdonald Fraser)
…………..
C
Novoneel Chakraborty
Marry me stranger 2014
All yours stranger 2015
Forget me not stranger(2016 to be released in April)
Ex-a twisted love story 2013
Black suits you
Rajoshri Chakraborti
Shadow play-a mystery 2010
Mumbai rollercoaster 2012
Vikram Chandra
The Srinagar conspiracy 2000
The sacred games 2006
Suresh Chandrashekaran, Radha Sawana & Kartik L (3 authors of one book)
Sirens spell danger 2013 Kindle edition
Pooja Changoiwala
Front page murders
Nilanjan P Choudhury
The case of the secretive sister 2014 (set in Bangalore, my home town! Very few books are set in Bangalore and I hope there will be more Bangalore crime novels coming in the future) Its to fun read!
Barbara Cleverly
The last Kashmiri rose 2001
Ragtime in Simla 2002
The Damascened blade 2003
The palace tiger 2004
…………
D
Veena Das
Life and words:Violence and the descent into the ordinary 2007 (Not fiction) University of California press, Berkeley
Nandini Deka
Unhappily married -An Indian story 2011 kindle
Kishwar Desai
Witness the night 2009
Origins of love 2013
The sea of innocence 2013
Salil.Desai
The body in the back seat 2011
Murder on a side street 2012
The murder of Sonia Raikkonen An inspector Saralkar mystery 2015
Killing Asish Karve 2015
Mukul Deva
1Tanzeem 2011
2 Assassins A Ravinder Gill novel 2015
3 Weapon of vengeance a novel 2015
4 RIP 2013
5 The dust will never settle 2012
6 Salim must die 2009
7 Blowback 2010
8 Lashkar 2008
9 The Garud strikes 2014
10 And death came calling 2014
Vish Dhamija
1 Bhendi Bazaar 2014
2 Nothing lasts forever -no secret can stay2010
3 Doosra -the other one 2016
4 Deja Karma 2015
Leema Dhar
The committed sin 2016 Kindle and paperback
Mainak Dhar
Line of control 2010
Zombiestan 2012 (set in Afghanistan and a bit in India...mix of horror and crime)
Maloy Krishna Dhar
Operation Triple X-a real spy story 2007
Upendra Dharmadhikari & Changali Anand
The princess in black :An unheard story of the Mughals2014
Farrukh Dhondy
The bikini murder 2012
Girvani Dhyani
Stalked 2014
Christopher C Doyle
The Mahabharatha quest-The Alexander secret-2014
Arthur Conon doyle
The sign of four (set in India)
Neil D'Silva
Maya's new husband 2015(only in kindle)
Ranjeev C Dubey
Legal confidential-adventures of an Indian lawyer(non-fiction crime)2015
Bullshit quotient-decoding India’s corporate, social and legal fineprint(non-fiction crime)2012
…………..
E
Stephen Meredyth Edwardes
Crime in India :a brief review of the more important offences included in the annual criminal returns with chapters on prostitution and miscellaneous matters 1924 Humphrey Milford publication, London (Not fiction)
……………
F
Shamini Flint
Inspector Singh investigates.a curious Indian cadaver 2012 (I enjoyed this book a lot...it's got humour. She has written other books of Inspector Singh set in various other east Asian countries such as Inspector Singh investigates a deadly Cambodian crime spree, Inspector Singh investigates the Singapore school of villainy, Inspector Singh investigates a Bali conspiracy most foul, Inspector Singh investigates a most peculiar Malaysian murder, Inspector Singh investigates a frightfully English execution)
Karim Fossum
The Indian bride (not a book by Indian writer really and it's not a crime set in India but about one single Indian in a foreign country)
Leslie Forbes
Bombay ice 2001
Fish, blood and bones 2001
George Macdonald Fraser
The (Harry Paget Flashman)Flashman series by this author are more funny adventures than crime fiction and there are 12 books in this highly acclaimed series.
The ones set in pre-independent India are
The Flashman papers book one 1969
The Flashman series book 4 Flashman and the mountain of light 1990
The Flashman papers-book 8 Flashman in the great game 1975
Another author Robert Brightwell continued writing about a similar character Thomas Flashman
…………..
G
Reethi Gadekar
Families at home 2008
Arjun Gaind
A very pukka murder A Maharaja Mystrey2016
Saurabh Garg
The Nidhi Kapoor story 2014
Prem Gandhi
A thorny ride 2013
Sumanta Ganguly
Fighting shadows 2001
Amitav Ghosh
The Calcutta chromosome-a novel of fever, delirium and discovery 2009
Anil Goel
Release 2.0 The Bangalore imperative 2007
Exit point 2014
Hema Gollamudi
The Offsite Pub date:Aug 15th, 2011; pub: create space independent publishing platform Paperback in English
Harihara Kumar Gopalan
Two accidents November 10th,2014 (Kindle format)
Sundip Gorai
Hickory Dickory Shock The tale of techies 2010
Kanta Grover
Burning flesh (Not fiction I think) 1990
Aayush Gyupta
Toppers by any means necessary (Penguin books)
Githa Hariharan Anandswarup Gupta
Fugitive histories 2009(Not 'entertaining' crime fiction exactly but depicts the ugly side of India)
Anandswarup Gupta
Police and crime in India upto 1861 , Sahitya Bhawan publications 1974
Ruby Gupta
A degree in death 2012 (paper back)
Sarang Gupta
The trial of 2091-2015
……………
H
Tarquin Hall (British author, in India until 2016 and fled to UK due to Delhi's pollution)!
The case of the missing servant 2008
The case of the man who died laughing 2010
The case of the deadly butter chicken 2012
The case of the love commandos 2013
Hemant Kumar
Prey by the Ganges 2011 paperback
Patrick Hoenig & Navsharan Singh(editors)
Landscapes of fear-understanding impunity in India Zubaan books.(not fiction)
………………
I
Kartik Iyengar
Predator Horn OK please 2014
……………
J
Mahendra Jakhar
The butcher of Benares 2014
Piush Jha
Raakshas 2016
Mumbaistan 2012
Antisocial network 2014
Compass box killer 2013
Hrishikesh Joshi
Checkmate 2015
Karen Jonson
Sex, lies and 2 Hindu Gurus (author’s not Indian, crime is not set in India, but it's added to this list) 2014
………………
K
Kalyan C Kankanala
Pirates of Bollywood 2015
Swathi Kaushal
All that glitters 2014
Drop dead-A Niki Marwah mystery 2012
Lethal spice 2014(for teens?)
HRF Keating:This author's books are based in India but he visited India only after having written many of his books!
The Perfect Murder 1964
Inspector Ghote's crusade 1966
Inspector Ghote caught in meshes 1967
Inspector Ghote hunts the peacocks 1968
Inspector Ghote plays a joker 1969
Inspector Ghote breaks an eggo 1970
Inspector Ghote goes by train 1971
Inspector Ghote trusts the heart 1972
Bats fly up for Inspector Ghote 1974
Filmi, Filmi Inspector Ghote 1976
Inspector Ghote draws a line 1979
The murder of the Maharajh 1980
Go west, Inspector Ghote 1981
The Sheriff of Bombay 1984
Under a monsoon cloud 1986
The body in the billiard room 1987
Dead on time 1988
The Iciest sin 1990
Inspector Ghote , his life and crimes (1989) short story collection
Cheating death 1992
Doing wrong 1993
Asking questions 1996
Bribery, corruption also 1999
Breaking and entering 2000
Inspector Ghote's first case 2008
Trafficking and prostitution reconsidered:new perspectives on migration, sex work and human rights 2nd ed 2012 Paradigm publishers London
Vaseem Khan
The unexpected inheritance of Inspector Chopra. 2015
The perplexing theft of the jewel in the crown(Baby Ganesha Agency Investigation) Aug 2016
Sami Ahmed Khan
Red Jihad The battle for South Asia
Tabish Khair
How to fight Islamist terror from the missionary position (? crime/?novel) 2015.
The thing about thugs 2010(may not be crime fiction..?philosophy?)
Shadaab Amjad Khan(this author is son of famous actor Amjad Khan, the notorious Gabbar Singh of movie Sholay)
Murder in Bollywood 2015
Rudyard Kipling
Kim 1901-set in British India (I love this book!)
The drums of the fore and aft(not sure if this would classify as crime fiction)
The man who would be king (not sure if this would classify as crime fiction)
Hema Gollamudi
The offsite 2011 (kindle and paperback)
Sharath Kommarraju
Murder in Amaravati 2012
The crows of Agra 2015
Loyalty net 2016 Kindle edition
M.N.Krish
The Steradian trail-book # 0 of the infinity trail 2013
K.Harikumar
That frequent visitor Every face has a darker side 2015, Srishti publishers and distributors
Neeraj Kumar
Dial D for Don(non-fiction crime?) 2015
Michael Kurland
The empress of India 2007, Macmillan pub
…………..
L
Ranjit Lal
The secret of Falcon Heights 2014 (for teens?)
Madhulika Liddle
The Englishman's cameo (Muzaffar Jang mysteries)2011
The eighth gang and other Muzaffar Jang mysteries 2011
Engraved in stone -a Muzaffar Jang mystery 2012
My lawfully wedded husband and other stories 2013
Crimson city 2015
Sahil Loomba
The faceless Saldirgan
………
M
Saikat Majumdar
Silverfish 2015
Manohar Malgonkar
The garland keepers 2013 Rupa publications(But first print would be many years earlier)
Spy in amber Rupa publications 2013(But first print would be many years earlier)
Cactus country 2010
Bandicoot run 1982
Open season 1978
Hush
Chander Malhotra
Video pirates movie-adventures of two Bollywood heros- seeking the pirate 2016(only in Kindle...I think)
Sukhdeepak Malwai
The Indian resurrection 2016
Kiran Manral
Reluctant detective 2011
John Masters
The deceivers 1966(set in British India)
Bhowani junction 1954
The lotus and the wind 1953
Aswathi Menon
Scarred for life healed forever 2015 Kindle
Ameresh Misra
The minister's wife 2002
Jaishree Mishra
A love story for my sister 2015
A scandulous secret 2011
Secrets and sins 2010
Secrets and lies 2009
The little book of romance
Accidents like love and marriage 2001
Monabi Mitra
FIR 2012
The dead don't confess 2013
The final report 2014
Moitrayee
The sinister silence 2015
Steve Morris
Mario's Aug 3rd 2011, Kindle
Abir Mukherjee
A rising man 2016 (This book is set in British India) This book has received high praise! I read this book//nice//first in the series
Necessary Evil 2017 this is second in the series.
Sourabh Mukherjee
In the shadows of death:A detective Agni Mitra thriller 2015
George Munroe (AKA Charles Munroe)
Alec Cowie & the Delhi assignment- 2012, paperback pub:Xlibris
Sweta Mustare & Chaitanya Gubbala & Hirday
1987 The year it all began -2016
Ram Muthiah
Tell my dad -Kindle 2015(also paperback) This is by Indian writer but NOT set in India as far as I can guess
……………
N
Anita Nair
Cut like wound. 2014 ( I am a Gowda from Bangalore and thrilled about a Gowda detective who has put Bangalore on the world crime fiction map!)
Chain of custody second in the Gowda series 2016
Shatrujeeth Nath
The Karachi deception 2013
……………..
O
Zac O 'Yeah
Mr Majestic the tout of Bengalaru 2012
Hari. A hero for hire: 2015
Tropical detective A Hari Majestic mystery 2017
Veena Talwar Oldenberg
Dowry murder:the imperial origins of a cultural crime 2002, Oxford university press, New York(not fiction)
Susan Oleksiw
Under the eye of Kali 2010(foreign writer...set in Kovalam, Kerala)
The wrath of Shiva 2012
For the love of Parvati 2014
When Krishna calls August 2016
All 4 of Susan's books have a female protoganist and set in Kerala.
Zac O'Yeah(Swedish writer writing crime fiction set in Bangalore!)
Mr. Majestic the tout of Bengaluru-2012
Hari a hero for hire 2015
I read both of Yeah's books...they are hilarious and a must read!
………………..
P
Gaurav Parab
Rustom the last story teller of Almore 2015(not 100% sure if it's crime)
Surender Mohan Pathak
Daylight robbery English translation and pub:2010; translator:Sudarshan Purohit; Blaft publication)
Surender Mohan Pathak Gaurav
The Colaba conspiracy 2015
The last goal 2012 (I think it's in English)
Surender Mohan Pathak and Sudarshan Purohit The 65 lakh heist. 2010 paperback
Peggy Payne
Sister India (2002)
Ellis Peters
Mourning raga 2015
Death to the landlords 2015
M.Naresh Pi
The Goddess daughter 2015 Kindle edition
Ravi Pai
Bold and vulnerable in Delhi 2013 Kindle ASIN:B00CQ7BUEK
Rajai Pitroda
Startstruck 2011
Manjiri Prabhu
The Cavansite conspiracy 2011
Gyan Prakash
Mumbai fables 2010
Clark Prasad
Baramulla Bomber 2012
…………..
Q
………………
R
Shreyas Rajgopal/Shrey
Saltwater 2014
Arnab Ray
The mine 2012
Yudhi Raman
The Tantulous redemption 2014
Senani(Ramakrishna SR)(Tr.Krupakar)
Birds, beasts and bandits-14 days with Veerappan 2011
R.V.Raman
Fraudster 2014
Insider
Suryadevara Rama Mohan Rao
The dictator of the dark Kindle 2014
Vivek Rao
Shot down
Himanshu Rasam
Operation chaos 2015
Sheela Raval
Godfathers of crime-face to face with India’s most wanted (non-fiction crime) 2015
Arjun Shekar
A flawed God 2011 paperback
Vinay Ramkrishna
A kidnap april 1st 2017, (Kindle and paperback)
Sathyajit Ray's (for those who don't know, Sathyajit Ray is a world famous movie director from Calcutta; he had multiple talents including writing)
Feluda series
1 Danger in Darjeeling 1965-66
2 The emperor's ring 1966-67
3 Kailash Chowdhury's jewel 1967
4 The Anubis mystery 1967
5 Trouble in Gangtok 1970
6 The golden fortress 1971
7 Incident on the Kalka mail 1972
8 A killer in Kailash 1973
9 The key 1973
10 The royal Bengal mystery 1974
11 The locked chest 1975
12 The mystery of the Elephant god 1975
13 The bandits of Bombay 1976
14 The mystery of the walking dead 1976
15 The secret of the cemetery 1977
16 The curse of the goddess 1978
17 The house of death1979
18 The mysterious tenant 1980
19 The criminals of Kathmandu 1980
20 Napolean's letter 1981
21 Tintoretto's Jesus 1982
22 The disappearence of Amber Sen 1983
23 The gold coins of Jehangir 1983
24 Crime in Kedarnath 1984
25 The acharya murder case 1985
26 Murder in the mountains 1986
27 The case of the apsara theatre 1987
28 Peril in paradise 1987
29 Shakuntala's necklace 1988
30 Feluda in London 1989
31 The mystery of the pink pearl 1989
32 Dr.Munshi's diary 1990
33 The mystery of Nayan 1990
34 Robertson's ruby 1992
35 The magical mystery 1995-96
……………..
S
Anand Sachidanandan
Book of destruction 2012
Nayantara Sahgal
Mistaken identity 1989
Plans for departure (mystery and romance)2015
Lesser breeds (?crime and history)2003
Ibn-e-Safi (1928-1980)is considered the greatest crime fiction writer in Urdu and the greatest crime fiction writer of Pakistan, even today. He wrote between 1940-1980; he was born in a village in Uttar Pradesh India and moved to Pakistan and so I claim him to be at least part-Indian! A few of his crime novels have been recently translated from Urdu to English. He has written 250 novels of which 125+ are crime fiction and he's possibly the most prolific crime writer from Pakistan! It is sad that only 6 of his books seem to have been translated from Urdu to English! Translating any books from Urdu to English is a challenging task. Conveying meaning along with the nuances... without losing the poetry of Urdu is daunting even to the most gifted Urdu-English bilingual! The more I read about this author, the more intriguing I find him!
Smoke water 1957
The dangerous man 1952
Poisoned arrow 1957
The laughing corpse 1957
The house of fear
Doctor dread 1957
This link below gives the full list of his books unde Jassosi Duniya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jasoosi_Dunya_by_Ibn-e-Safi
I bought 4 of the books listed above and was quite disappointed after reading one and will not be reading the rest. Maybe, I-Ben-Safi books lose their beauty when translated or the books are not for readers of this century.
Ankush Saikia
Red river hills 2015
Dead meat ?2015
Remember death ?2016
Fahad Samar
Flashpoint 2014
Preeta Samarasan
Evening is the whole day(crime fiction set in Malaysia of Indian family) 2011
Aswin Sambamurthy
Infinite lives series-book 1(Kindle format) crime novella/set in Bangalore Pub: April 9th 2016; publisher:self-published
Sat Parkash Sangar
Crime and punishment in Mughal India 1967, Delhi Sterling publishers (not fiction)
Ashwini Sanghi
The Krishna key 2012
The Rozabal line 2012
The Sialkot Saga April 2016
Private India 2014
Manasi Sapre
Pune murder chronicles 2014
Anish Sarkar
Benaami -2010(dont worry. this is in English!)
Sathyajit Sarna
A permanent position (Harper 21) 2013, Kindle
Uday Satpathy
Brutal 2015
Hirsh Sawney(editor)
Delhi Noir 2009
Sapan Saxena
Finders keepers 2014
Avirook Sen
Aarushi 2015
Priya Sethi
My wedding without a Paithani-short story 2015 Kindle
Pratik Shah
Operation Jai Mata Di 2015 (paperback)
Abhisar Sharma
The edge of the machette
Vishesh Sharma
The lost temple (Ebook and paperback)
Sharmishtha Shenoy and Manoj Vijayan
Vikram Rana investigates-tales of murder and deception in Hyderabad 2016 Kindle and paperback
Shiv Kumar
Operation India one 2015
Brijesh Singh
Quantum siege 2015
Krishna Partap Singh
Young Turks(Raisina Trilogy) 2010
Delhi Durbar 2010
The war ministry 2012
Vibha Singh
A convenient culprit 2013(penguin)
Radhika Singha
A despotism of law:crime and justice in early colonial India 1998 Oxford university press, New York, Delhi. (Not fiction)
Sivami
The orphan 2015 Kindle
R.Sreeram
Kalyug 2014
Kalpana Swaminathan
The secret gardener 2013
Rasleen Syal
Happily murdered 2014
Varun Sehgal
Shunya -the myth 2014
Avirook Sen
Aarushi 2015
Shakuntala Devi (She has no last name)
Perfect murder Kindle/Orient publishing /ASIN:B00C9VFUYY
Bulbul Sharma
The tailor of Giripul 2013
Pran Kumar Sharma
Daboo comic strips which appeared in Indian magazines of the 70s
Prashant Sharma
If I pretend I am sorry, will you pretend and forgive me 2011
Vishesh Sharma
The lost temple 2015(self-published)Kindle and paperback
Krishna Shastri Devulapalli
Jump cut 2013
Bilal Siddiqi
The bard of blood The secret war in Balochistan is about to explode 2015
Brijesh Singh
Quantum siege 2014
Preethi Singh
Flirting with fate 2012
R.Sreeram
A ship of many oars-a collection of short stories 2015
Mike Stocks
White man falling(? It’s not crime fiction, not Indian writer but set in India)2008
Brian Stoddart
The Madras Miasma 2014
The Pallampur predicament. 2015
A straits settlement (will be released May 2016)
These three books are set in the India before independence and British India...but written in 2014,15 & 16!
I am waiting to get my hands on these three books!
Ravi Subramanian
Devil in pinstripes 2009
The incredible banker 2011
The bankster 2012
Bankerupt 2013
God is a gamer 2014
The bestseller she wrote 2015
Aditya Sudarshan
A nice quiet holiday 2009
Amrita Suresh
When a lawyer walks down the aisle 2015 Kindle
Aabid Surti
Shooja comic strips which appeared in Indian magazines of the 70s (It was in Kannada language in a magazine called Sudha, available in Karnataka in the 70s I think)
Bahadur comics of the 80s published by Indrajal comics
Suvika
A man to die for 2015, Kindle
To Hi Tu 2013 Kindle
Vikas Swarup
Six suspects 2008
The accidental apprentice 2014
………………
Kalpana Swaminathan
Cryptic death and other stories 1997
The page three murders-2006
Bougainvilla house 2006(crime?)
The gardener's song-2007
The monochrome madonna-2012
I never knew it was you-2012
The secret gardener 2013
T
Ismita Tandon
Jacob Hills 2013
Love kills 2014
Tarun J Tejpal
The story of my assasins 2012(high priase)
Anand Teltumbde
The persistence of caste :the Khairlanji murders and India's hidden apartheid 2010, Zed books, London(Not fiction)
Anil Thakraney
An invitation to death-vol one 2015
Siddhartha Thorat
Operation fox-hunt 2014
Sarvesh Tiwari
The last curse 2016
Ira Trivedi
Gumrah:11 short teen crime stories 2016
Altaf Tyrewala
Mumbai noir 2012
Ministry of hurt sentiments 2015(genre bending/Dystopian Bombay..is it crime fiction?)
………………..
U
Imran Usman
A yellow winged stranger-2015
……………….
V
Anup Verma
A thread of life 2007(?crime fiction/?novel)
Dominique Verma
After the deluge (Rupa pub) about Roreich the artist whose paintings are in Chitrakala Parishad, Bangalore!
God is a river -a story of faith 2014
Ram Vignesh
Delhi at dark 2014 Book & kindle Leadstart publishing pvt ltd
…………………
W
Shashi Warrier
Sniper 2008
Night of the Krait 2008
The homecoming 2008
Noordin's gift 2014
The girl who dint give up 2015
………………..
X
Is there any Indian writer whose last name starts with X... I doubt it!
…………………..
Y
Kulpreet Yadav
Catching the departed 2014
The girl who loved a pirate 2015
………………….
Z
Hussain Zaidi
Mafia queens of Mumbai Mafia queens from the ganglands 2011 (Non fiction)
Dongri to Dubai. six decades of the Mumbai mafia-2012(non fiction)
Headley and I 2012 (non fiction)
My name is Abu Salim 2014(non fiction)
Byculla to Bangkok 2014 (non fiction)
Black Friday the true story of the Bombay bomb blasts 2014(non fiction)
I WILL TRY MY BEST OT UPDATE THIS LIST AS OFTEN AS I CAN.
BUT WHEN INDIAN CRIME FICTION STARTS REACHING THE MAGNITUDE OF AMERICAN CRIME FICTION PUBLICATIONS, I WILL STOP UPDATING. BECAUSE, A SINGLE PESON , ME, CANNOT MAKE A LSIT OF BOOKS WHEN THE MARKET GETS FLOODED WITH SEVERAL PUBLICATIONS DAILY.
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Note about the list above:
- Some books and some authors don't show up on Google.
- Sometimes I found a book when I Googled but I had trouble finding it again for the second time on the internet.
- Names issues: I have listed by author's last names but some authors don't have last names or I am unsure if it's a last name. Example in the name Arun Kumar, Kumar looks like a last name but in south India, Arun Kumar is simply a first name with two names in it; Kumar is not a last name. Some authors have only one name on the published book. Some authors have three names and I am not sure which is the last name
- Sources to compile this list: Amazon.in, Google, Penguin India, Harper Collins India, Rediff.com. I will be searching online for Indian publishers such as Rupa publications to add books to this list.
- The year of publication given above may not be the year it was 'first' published. It's difficult to get that information for many of the books.
- Some authors are self-published;
- Some books are available only as e-books;
- Some books are not accessible for buying as they are sold out and ?unlikely to be reprinted.
- Some books are not available outside India(even for online buyers)
- There's a lot of crime fiction in Indian languages, not yet translated to English. This list has only English novels.
- The number of Indian crime fiction published post 2000 is a lot more than pre 2000. (2000 is an arbitrary year chosen by me!)
- I am trying to get the date of the first edition but it's not always possible. Date of first publication gives context to the crime. In India, change has been rapid, especially post 1980 and so too have the nature of the crimes.
- Type of authors: Authors have various professional backgrounds including Journalism, Literature, Defence personnel, Medicine, Law, Teaching, Finance, diplomacy, etc.
- Most authors in this list are Indians from India; but a few are NRIs from other countries and some like Brian Stoddart, Zac O Yeah & Tarquin Hall are foreigners writing about crime in India.
- Most books in the list are fiction but quite a few are non-fiction, based on real-life events in India.
- My biggest issue: I am torn between adding or not adding non-fiction crime books to my list. There are so many books covering what is crime in 'my' opinion i.e. corrupt practices in the government, courts, banks, the army, etc. If I don't add those books, I feel I am omitting very important books of high calibre; But if I do add these books, then the list becomes huge . Also these books are 'not entertaining' but more serious like research and serious reading is not my aim.
- I am confused whether to add/not add to this list:(1) genre defying books such as horror-crime;(2) mythology-crime mix; (3)science fiction-crime; (4)crimes with Indians in foreign countries;(5) crimes novels written by non-Indians but set in India or Indian characters in it;(6) crime fiction for non adults like kids and teens; crime graphic novels. These books have been added or omitted from this list, depending on which way I leaned when I found the book online!
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- In India, many crimes are not even considered as crimes...dowry, wife battering, bribes, discrimination and abuse based on caste, abuse of women by families and at workplace, and so on. The majority of people in power are corrupt. There is corruption in the politicians ruling the country and also in the opposition parties. The police and judiciary are corrupt. Hell! There is corruption in 'holy' temples too!
- With this sort of all pervasive corruption, a typical crime fiction story about a hero who solves a crime using his ingenuity simply does not cut it for the Indian reader! All Indians know who the criminals are in real life...Crimes in India don't need lots of brains to solve them. The police need will-power, honesty, incorruptibility, non-interference from their bosses and politicians to solve crimes and do justice.
- But the criminals often get away as they have 'connections' & power and criminals bribe their way out . Some are not even arrested! For example the murder of an honest and upright IAS officer in Karnataka recently was written off as a suicide by the police. People were outraged but the case was closed! Everyone is aware of which ministers were involved in the murder!
In recent years, Indian crime fiction in English is increasing by leaps and bounds and it's impossible to keep track of the new books being published ! I will try for a while anyway to keep the above list updated.
I am thrilled that finally
(a) crime fiction in English is being written in India by Indians,
(b) the authors are being paid well enough to keep writing without starving(but not as well as the authors in the west who are not only well paid but are translated into so many European languages, get paid for movie rights and so on)
and more importantly (c)Indians can afford to buy and read crime fiction;
(d)there is an increasing interest in Indian crime fiction abroad.
In the 80s, before the IT boom in India, few English-speaking Bangaloreans could afford to buy and read books. Now thanks to the monied, English speaking and more importantly 'spending-instead-of-saving' middle and upper classes of India, the book business is booming for authors, publishers and readers. Yippee!!!
Analyzing my feelings when I read a handful of Indian crime fiction, I discovered that my experience is totally different from when I read crime fiction of other countries. It's not pleasant and exciting. The more realistic the Indian crime fiction, the more shaken, depressed, angry, frustrated and cringing as I feel. As an Indian, Indian crime is really too close home for comfort for me! Unless I develop detachment, I will not be able to enjoy Indian crime fiction!
I have to write about Indian crime magazines next...!
I visited Bangalore in May 2016. I discovered 2 new developments in Bangalore, related to books
(a)One cannot find magazines related to crime in any store...it looks like the government has banned their production and sales. I am not sure if this is only in Bangalore or all over India...if the 'respectable' shops I checked out dint have. But quite possibly the disreputable magazine shops (such as the ones selling smut on K.G.Road outside Kempegowda talkies, decades ago!) do have them hidden and sold only to known customers???
(b) The decimation of famous bookstores of Bangalore. For example, Gangarams is a skeleton of it's former glorious self; Higgins Bothams is an even bonier skeleton at least in May 2016! (Due to renovations). Sankars and Strand, two of my favorite stores have shut down completely! Sapna, which claims to be the biggest book store hardly has books ...it sells, all sorts of things of which books are just one product. Macmillan in the Shrungar complex on M.G.Road has downed it's shutters. Prism book store in Jayanagar 4th block seems to have vanished! Premier book shop at Church street and Museum road has also vanished. I remember the several wonderful hours spent browsing in Premier, Strand, Higgins Bothams and Sankars.
It breaks my heart that these stores have vanished. I do know new stores such as Landmark and Crossword have opened in Bangalore, but not enough of them.
People not buying books and high rents book stores pay for their space would be two major reasons for these stores to close. Bangalore prides itself on it's 'booming economy', 'world class' educational institutions, an emerging middle-class who earn well and spend well...it is such a shame that decent book stores cannot flourish in this city full of empty pride!
Plu-eeze don't tell me that Bangaloreans are into e-books....the number of e-readers does not fully account for the closing of the several bookstores.
Why don't Bangaloreans buy books? It's not because of the existence of 'fantastic' libraries for sure! The City Central libraries are pathetic! It's not because of Ebooks. Then why? three reasons I can think of is:
(1)Books are still not affordable or the book-loving Bangalorean thinks he cannot afford.
(2)Bangaloreans are cheap when it comes to buying books! They would rather spend their money on clothes, eating out, jewels, accessories and what-nots. Or save money to buy their flat or car or 'foreign' vacation.
(3)They prefer buying pirated editions in the 'other' type of book stores.
(4)Or Bangaloreans are buying online such as on Amazon.in, flipkart, etc.
(5)New distractions and new activities engage the hours which would have been devoted to reading 20 years ago...TV, internet, videogames, gym and physical activities, pubs, mall-crawling, social media like facebook & twitter. There is also more money to indulge in hobbies the previous generations could not afford to, such as travelling.
(6)Also many parents these days compel their children to study almost all the time and don't try to get their kids to read storybooks and comics.
If this continues, Bangalore will be nothing but a money-rich culture-poor city. We will have boorish and cock-sure 'software' engineers, et al. strutting around with money in their pockets and air in their skulls.
What I would love for Bangalore is bookstores like Barnes and Noble of USA or Chapters and Indigo of Canada! I would love to have shops with books from all over the world, comfortable corners for booklovers to browse, comfortable furniture for buyers and browsers, artfully arranged books, ambience, silence, knowledgeable salespeople (unlike the salespersons of Sapna who had no clue about authors, books or anything related to books!).
Bookstores are disappearing all over the world. People are buying online, reading e-books or have ceased reading! I really regret this change which seems to be unstoppable.
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