Decoding the psyche of a murderer

Chital Mehta’s latest book, Chennai Killings, is a brilliantly constructed crime thriller that makes for a spine-chilling read

Reading a good crime thriller is always an adrenaline-pumping experience. However, very few novels have a grip on throughout that journey. Narrating a spine-chilling story of a young girl murdered in broad daylight, Chital Mehta's Chennai Killings is a brilliantly constructed plot that makes for a good read.

Inspired by the sensational 2016 murder at the Nungambakkam Railway Station in Chennai, of a techie named Swathi, Chital decides to delve deeper into the psyche of a murderer. This psychological thriller has an eloquent track that will have you clinching your chair. The author’s language is simple, rid of jargon, and yet enthralling. The book is fast-paced, with Chital giving the story an explosion of emotions, through family bonds and the feeling of loss when someone dear leaves you abruptly.

Chennai Killings is the story of Sandhya, a young college student, who is murdered by a man named Ravi. The protagonist Vikram Bhati, is a police officer who is in charge of the investigation. Vikram has also only recently lost his sister Priya, who was also murdered. A breakthrough in the investigation reveals that both the deaths are connected. And the part when Vikram finds the murderer of both the girls is Ravi, is absolutely mind-boggling.

The author gives an insight into the main characters of her story. “Vikram is a police officer caught between his past and the present, working as he is to crack the murder case. He is usually calm and composed, with a storm inside his head. Ranjan, Sandhya’s father is a quiet person until his daughter’s death. The murder leaves him shaken and his life takes a turn. Ravi, the antagonist, is a victim of circumstances, while we, as part of society, pave way to the growth of monsters. Nevertheless, if you do something bad, you pay for it. Period!” says Chital.

Chital then adds that in her attempt to write a story that allows readers to transport themselves into the situation, she wrote it as a narrative from different characters’ perspective. “Each chapter begins using a different character’s perspective,” she elaborates. “So also, the hardest part for me was to alternate between characters. I had to enter the heads of every character to determine their thoughts and actions.”

It was especially difficult for Chital to portray the antagonist, Ravi’s role in the story. “I had to make Ravi appear evil even as I had to vindicate his actions and elaborate on what pushed him towards it. It was important for me to recognize the layers through which a good person becomes bad. I had to learn more about his past because that’s what turned him into what he became,” she explains.

Chital also talks about battling a range of emotions while penning her characters. “There were days when it was hard for me to go on during the killing scene and the scene where the parents come in the picture. So also, I train myself to step away from the tragedy after I finish writing it. But while writing those sections, their pain becomes my pain. Their tragedy is my loss,” says Chital.

Which character in the book did the author relate to the most? “Ranjan, Sandhya's father,” says Chital. “To me, he is someone who harbours deep emotional feelings for his family.”

The Chennai Killings has all the necessary twists and turns a thriller demands, exploring the lines of obsession, love, marriage, and relationships while speaking about the mentality of a murderer.

The book tries to understand the motivation for a normal human being to resort to murdering another, and in its discovery, keeps its readers hooked to the very last page.