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A Novel
by Ram Murali
The White Lotus meets Knives Out meets Crazy Rich Asians in this devilishly entertaining debut novel: both a sophisticated locked-room mystery in the tradition of Agatha Christie, and a provocative literary whodunit for the twenty-first century.
Ro Krishna is the American son of Indian parents, educated at the finest institutions, equally at home in London's poshest clubs and on the squash court, but unmoored after he is dramatically forced to leave a high-profile job under mysterious circumstances. He decides it's time to check in for some much-needed R&R at Samsara, a world-class spa for the global cosmopolitan elite nestled in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas. A person could be spiritually reborn in a place like this. Even a very rich person.
But a person—or several—could also die there. Samsara is the Sanskrit word for the karmic cycle of death and rebirth, after all. And as it turns out, the colorful cast of characters Ro meets—including a misanthropic politician; an American movie star preparing for his Bollywood crossover debut; a beautiful heiress to a family jewel fortune that barely survived Partition; and a bumbling white yogi inexplicably there to teach meditation—harbors a murderer among them. Maybe more than one.
As the death toll rises, Ro, a lawyer by training and a sleuth by circumstance, becomes embroiled in a vicious world under a gilded surface, where nothing is quite what it seems ... including Ro himself. Death in the Air is a brilliant, teasing mystery from a remarkable new talent.
"A fascinating genre mashup for the discerning—and reflective—mystery reader." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"The ending, while juicy, doesn't completely satisfy, but there's enough originality and atmosphere on offer to keep readers on tenterhooks for Murali's sophomore effort. This is a nerve-jangling good time." —Publishers Weekly
"Glamorous, gripping, absolutely heaps of fun. I loved this." —Lucy Foley, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List and The Paris Apartment
"A stunning, sophisticated, scalpel-sharp murder mystery. Powerful, fun, and hugely rewarding. Immensely impressive." —Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End and All the Colors of the Dark
"Unexpected delights await on every page of Ram Murali's impressive and captivating debut. Crisp as a gin and tonic and delightfully wicked, this smart, smart novel delivers a sophisticated, subversive murder mystery set in the highest stratosphere of the international idle rich. I had to force myself not to binge it in one night so I could savor it like the rare and exquisite meal that it is." —Kevin Kwan, New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians
This information about Death in the Air was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ram Murali was born in New York, NY in 1978. After beginning his career as a lawyer in private practice in London and Paris, he worked for many years across all aspects of film and television development, production and distribution. Death in the Air is his first novel.
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