SHARJAH, UAE- Crime fiction is moving beyond conventional detectives and familiar settings, with writers introducing unconventional protagonists and exploring new approaches to murder mysteries, authors Vaseem Khan and David Fennell told audiences at the 45th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2026).
Moderated by journalist and author Elizabeth S. Moore, the session, ‘Who Gets to Solve the Crime? The Detective Beyond the Old Template’, explored how crime writers develop their characters, use settings to build suspense and challenge established conventions of the genre.
Khan, the British author of Midnight at Malabar House (2020), Inspector Chopra and the Million-Dollar Motor Car (2018) and Quantum of Menace (2025), discussed his decision to introduce an unconventional protagonist in Inspector Persis Wadia, India’s first fictional female police detective, working in post-independence Bombay.
“I had originally written Persis as a man in my first draft, which I did not like very much,” he said. “I thought it would be far more interesting to have a woman in 1950s India in the police service, because it creates context and conflict in the story.”
David Fennell
Khan’s decision placed a female detective in a traditionally male-dominated profession, allowing him to explore the social and institutional challenges she encounters while investigating crimes.
Fennell, the Belfast-born author of All Killers Aboard (2026), emphasised the importance of setting in shaping a crime narrative, drawing inspiration from the atmospheric qualities of Gothic literature.
“I’ve been inspired by themes of gothic literature, where the setting takes a crucial role in the narrative. In all of my work, the setting is a character in itself,” he said.
The discussion highlighted how crime writers continue to experiment with protagonists and settings, finding fresh approaches to suspense while challenging readers to engage with increasingly complex mysteries.
Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority, the 45th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2026) runs from November 4 to 15 at Expo Centre Sharjah under the theme ‘Made of Stories’, with the Sultanate of Oman as Guest of Honour. The fair brings together 3,212 publishers and exhibitors from 126 countries, showcasing more than 1.7 million titles. Its programme features 1,500 cultural, creative and artistic events, with 106 guests from 25 countries.
