R.V. Raman's Blog, page 2

Bringing the traditional murder mystery to India

My recent article on Crimereads:

A Will To Kill – The Start of a New Series

So many of us have grown up on a diet of classic mysteries – be it from the masters like Agatha Christie, Edgar Wallace and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, or from less celebrated writers. There is something endearing about these stories that make us go back and re-read them many decades after they were written. […]

Perils of Being a Writer

It’s a rum thing, being a writer. You never know why strangers smile at you. Especially immediately after they discover that you write fiction. ‘See!’ Your vanity digs an elbow into your ribs. ‘He’s smiling! He appreciates you.’ ‘Nah!’ rumbles the realist in you, peering over its half-moon reading glasses. ‘He’s just indulging you. See […]

Perks and Perils of Being a Writer

It’s a rum thing, being a writer. You never know why strangers smile at you. Especially immediately after they discover that you write fiction. ‘See!’ Your vanity digs an elbow into your ribs. ‘He’s smiling! He appreciates you.’ ‘Nah!’ rumbles the realist in you, peering over its half-moon reading glasses. ‘He’s just indulging you. See […]

When headlines are for hire, greed is inevitable

Continuing with the theme of setting each book in a different sector, the Fraudster Series moves to the media industry in the fourth book. Conspirator, which will hit the shelves in March, begins with a hedonistic party thrown by a media mogul in Coorg. Mingling and conniving away from prying eyes and ears, is an […]

In ourselves we trust

Let me state at the outset that I believe the current uproar about Facebook (FB) and Cambridge Analytica (CA) is justified. Whether it leads to anything substantial or not, a public conversation about how private data is harvested and used was long overdue. Of course, a key reason it has garnered so much attention is […]

When headlines are for hire ...

Curious about how a media house monetises its influence over readers and viewers? Here is a new novel about duplicity in the media industry.

In addition to murders, suspense and detection, Conspirator also deals with fake news, paid news, tailored news in India, and with the abuse of social media for business and political ends.

This book is about institutionalised white-collar crime in the Indian media industry, which leads to murder.

When headlines are for hire, greed is inevitable. So is murder.

A rhyme about FRAUDSTER from a reader

A reader’s perspective, in rhyme form! Pretty nice! A banker, she dies, soon after she has deposed A chairman, he dies, in him trust was reposed A server, it’s hacked, in it untold secrets composed Illicit finance and crime coalesce in a thriller proposed Will all be unravelled as Inspector Ranade disposed? A rollercoaster ride, […]

CONSPIRATOR

When headlines are for hire, greed in inevitable. So is murder.

Coming soon ... A thriller set in the murky world of Indian media; a bewildering world of fake news, paid news and tailored news.

A Wounded Unicorn

As cash crunches strike e-tailers, valuations plummet and down-rounds loom large, the stark reality facing e-commerce unicorns become clear for all to see. Protestations that all is well, and attempts to talk up valuations become less credible by the day. As boardroom conflicts escalate and the day of reckoning fast approaches, a shake-out in the […]