Surender Mohan Pathak (SMP):

“See, there are not many differences in the stories. It could be in France or England. There is a murder. There are six suspects. There is the one that is the central character who investigates and then by method of elimination, we have to find out who is the murderer. This is the basic plot of every story. Then there are permutations and combinations that are different. For example, a set of characters might be different. The ending could be spectacular. Some books have very immediate takeoff while others have slow takeoff. I prefer dialogue over description while other [writers] might describe better and have lesser dialogue...

Interviewer:

“You're saying there are not very many differences between the books. But if I asked if you have favorite, which would you pick?”

SMP:

“Saying that one particular book is better than the other one would be accepting that you’re not always writing well. I cannot have that… I don’t play favorites.”

Interviewer, pressing:

“But what might be a favorite of yours. I know they are like your children and all our children are equal but some are special...”

SMP, without hesitation:

“65 Lakh Heist. It is very famous. And Colaba Conspiracy received good acclaim.”

Interviewer:

“Do you ever work with other people in writing your books, for example co-authoring or writing as a team?”

SMP:

“No, no child can have can have two fathers. Likewise, no book can be written by two authors.”