KOCHI: 'The Sleuths' begins with an ominous phone call made on a rainy night. Sixteen-year-old Rose’s life changes irrevocably that night. The protagonist, along with her friends, is on a quest to resolve the mysteries surrounding her parent’s death. This is the premise of the novel by 12-year-old Janaki R Menon, possibly the youngest crime-thriller author.
When Janaki’s father asked her to pen down stories to reduce her screen time, no one thought it would flourish into a novel. “At first, I intended to write mysteries, but somehow, the plot transcended into a crime thriller,” says the young author, who is a Class VII student in Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir, Elamakkara. Janaki used to write poetry before she stepped into the world of fiction.
“I intended to compile and print her short stories as a birthday gift for her,” says Renjith S R, Janaki’s father. “Teachers have always supported Janaki. In Class V, her class teacher gifted her a pen and a diary when she caught a whiff of Janaki’s writing skills,” he adds. The young writer was always a voracious reader. She started her reading journey with the children’s fantasy series by Elisabetta Dami.
Owing to the pandemic, ‘The Sleuths’ was launched at a Zoom event by C A Venugopal C Govind, Chairman of Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Kochi Kendra. The book was published by Dream Bookbindery.