Ask Penguin

What's wrong with reading to look smart? with Abir Mukherjee

Ask Penguin

Show Notes

Has modern forensics taken away the power of the murder mystery genre? How does a career in corporate finance prepare you to write about a killer? Is narrative voice more important than plot? And is there really such a thing as a reliable narrator?

In this episode of Ask Penguin, Rihanna Dillon sits down with bestselling author and crime fiction favourite Abir Mukherjee to discuss his new Mumbai-set satire The Pinnacle, alongside brilliant book recommendations from Abir and the Penguin team.

Discover all the books mentioned in this episode here

About the book George Abercrombie, a washed-up American heart-throb, hates India, even from the rarified heights of his apartment on the 68th floor of the Pinnacle, Mumbai’s grandest luxury skyscraper. When George wakes from a drunken stupor to find his wife Sweety murdered in their bedroom, he knows he will be the prime suspect. Welcome to the Pinnacle. A place where murder meets luxury and the world’s most privileged depend on the most desperate.

About the author Abir Mukherjee is the bestselling author of the award-winning Wyndham & Banerjee series of crime novels set in 1920s India and the British Book Awards Crime Thriller of the Year 2025 Hunted. His books have been translated into sixteen languages and won various awards including the CWA Dagger for best Historical Novel, the Prix du Polar Européen, and the Wilbur Smith Award for Adventure Writing.

For more information about the National Year of Reading, click here https://goallin.org.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from Ask Penguin

Oct 14, 2026

What can Little Women teach modern boys about sisterhood? How does food become a language of love and grief? How does writing in a third language shape your creative rhythm? And why can finishing a masterpiece feel like a tragedy?

Sep 30, 2026

How do you begin breaking down a 600-page American epic to bring it to the screen? How did Florence Pugh capture the essence of the central character Cathy? How did John Steinbeck’s secret writing journals help the screenwriters? And what should you read next if you loved reading - or watching - East of Eden?

Jul 15, 2026

Can you read a cookbook cover-to-cover like a thriller? Does your reading level predict a longer life? Why is a punk chef’s memoir the ultimate weapon for reluctant readers? And how do we inspire children to read if we don’t have the time to read to them?

Jul 1, 2026

Why do baby puffins prefer to be alone? Why don’t Cuckoo birds raise their own children? Has the decline of birds taken away the music of our landscapes? And what is the simplest way back if we feel disconnected from nature?

Jun 3, 2026

What are the best books get you out of a reading slump? How did Snakes on a Plane inspire a literary sensation? What did James Joyce and Pakistani rap teach one of our debut novelists? And does a writer need to be completely delusional to finish writing a novel?

See all episodes →