Former Manhattan public defender Yosha Gunasekera convincingly takes to the page with The Midnight Taxi, her authorial debut. At 28, Siriwathi Perera is a New York City cab driver, more by circumstance than choice. Her immigrant father couldn't afford to buy a coveted taxi medallion, so he leased one instead. His heart disease, however, kept him from the wheel, meaning Siri and her older brother had to cover his shifts. Alas, "Thathi never got better, my brother died, and we were trapped in a ten-year lease. It all fell on me," Siri admits. Family debts, disappointments, expectations loom large.
"My true crime podcasts are a lifeline," Siri confesses about the daily driving tedium. "I spend most of my time thinking about murder." Thinking becomes shocking reality late one night when the fare she picked up has somehow been stabbed dead in the backseat by the time they arrive at Kennedy Airport. Suddenly Siri is the prime suspect for murder. Serendipitously, she has the business card for criminal defense lawyer Amaya Fernando, whom she'd ferried earlier that night.
Siri and Amaya just need to line up the clues in time to prove Siri's innocence. Gunasekera's plotting proves notably clever, and she writes with straightforward ease, relaying the step-by-step process of Siri and Amaya's fast-moving investigation as they crisscross the boroughs. The Sri Lankan American background she shares with her protagonists adds cultural and sociopolitical enhancements to her narrative, broadening the scope beyond the usual whodunit. Oh, and to ensure audiences stay properly hooked on these tenacious sleuths, The Midnight Taxi ends with the first three chapters of the next volume. --Terry Hong