A.A. Dhand’s new crime fiction novel, Streets of Darkness, is cut with a distinctly urbane edge: one that champions the multicultural virtue at a time when it once again seems dark and grim. Set on the brooding streets of Bradford, we follow Sikh Detective Harry Virdee as he becomes embroiled in the investigation of a high-profile murder at high risk to the rocky racial relations of his home city: “the beginning shows Detective Harry running through Leicester Park,” Dhand told us, “and he comes across the crucified body of Shakeel Ahmed, the day before a hotly contested by-election between himself and the MP for Bradford West. When Harry calls this in, his boss tells him it’s the ex-leader of the BNP, Lucas Dwight, who’s responsible and tasks Harry with tracking down Dwight before the beginning of the Bradford Mela – the biggest Asian festival in England. The city has a history of instability and the crime going unresolved will likely result in social havoc. Identity is at the heart of my book. A lot of people today are fighting for their nation without even knowing what it means; you’ve got disconnected youths demonstrating on the streets with Union Jacks when they don’t fully understand. Harry knows. He is both Asian and a patriot. He cares about what Britain represents which is democracy, tolerance and a space for integration.”
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In this sense, Dhand’s raw relationship with his many oddball characters is as striking as his progressive message: “there are as many white English characters in the novel as there are Asians, and none of them are predictable. For example, you end up liking the bigoted arch enemy of the narrative by the end. Saima, Virdee’s Muslim wife in the story, is a character I’m particularly proud of. She is so fiercely vibrant and dispels the derogatory images of Muslim women in the media: she’s got Yorkshire charm and her quirky religious rituals, and defends passionately her right to be married to Harry.” Dhand then does not just write to superficially preach. His sustained and meticulous commitment to the creating process demonstrates a real commitment to storytelling and his favored tradition of detective fiction: it took the witty renegade a period of 10 years to perfect “a gripping crime fiction novel that cracked the industry, achieving what no other Asian writer could.” The signature of a timeless, literary writer Dhand finally shows us is the sheer clarity of their vision: ‘There was an air of peacefulness. Simpler times.’ he writes in an organic echoing of the seminal crime novels of old, “simpler because they hadn’t been corrupted by the absurdity of life, by the complexity of having brown skin in a western land.’ One of the genre’s defining themes is the slighted detective hero who longs for a pre-industrial past, and here Dhand expertly works in a post-colonial context, through instilling a sense of nostalgia for communal harmony: "I wanted to write a book that flew in the face of the social standard" he aptly added, "one that didn't just talk about equality, but actually embodied it. I have had several offers from independent publishers before Penguin Random House for Streets of Darkness and I’m glad I waited. It is a powerful platform. Asian people – who are of course just people - can now immediately relate to the themes they’re reading, ones usually reserved for non-fiction and sociology: interfaith marriages, racism, and the struggles of a mixed heritage identity. I am hope to turn an entire generation of Asians onto the thrill of crime fiction and hopefully through this also stoke their love of reading”.
Q. How did you avoid the age-old publishers’ trap of being ‘Too Asian’ or ‘Not Asian Enough’?
A. Streets of Darkness is a book of our times and so is culturally diverse. I think historically Asian writers have produced books which are completely Asian and not quite reflective of the country’s current zeitgeist.
Q. What have been some of your literary influences?
A. I grew up on mysteries such as Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and Secret Seven, later moving to writers like Stephen King. I loved the power of these books; their ability to keep me on the edge of my seat.
Q. Are there Parallels in your writing between Detective Harry and Ex-BNP Leader Lucas Dwight, and A Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and his arch enemy Moriarty?
A. Maybe, but it’s always interesting to have two main characters who are so vastly opposed in their upbringings and beliefs and then bottleneck them to work alongside each other. The time frame of the novel is 10 hours so all the while you’re wondering ‘will they turn on each other, will they be able to help each other?’ the clock is also ticking. If you put as much pressure on your characters to the point where you are about to break them, you’ll get the most out of them.
Q. Crime Fiction often has a convoluted web of crime: how exactly does your novel engage this theme?
A. On the face of it there’s been a racist murder, but everyone has their own unique motivations: you‘ve got a young pretender who wants revenge, who in turn enlists the help of a menacing henchman, who despite being very frightening also evokes your sympathy by the end. Harry’s very much invested in the case because he needs to save his job. Every chapter reveals a turn and subverts another expectation. This book has more twists than a Jalebi…
Q. Tell us more about your journey to high profile success?
A. Yes, I landed a big deal with Transworld – the same publishers to pick up big names such as Lee Child and Dan Brown - and they were just the sort of people I’d been hoping for. It took me many years to draft the book and get the multiple, parallel storylines to run alongside each other perfectly. With a lot of hard work, they fused together to give a strong world-ending finale.
Q. What was the most difficult part in writing the book?
A. Avoiding clichés. I worked diligently to iron these out. I was getting frustrated only seeing Asian caricatures in the media: the pharmacist, the corner shop keeper, the taxi driver. I wanted a lead that could be cool, edgy and smart and who represented a new – more genuine - breed of our generation.
Q. Finally, do you have any other awards you’re particularly proud of?
A. Streets of Darkness is currently in the early stages of being produced for TV. I was also the recipient of the Literary Consulting Inaugural Scriptwriting Prize in 2006.
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