Thunder. A distant clap.
The corridors of Green Tree Apartments are now silent.
A shattered calm.
Madhukumar’s murder.
A heartbeat.
Inspector Rakesh — new, desperate, and haunted — steps in.
Whispers. Footsteps.
The Accused crashes in like a storm, fragments of truth splintering across every shadowed corner.
Observations and an array of inspirations fuel author, Vasundhara’s book. “I have always been drawn to stories that expose the underbelly of society,” says Vasundhara. “I wanted to craft a character who isn’t larger than life but could easily be anyone we know, caught in extraordinary circumstances.” Hence, she chooses a narrative that pulses with a fast pace rather than conventional heroism.
In The Accused, launched in the city last week, Madhukumar’s untimely death sets off a cascade of events: suspicion swiftly turns towards his creditors, while Inspector Rakesh, recently promoted and desperate to validate his newfound credibility, finds himself in a moral dilemma when he discovers that the deceased’s wife, Mira, was once his first love. Simultaneously, the scandalous affair of former actress Pooja Reddy with a superstar, known only as D, seizes the headlines, adding another layer of intrigue to an already convoluted case. As if that were not enough, a high-profile hit-and-run involving a minister’s son further entangles the web, forcing the media to stage a salacious trial that casts Mira and Rakesh as conspirators. “It’s a case where nothing is as it seems,” she says.
Vasundhara is candid about her writing process. “It was my mother’s constant reminders that I promised to finish the book that finally pushed me to complete it,” she says. Her creative journey began in February 2016, originally from the victim’s wife’s perspective, only to be revived during the lockdown. “Being bored out of your mind is sometimes the best antidote to procrastination,” she says.
An actor and model too, her literary influences extend far beyond her own experiences in the film industry. She devours crime thrillers and Nordic Noir with equal fervour, citing favourite authors such as Lucy Foley and Harlan Coben as well as the unparalleled wit of Nora Ephron. "When it comes to crafting my characters, I draw inspiration from the everyday stories I overhear in villages and the subtle humour in life," she says.
The narrative is interwoven with real-world issues: a media landscape ruled by social media and the insidious influence of misinformation, where, as Vasundhara puts it, “people present facts and then form their own judgements.” With Mira’s sudden disappearance and Pooja Reddy’s new venture into true crime podcasting, the stakes are raised even higher. She says, “For me, the victim’s voice came first, so the character took shape before the story. The inspiration came from people who say things like, “My husband is a drunkard, but at least he doesn’t hit me,” or “My husband is a drunkard, but at least he doesn’t cheat on me.” You often hear women trying to find a silver lining in difficult situations, and that struck me.”
Without giving away any spoilers, Vasudhara shares that she has taken a very realistic approach to justice. “The idea that ‘good people always win’ doesn’t always hold true. I wanted to show that justice is not always neat or fair; sometimes, it’s a messy, unresolved enigma,” she concludes.