Crime literature creates dominance and mental engagement for the reader / The mysterious and ambiguous narrative of the novel «The Ambiguity of the Mafia»

IBNA news service for provinces: He developed a great interest in writing from the age of twelve and focused on watching movies. His favorite genre was crime. Rakan Daghari, born in 1378 (1999) in Susangerd, recently won the award for the best Arabic book of the year 1404 (2025) from the Mashgh publishing house in Iran for his novel ‘The Ambiguity of the Mafia’.

Daghari spoke about choosing the crime genre for his novel ‘The Ambiguity of the Mafia’: ‘The Ambiguity of the Mafia,’ or ‘Ghomouz al-Mafia’ [in Arabic], was created from what was in my mind. I decided to use my interest in the crime genre. From the beginning of writing this work, I was sure that due to its ambiguous and mysterious narrative, it would attract more readers in Khuzestan.’

He considered one of the most important moments in any crime story to be the moment of discovering the killer’s identity and uncovering the truth, adding: ‘One of the crucial moments in a crime story is uncovering the truth of what happened. In every crime story, there is a detective who follows the clues from the very beginning of becoming aware of the incident so that in the end they can execute justice and expose the truth.’

He cited watching crime films and series as the main reason he became a writer, adding: ‘My interest in writing developed through watching crime films. I have always followed crime works because this genre challenges the reader’s or viewer’s mind more than others. I am in love with crime literature because the story is about discovering and moving from the darkness of ignorance to the light of awareness. For example, when reading a crime novel, the reader is eager to finish the story as quickly as possible to find out who the killer is or what their fate will be, and this genre is always full of excitement.’

He continued: ‘Every person has an interest in their specific genre and style. For instance, some lean more towards mystery or fantasy genres. I personally believe that the crime genre stimulates curiosity in the audience more than other genres and creates a kind of dominance and mental engagement for the reader.’

This Khuzestani author stated that most of his upcoming books are in Persian, expressing: ‘Both Persian and Arabic languages are a source of pride for me, and it doesn’t matter which language my works are written in; what matters is being Iranian, which I am proud of. My original idea was to publish one work in my local language. As I mentioned, all my other writings are in Persian.’

Daghari said: ‘Arabic books published in the country mainly hold the first place in Khuzestan province, because a large portion of Iran’s Arabic speakers live in this province, and it can be said that about 80 percent of Iran’s Arabic books, especially the best works, are welcomed in Khuzestan.’

In response to the question whether his previous book ‘The Madness of Love’ has a crime story or not? He explained: ‘I used the romance genre in the story ‘The Madness of Love.’ Although my interest lies in crime stories, I try to create lasting works in other genres such as drama, romance, crime, social, comedy, and more.’