
The quiet pull of the Pune police procedural
From Books and Authors by Hindustan Times - HT Smartcast
March 12, 2026 · 48 min
About this episode
Salil Desai discusses the intricacies of writing murder mysteries set in Pune and the importance of understanding the motivations behind crimes.
"The way I look at it, whydunnit is actually more important than whodunnit. There are only so many permutations and combinations you can think of in terms of whodunnit. It's finite whereas whydunnit is extremely important because what drives the person? I read a lot of news and I really wonder about the depths to which people can fall"- Salil Desai, author, 206 Bones; An Inspector Saralkar Mystery talks to Manjula Narayan about writing successful murder mysteries set in Pune, the biting wit of his main character, using parallel tracks in storytelling and the exacting nature of crime fiction fans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Manjula Narayan
Guest: Salil Desai
Topics covered
- Pune police procedural
- murder mysteries
- crime fiction
- storytelling
- character development
Keywords
- whydunnit
- whodunnit
- crime fiction fans
- parallel storytelling
Mentioned in this episode
Products: 206 Bones, An Inspector Saralkar Mystery
Books & works: 206 Bones, An Inspector Saralkar Mystery
Places: Pune
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