A Killer Among Us is a whodunit with a unique setting and different treatment. In an interview with our Managing Editor, Indrani Ganguly, Ushasi opens up about writing this book and more.
Indrani: Hello, Ushasi! Congratulations on the publication of your second novel, A Killer Among Us! Your debut book, Kathputli, was a social drama. What made you decide to write a thriller this time?
Ushasi: Thank you very much! I hadn’t really started out with that idea. I initially envisioned another social drama, but this time dealing with different families in an apartment complex, all piled on top of one another, stepping on each other’s toes. But as I began to write I realized that a murder was imminent! Jokes apart, I love thrillers and thought a dramatic death would be a great catalyst for the characters to drop their masks; for the façade of polite neighbourliness to unravel. The idea of a thriller evolved from there.
Indrani: The idea of a murder in a residential complex, the body found in the elevator, multiple suspects―this is the perfect and very relatable plot idea. What made you come up with this?
Ushasi: I grew up in an independent house. Though one has more space and privacy, it is a lonely kind of existence for a child. As an adult, I would listen to my husband’s tales of life in a building society, each story stranger and more dramatic than the next. I was deeply envious, but once we moved to an apartment complex ourselves I also realized that the buildings, packing in so many people in one place was a vast fund of interwoven stories just waiting to be told.
I have lived in three different apartment complexes in the last 17 years. I realized that it would be a perfect location for a murder mystery – a vast pool of suspects and motives; and the elevator, what better scene of a crime? It would be difficult to trace the body back to the murderer. (Don’t try this at home, please!)
Indrani: A Killer Among Us is not just a whodunnit. It has multiple themes like urban loneliness, prejudice against single career women, growing distances between married couples, people taking cheap thrills in gossip. Could you elaborate?
Ushasi: Yes, as I mentioned before, I wouldn’t say that AKAU is simply a murder mystery. It is also a book about people. The novel describes the different lives and loves and problems people of roughly the same background could encounter. The book has three protagonists; one is a young, single journalist – Ira Dutta – who has rented a flat in Panorama apartments much to the whispers of disapproval from some of her neighbours. Another is Nandana Roy, an older stay-at-home mother, who is going through an early-onset mid-life crisis; there is no spark in her marriage, and her children are growing up and needing her less. She realizes that she must learn to live for herself again, but doesn’t know-how. The third is a septuagenarian – Mrs. Ghoshal, who has ruled her household with an iron fist all her life; but now is left with failing memory and aching bones.
And with so much pain and disappointment brewing in one place among hundreds of people, there will always be someone who lashes out, well outside the bounds of what is socially acceptable.
Indrani: The voice of the murdered man which comes at the end of each part is a unique style of narration. What made you think of it?
Ushasi: It came from a genuine difficulty I was having with the storytelling. With all the prevarications of the other characters, I needed one voice that told the absolute truth, and I didn’t want an omniscient narrator elbowing her way into the narrative and spoiling the flow. So, I thought of letting the murdered man have a say at the end of each part. I enjoy experimenting with the format of a story. I did so in my first book as well.
Indrani: How did you think of so many characters, each with their quirks yet highly relatable?
Ushasi: Like all writers, I enjoy studying human nature. In my four decades on Earth, I have sometimes even met characters who are so colourful they could have walked straight out of a Dickens novel. If I am not terribly aggravated by them, I indulge their quirks with interest. All my characters are products of this hobby, bits of myself and, (I hasten to add) my imagination.
Indrani: How was the journey from submitting the manuscript to the editing to the cover designing to finally the publication been?
Ushasi: Writing a book, it is said, is the easiest part. Getting it published is where you have to exercise all your grit and determination. This held true for my first book, Kathputli, and I was expecting a similar struggle for AKAU.
I was lucky this time round, however, when Readomania accepted my manuscript without too much delay. Their email correspondence was consistently polite and responsive, in a world where ghosting is increasingly the norm. The editor, Indrani Ganguly was wonderful to work with. She has made it a better book for sure! And the cover art by Sourish Mitra, is perfect for the book.
Indrani: What is that one takeaway that you expect the readers to take from AKAU, considering that it is ‘social thriller’?
Ushasi: I would like people to understand that everyone has a story. Even those you dismiss and sneer at as uninteresting, actually have an internal life that would surprise you. Those you loathe for being different are more like you than you think. Those you love and admire may have hidden poisons that they take great care to mask.
Indrani: This might be tricky, yet I will take a chance. Who is your most favourite character in AKAU?
Ushasi: Haha. I do not have favourites among my children. But the character most fun to write was Mrs. Ghoshal.
Indrani: What kind of research went into writing AKAU, considering you have dealt with some physical as well as mental conditions and poisons?
Ushasi: I would love to say I had a panel of experts working with me on this book. Unfortunately, I am a starving writer and take help from what resources I can. For veracity in the journalist character, I turned to a very close journalist friend of mine. To iron out some doubts I had on the workings of the police, I approached an older friend, who was kind enough to answer specific questions, though we hadn’t spoken in a while. For the rest, there was my general knowledge and our eternal friend, Google.
Indrani: Finally, what next? Do you think you have found your calling in thrillers?
Ushasi: I think I cannot stay faithful to any one genre for long. I have tried my hand at two different kinds of writing and have now begun to write a book of children’s stories for 6- to 8-year olds. Thrillers are the devil to write, so I might take a break before attempting another one. I also need time to think of other ways to kill people…I used up all my ideas in this one for now.
Ushasi's book, A Killer Among Us is now available on Kindle. It will be available in stores soon.
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