A Gash in the World

"A Gash in the World" is an intellectual mystery set in India and the US. A murder following his lecture at the Asia Society in New York draws Harold Stone, a professor of Indian Studies at Harvard, into an ancient argument involving literature, religion, and politics. His colleague and former student Asha Raman, and journalist Samir Khanna, join Stone in his quest to solve the mystery and resolve the argument-one with a critical relevance to modern times. The novel's wide sweep, shifting perspectives, and taut pace make it a dazzling and kaleidoscopic page-turner about a murder in the name of religion.