Central Asian Crime

[DTK Molise]

I currently have connections to Kabul, Afghanistan in that I live and work here. I am starting to write crime fiction short stories as well as novel based around the situation out here as well as posting true crime stories on my blog.

I am blogging here to see if my focus interests readers and writers? I also wanted to ask if anyone knows of any writer doing anything similar or any noir/crime fiction that focuses on the Central Asia?  Anyone able to shine a light on any other authors?  Thanks. 

DTK Molise. 

[Laura Root]

Michael Walker has written a few books - the Shadow Walker and the Outcast, set in Mongolia. Vikas Swarup (author of the book Q & A, that Slumdog Millionaire is based on) has written a crime novel called 6 suspects set in India.

[BrianLindenmuth]

India has a decades long thriving pulp fiction industry. Blaft is bringing some of it to Anglophone reading audiences.

http://www.blaft.com/

They are bringing the Vimal books out. I also wrote an brief essay on Asian crime fiction

http://www.spinetinglermag.com/2010/04/01/asian-crime-fiction-the-c...

[K Barrett]

Eliot Patison's series is set in Tibet, but branches out from there into the neighboring -istans, one deals with the silk road, one with potential missles from neighboring India and one dealing with oil exploration, most deal with the invasion/resistance/subjugation of these areas by teh Han Chinese. Of course there's Michner's book (Caravans) and the remake of 'Flight of the Phoenix' was set in the Gobi. I'm blanking on one by a decent author (not that these others aren't decent, just that I'm amazed I've forgotten his name) regarding the first Afghan war, warlords and oil companies.. Dan Fesperman? That may be right. Most of what I've read set in this region are thrillers, not crime fiction. A recent thriller is The Good Son by Michael Gruber, which isn't crime fiction per se but I enjoyed his take on - well - everything.

To echo what others have said, looks like the field is open.

[Caroline Trippe]

I'm just putting in my 2 cents here , from a reader's perspective. Sounds like a great idea to me!

Haven't read many mysteries set in contemporary Asia (I did read some in a very good series that were set in Japan, with a part Japanese part American heroine, though I forget the author and titles, alas) ---certainly none in the area you mention, but it seems to me that editors and readers are always open to something new, especially from a writer skilled enough to make a foreign country and its people--their speech and habits-- come to life.

One of the things I enjoy most when I read a crime novel/mystery (or any novel, for that matter) is the ambiance--the description of place, customs, people, dialect. And if you have come up with scenarios that relate to contemporary issues and events, so much the better--I think it would be very interesting to a lot of readers. Never underestimate the power of place in any fiction---no matter where it is, if it's evoked brilliantly, you can win over even a reluctant reader! Though most mystery readers are ALWAYS on the prowl for a new good read!

[DTK Molise]

I would just like to thank everyone that has responded. It has been very interesting to see how people have dealt with my blog post and I would like to thank those who have encouraged me or provided advice.

I am aware that a lot of the fiction that is set in the region (especially Afghanistan) are likely to be either thrillers with a military bent such as Fesperman or Forsythe.

My idea is to move away from this limited focus and to expand the range and scope. Now to work!

[K Barrett]

What I have found interesting is women's power in that society and I'd be interested in finding out more about the give and take. In Gruber's book a woman is saved from trial & torture by the village women calling out from their homes, citing proper Islamic law, shaming the men and stopping the trial, but they can only assert that power once before the men ignore them or worse. In Zoe Ferrari's book (Finding Nouf), which is set in Saudi Arabia so not in central Asia per se, women figure out ways to get around with proper male companionship, and even - maybe this is too far fetched - one character rides a jetski wearing proper attire. But that's not really what I'm looking for. VS Naipaul in his book 'A Bend In the River' talks about his hero's family house in Africa, a walled compound that houses the family and the servants, and in some ways the family is less free than the servants. That sort of 'politics' I find very interesting and a comment on human nature. Here you think the servants are meek, groveling and scraping in front of their employer when instead they run the place. In Fesperman's book a woman risks her father's wrath by delivering a clue to Fesperman's hero, not that her father would really want to correct his daughter - they've both been educated in Europe after all, just that society demands it, and sometimes the society is defined by the very women it supresses. Layer upon layer...

So, yes, get to work!

[I. J. Parker]

I write a series set in an Asian country during the eleventh century. I would recommend going to non-fiction sources. You cannot trust authors, who may not have researched properly, or who may have their own agenda. I have found that much depends on the rank/education of the family the woman belongs to. And the greater freedom enjoyed by the peasant/servant class doesn't necessarily mean greater safety from cruel repression.

[K Barrett]

What? Do you think I'm such a twit that I can't tell if someone has their own agenda?

[I. J. Parker]

I didn't notice any non-fiction sources in you comment. What was I to think?