Joe Chacko

Joe Chacko is a doctor and writer. He was born in Cochin, India, then moved to the UK after graduating.

Having spent twenty odd years as a hospital doctor in Scotland, he decided it was time to change tack.

His wife coninced him to enter a writing competition. The pitch took him to the final stage where he got to present an as-yet unwritten novel to a literary festival audience of hard-core crime fiction fans and a panel of scary literary agents and publishers. The story involved an upright Indian police inspector in charge of a Unit dealing with minor crimes. There were drones in it. And a rather fierce Indian goddess. It was a little bit left field. He remembers the panel looked worried.

He didn't win (quelle surprise) but he was hooked. There could be no turning back.

He started writing crime fiction and mysteries because he thought it looked simple. After two novels and over a hundred rejections from conventional publishers, it became clear it was anything but.

He signed up for an online writing course and completed The Tender Coconut Tamasha in between shifts in the Intensive Care Unit during the first wave of the COVID pandemic.

He's currently at work on the next instalment of the Bangalore Civil Nuisance Unit as well as a narrative non-fiction work on lessons for living from a lifetime dealing with pain and death. It's not as bad as it sounds, promise.

Learn more at his website or on social media.