While it reveals the beauty of the rural, coastal south where it is set, its subject is the pathos, injustices and ironies of Indian life.

[4] Indira Gandhi was the serving Prime Minister of India when she was assassinated; Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister in 1984, and left office following his party's defeat in the 1989 general election.

The stories take place in the fictitious town of Kittur in Karnataka, Southwest India.

It was originally modeled on Adiga's hometown of Mangalore but was substantially changed to make room for more diverse plots and characters.

The servant who is tempted to run away with his master's money, the village hick sent to town, Nepali guards and a hit-and-run accident by a rich man, which is subsequently covered up by corrupt policemen, all appear in Between the Assassinations as well as in The White Tiger