Four killers and a ‘criminal’ mind

If you like mind games, then you may want to put Incognito on your reading list. There are no devious criminal plots, no vengeful psychopaths or detectives. Instead, the protagonist is introduced to us as an unlikely 75-year-old called Anjali. It turns out Anjali knows of four murders that were committed, then goes ahead to admit this guilty secret to her doctor. And so starts the story.

Behavioural therapist, journalist and first-time author Lata Gwalani was in the city on Monday to launch her book. “I wanted to write a book about emotions,” she says, at the event at Landmark. “And the four lead women characters in Incognito (Anjali’s friends) have reached a point where their emotions are out of control.”

Despite the psychological-thriller genre of the book, Lata admits that she has never been a fan of dark fiction or TV crime shows for that matter.”I guess I just read a lot into the way people behave,” she explains about  how the characters came to life. “My calendar is always full with training programmes and workshops, so I’m constantly meeting all kinds of people.”

In fact, the author took a good eight months off from her schedule to pen the novel. She goes on, “A lot of the time when meeting people, I end up extending situations and making movies in my mind.” Off the bat, she has five plots ready to put down on paper as we speak. “I just have this ‘need’ to write,” Lata emphasises. It is little wonder that alongside a heavy travel schedule for her book tour, she also manages to dabble in poetry and stay an active blogger. “I’m already working on my next book,” she reveals. “It’s a compilation of short stories on issues of real women survivors.”

Given that all her leading characters in both books are women, one wonders whether this is her target audience. “Not at all,” the author responds quickly. “Incognito is for everyone, and there’s actually a moral at the end of it,” she adds. “I’d say the book is for anybody who is seeking a sense of purpose or meaning in their lives.”

But how can a tale of murder(s) narrated by an anxious 75-year-old end with a goodwill message? Lata pauses for a moment, “I never said there were any dead bodies found.” She goes on, treading carefully, “I never even said that she was 75 – she (Anjali) did.” Should a slow chill spread up your spine at this point, it is perfectly normal. Did she just play a mind game on us?