“I have grown a lot as a human through my interactions with all things Indian.”
months and pulped after three years, and if you’re lucky, you might find it in an antiquarian shop. The bookshops of Bengaluru are absolutely amazing—even if one asks for very obscure titles, they’ll either have it or know how to get it for you. But when I started living here, I noticed that there were no detective novels set in Bengaluru, at least not in English. So, I thought that I may as well write some Bengaluru mysteries myself. After all, I’m Swedish and crime fiction is one of the biggest industries in Sweden.
What was your first impression of India?
Extremely chaotic, disorganised, and difficult to understand—especially as I come from a highly organised country like Sweden, where buses run like clockwork and everything is clearly signposted. But getting to understand India was an interesting challenge. Simply figuring out the complexity of Indian culinary art took years because I’m from a country where food traditionally means meat