Book Summary and Reviews of Death in the Air by Ram Murali

Book Summary

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.  

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. When the reader first meets Ro, he is taking refuge in Bermuda from a situation at his job. He reveals during a game of Truth or Joke with Alex and Bronya, who are both strangers at the time, that he has never told anyone about his boss's discriminatory behavior, or that he's thinking of settling his complaint at his job (for a large payout) rather than pursuing it. Why do you think Ro felt comfortable revealing this information to strangers? What influence did this conversation have on the events of the novel, if any
2. Many of the characters we see Ro interact with in Bermuda, London, and Samsara are interconnected and move in the same circles. Is this a coincidence or by design? Discuss the significance of these connections and ...