HT Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai: Behind the scenes with Ashwin Sanghi

“My research took me to the most bizarre places,” the author said. “I’ve had to visit a morgue. I also had to log into the dark net.”

Author Ashwin Sanghi took the audience behind the scenes of his latest book, Private Delhi, on Friday.

Ashwin Sanghi l speaks during a literature session at DSL Garden on Friday.

The second book in the India-centric Private series, it is a sequel to Private India (2014) and continues to follow the life of fictional private investigator, Santosh Wagh.

The Private series is the brainchild of New York Times best-selling author, James Patterson and Sanghi and Patterson have collaborated on it.

“James has collaborated with many regional authors for the series. The stories are all rooted in places the local authors belong to. For instance, there are Private Sydney and Private LA books as well. I work on the India series,” said Sanghi, speaking at the David Sassoon Library gardens at an HDFC Home Loans literature event held as part of the HT Kala Ghoda Arts Festival.

A psychological thriller, Private Delhi sees protagonist Santosh Wagh fight to prove his innocence after being accused of killing his childhood friend.

“My research took me to the most bizarre places,” the author said. “I’ve had to visit a morgue. I also had to log into the dark net.”

“I’ve read a few others from The Private series and I was very impressed by Ashwin’s plot in the first part. I want to pick his brain to understand how he builds his storylines,” added Ashok Rajadnya, a retired army officer from Colaba.