Murders in the Ivory Tower (Paperback or Softback)

Two crime-fighting South-Asian cousins, Leela and Meena Rao are back on the scene of multiple killings in this compelling murder mystery by Kamakshi Murti, author of Murders Most Matronly. The cousins' ambition is to emulate Christie's Jane Marple - in this latest story, they become embroiled in a series of gruesome homicides.

After a bloody discovery at the prestigious Anderson College of star quarterback Sean O'Flaherty, staff and students are drawn into the lives of drug-consumed, Ivy League collegians. When a second body is found, that of a popular Zimbabwean TA in the African Studies department, the cousins must establish how and why these two students have become inextricably linked. As more killings come to light, they seem to point towards radicalism, but are they as straightforward as they seem or is someone trying to distract from the real motive?

Faced with a surfeit of suspects, will Leela and Meena be able to obtain justice for the heinous crimes and reveal the truth?

Kamakshi Pappu Murti is a professor of German Studies. When she retired a decade ago, she turned her hand to fictional writing. Murders Most Matronly (2017) introduced Leela and Meena Rao, two elderly South Asian women whose ambition is to emulate Christie's Jane Marple. Murders in the Ivory Tower brings Leela and Meena to the scene of multiple crimes.Murti has also written children's books, the first of which - Lalli's Window - was published in 2017 by Austin Macauley in Great Britain. Her scholarly writing is devoted to multi-cultural issues, as well as gender studies. Monographs include India: The Seductive and Seduced 'Other' of German Orientalism (2000) and To Veil or not to Veil: Europe's Shape-shifting 'Other' (2012). Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.Murti's collection of short stories, Bandilanka's Forgotten Lives, is scheduled to be published this year by Leadstart in India.Murti is presently working on a series about two teens, Yasemin and Nirmala, who navigate peer pressure, social media, and their own physical disabilities.