He plunges the knife into his friend, killing him instantly. I gasp before looking around my empty taxi as if to find someone to share in my shock, but I only listen to true crime podcasts when I’m driving around looking for passengers. I turn it off or listen to something less jarring on low volume once people pile in.

I continue to scan the streets for a fare when I see a man stumble towards my taxi, waving his arms as if he were drowning on solid ground, and for a moment I think about pretending not to see him before finally pulling over. My passengers are as varied as New York City itself, but there are certain types of people I pick with a twinge of worry and anticipation of future regret.

The taxi dashboard tells me that it’s nearing 11 p.m. and I’ve only completed 10 rides today, almost an all-time low. I frown as I watch the man stagger towards my vehicle. He reminds me of my baby cousin just learning to walk, but much less cute. I pray the man wants to be dropped off nearby and reluctantly turn off my podcast, it seems like I’m always getting a fare at the most juicy parts.

“Yo dude, 27th and Madison,” the man slurs as he gets in, his second invisible travel companion, vodka, wafts in. I’ve been called a lot of things recently, but “dude” is a new one. He’s clearly unaccustomed to a female cabbie.

I look at the man again and consider refusing to drive him, something I can do if he appears incapable of paying. He takes a swig of alcohol from a silver monogrammed flask, partially missing his mouth and dribbling a little on himself. I wince, hoping the man’s stained shirt, doing a hero’s work, is catching most of the alcohol, not my leather seats.

“Good afternoon, sir. I hope you’re well. Do you mind refraining from drinking inside the vehicle?”

“Just drive,” the man demands, as he runs his fingers through his short blond hair.

What an asshole.

I sigh loudly in response, the biggest protest I can offer given how tired I am. I start driving towards the man’s destination. While I may threaten to refuse service in my head, I can’t remember the last time I ever did. I realize my cab can be a lifeline for people who want to get home when other modes of transportation are unsafe or unavailable. I get the doctor to work. I give the woman fleeing a bad date an escape hatch. I transport busy New Yorkers every day so they can complete various important tasks that no doubt keep the world, or at least my small corner of the world, running.

I’m often told providing rides to people when others would not is just going to give me a backseat filled with vomit and this time they may be right.

THE MIDNIGHT TAXI
Genre: Traditional Mystery
Release: February 2026
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

When the last fare of the night turns up dead in her backseat, a Sri Lankan American taxi driver works off the clock to clear her name in this mystery novel by debut author Yosha Gunasekera.

Siriwathi Perera doesn’t quite know where she’s going in life. She never expected to be a taxicab driver in New York City, struggling to make ends meet and still living with her parents at twenty-eight. The true-crime podcasts that keep Siri company as she drives don’t do much to make up for the legal career she imagined for herself, or the brother she’s grieving.

When public defender Amaya Fernando gets into her cab, they make a quick connection through their shared Sri Lankan roots. Siri, whose social circle is limited to her grade-school best friend, Alex, thinks things might finally be looking up with this new potential friendship. But she’s suddenly dropped into her own true crime when she discovers her next passenger murdered in the backseat, and she has to call Amaya sooner than she’d expected.

Pinned as the obvious and only suspect, and desperate to clear her name, Siri chases down leads across the boroughs of New York City with Amaya’s help. But with her court date looming, they have just five days to find out who really killed the midnight passenger—or Siri’s life will be over before she can even truly live it.

Meet the author
Yosha Gunasekera is a Sri Lankan-American attorney who represents people who have spent decades behind bars for crimes they did not commit. She teaches a course at Princeton University focused on wrongful conviction and exoneration. Yosha is a former Manhattan public defender and has written and spoken extensively on the criminal legal system. She lives in New York City with her husband.