Crimefighters who write on crime

Whether it’s grisly tales of crime from the UK or the badlands of Bihar, the long arm of the law spares none. That’s what the novels penned by

Clare Mackintosh

, author of several whodunnits, highlight. As do real life incidents that

Amit Lodha

, currently posted with the BSF, has written in a book on his experiences as a police officer in Bihar.

At the

Times

Litfest on Saturday, the session, ‘Cop Tales: Inside a Criminal’s Mind’, provided an insight into how a cop’s mind works, whether that’s after spending 12 years in the British police force, like Mackintosh, or serving in the IPS for 14 years, like Lodha has. As Mackintosh said, while her stories are fictional, the inspiration comes from real life.

For Lodha, writing the book Bihar Diaries came easy since he just dipped into his case files. Lodha said he had never thought of writing fiction as his own life experiences had been so fascinating. From the petty criminal “Horlicks” he once arrested to nabbing other dreaded gangsters, he had a non-fiction repertoire that provided enough fodder for the book.