Karan Mahajan's third novel The Complex reviewed as Delhi family saga
A murder in a Delhi suburb opens Karan Mahajan's third novel, The Complex, reviewed in The Guardian on 23 September 2026.
The review places the book after Family Planning and The Association of Small Bombs. It describes The Complex as a family saga, meaning a long story that follows one household across years, with Delhi at its heart. The Guardian
The story starts with the killing of Laxman, the patriarch of the Chopra family. His nephew Brij served jail time for the murder. Brij is about to be released when the action begins.
The main location is organised around a single residential compound in the Delhi suburbs. It contains both flats and bungalows. The narrative stays close to the families who live inside its walls.
The time frame runs wider than one release from prison. The book spans roughly fifteen years of Indian family life, from 1980 to the mid-1990s. Asian Review of Books
In print terms, the novel is a substantial hardcover. It is published by Viking and runs to 448 pages. It carries a list price, meaning the publisher's recommended price before any shop discount, of US$30 in the United States market. The Wall Street Journal
Mahajan is listed on his author site as a National Book Award Finalist, meaning he was shortlisted for one of the United States' main literary prizes, and as an Associate Professor at Brown University.
For new readers, this means there is no need to know the earlier books first. Start with the Chopras, the compound and Brij's return. The rest fills in from there.
