Qatar will take another step to establish itself on the literary stage with tales of crime and crookedness in a book conceived by two former residents and featuring current Doha-ites among a regional cast of crime writers.

Now, let’s be clear, we’re not talking about real crimes, but rather the type many frustrated writers conjure in their heads day in and day out, as they scrabble for plots with twists and turns followed by triumphs and justice. Living in Doha, this was a scenario Michael Lynes and Alex Shaw, themselves both successful authors and members of the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA), became all too aware of as they got to know their fellow scribes.

To highlight the crime writing talent in the region, they decided to put together a book – the tentatively titled Arabian Noir, a short story crime anthology – from the birthplace of storytelling – the Middle East.

The anthology – will be a first, not just in the region but globally, to be produced by members of a CWA Chapter and it will be showcased at The Emirates Literature Festival in Dubai in 2024.

Alex and Michael are long-time admirers of the Middle East, previously based in Doha and now in Dubai, and keen to support and promote writing in the region.

Michael is a historical crime author, Emirates Literature Festival prize winner, and CWA Gulf Chapter convenor, while Alex is the best-selling author of the Jack Tate, Aidan Snow and Sophie Racine thrillers and a member of The International Thriller Writers organisation and the CWA.

Both were in Doha as, what they term, ‘trailing spouses’ while their wives worked full-time. Alex says: “I was writing in my spare time (in-between the school runs and shopping). Whilst I was in Doha, I secured a publishing contract with HarperCollins to republish my existing thriller series and wrote my shortlisted bestseller Total Blackout. When the Jaipur Literary Festival Doha was staged in 2019, I was honoured to be a panellist.

“On my first meeting with Michael, we discussed what we could do to push crime and thriller writing in the Gulf and publishing an anthology of stories written by those based in the region, seemed to be a good way to do so.”

Michael continues: “I met Alex through the Crime Writers’ Association, of which we are both members of the Gulf chapter. He had the idea to put together an anthology in early 2023 and we’ve been hard at work putting it together since then.”

The anthology has taken around six months to curate and edit and, including Alex and Michael, features 12 writers who are either formerly or currently based in the region. The Doha contributors are Greig Parker and Mohana Rajakumar, both self-published authors.

Grieg told us: “My story is about an old man returning to Qatar to reclaim a pearl necklace he won in an illegal card game 55 years earlier, when he was a young merchant seaman. “I wrote a lot of technical and academic literature during my career as an archaeologist, which is why I use the pen name S.G. Parker to distinguish my creative writing from my academic publications. It was only after moving to Qatar about eight years ago that I fell in love with writing fiction. Since then, I have been focused on learning the craft.

“I write from a desire to understand how other people understand and experience the world. Inspiration for particular stories often comes from small incidents I witness or hear about, incidents that make me wonder ‘what if…?’ For example, my story Jack in the Box is inspired by my late uncle, who, like the main character, visited Qatar when he was a young merchant seaman in the 1960s – although, I hasten to add, he never took part in an illegal card game! Sadly, he never got the chance to visit the country again in later life, despite his wish to.

“I am in Qatar because my wife is a professor at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar. We moved from the UK in 2014 and love life here.” Mohana has lived in Doha for 18 years and is currently the director of a film lab she founded for teen girls, called Shorts by Shorties. She previously served as a professor of writing and taught history as a schoolteacher. She has written several novels.

“I’ve been writing for 20-plus years if you count grad school; longer if you count short stories penned in childhood,” she says. “I love telling stories in unique settings with diverse characters that readers might not otherwise get a chance to meet/know.”

Her contribution to the anthology tells of Maryam and Ali, a married couple – she a journalist, he a criminal investigator – who disagree about the real cause of death in a recent murder. They are characters from a crime novel series Mohana has written and adapted into a feature film script.

To quote the book blurb: “Through crowded souqs to the shores of countries far away, readers will uncover hidden secrets and untold truths while painting their own vivid pictures of the crimes. Offering nuanced portrayals of people, traditions and differing landscapes, readers will meet detectives on the hunt, amateur sleuths navigating knotty crimes and ordinary people pursuing extraordinary paths in the name of justice.”

We’ll let you know where the book will be available as soon as we hear. We can’t wait! ✤