Hey, everyone, Marla here! One of my favorite things about mystery conventions is meeting other mystery authors and readers, and last fall at Bouchercon I had the good fortune to meet today’s guest, author of THE MIDNIGHT TAXI, Yosha Gunasekera. For starters, she’s just a lovely human, and also, her new book looks amazing! Take it away, Yosha!
I take a stroll in my neighborhood and the view is absurdly beautiful. The World Trade Center and the Brooklyn Bridge shimmer in the distance. People bustle in and out of bakeries and restaurants, clutching coffee cups and paper bags with delicious freshly-baked croissants like sacred objects. I feel unbelievably lucky to live in NYC—right up until a pigeon poops on me and a rat barrels out of a trash can, a donut clenched proudly in its mouth, snapping me back to reality.
My debut mystery novel, The Midnight Taxi, comes out on February 10, 2026, and it’s very much a love letter to New York City—and to the immigrants, service workers, and local restaurants that make this place so special. The release also coincides with ten years of living in New York, a milestone I genuinely never thought I’d reach.
See, I’m a small-town girl. I grew up in rural Appalachia, where everyone knew everyone else. A quick grocery store run always took an extra thirty minutes because you were guaranteed to run into at least five people you knew. My parents proudly referred to themselves as country bumpkins, and honestly, I wore that identity pretty comfortably.
New York City, by contrast, seemed way too cool, too expensive, and far too big-city for someone like me. Every visit felt overwhelming—especially when I’d emerge from Madison Square Garden and immediately be assaulted by a sensory overload of sounds, smells, and flashing lights. NYC felt like a place meant for other people.
But then something unexpected happened. When I made New York my temporary home (emphasis on temporary, or so I thought), I fell in love and have been a proud New Yorker ever since.
The Midnight Taxi reflects that same adoration. The novel moves through all five boroughs—each one distinct, vibrant, and culturally rich in its own way—and writing it pushed me to explore corners of the city I hadn’t yet discovered. Jackson Heights for its incredible South Asian food. Arthur Avenue in the Bronx for Italian comfort classics. Staten Island for my favorite Sri Lankan restaurants. Manhattan’s Chinatown for the best pork buns and dumplings I’ve ever had. And my home borough of Brooklyn, where you can find a little bit of everything if you’re willing to wander.
Along the way, I realized that New York truly has something for everyone. Yes, there are pizza rats and pigeons with terrible aim. But there’s also a staggering diversity of food, cultures, and communities—ones that made a small-town Appalachian girl feel, somehow, like she belonged.
And that might be the most New York thing of all.
Readers, what’s a place that you feel deeply connected to — whether you live there or not?
About 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.
Check out The Midnight Taxi here!
Chicks on the Case 
Congratulations on your book. Love the title. Makes me want to read the book.
this is a fabulous post! I love the way you show us NY.
thank you for sharing part of your adventure.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you so much! The Midnight Taxi is a love story to NYC- I hope you’ll check it out!
LikeLike
Welcome Yosha!
I am and will always be deeply connected to New York City, especially the borough of Brooklyn.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I love Brooklyn! Especially the parts that tourists don’t often visit- I wanted to highlight these neighborhoods in the novel!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome, Yosha! I love the picture you paint of NYC.
LikeLiked by 2 people
thrilled to be here!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the cover of your book. It’s already on my TBR list. Even though I have lived in Arizona for over 30 years, every time I see the Colorado mountains, I know I am home! Fortunately I still have lots of family there and make it there at least once a year for a visit.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you so much! The cover artist, Andrea, is amazingly talented. I’m so honored to be on your TBR list. I hope you love it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for visiting the blog today, Yosha! I love going to New York whenever possible, whether IRL or in a book. Congratulations on your book release!
LikeLiked by 1 person
delighted to be here! Thank you for having me!
LikeLike
Yosha, I’m from NYC! Half my family was from Brooklyn, the other half from Queens, with a smattering of Manhattan – including me, until I moved to L.A. to write TV. It’s taking me years not to feel like a displaced NYer. Your post made me miss it so much! (Although I do NOT miss winter.) Like Dru, I will always have a deep connection. I can’t wait to check out your book.
I also have a deep connection to New Orleans, where both my daughter and I went to college, and one of my series is set. It’s tied with NY as the home of my heart. (Sorry LA, but I have come to love you too, lol – especially since I’ve lived here longer than anywhere.)
LikeLiked by 2 people
P.S. One of my mom’s Italian cousins was a taxi driver. One day, I was in desperate need of a cab to LaGuardia because there was a problem with the buses. I ran outside Port Authority, waved to any cab to get me… and Roberto pulled up! He was on his way to having lunch with his mother in Astoria, where all my Italian relatives lived, and gave me a free ride to the airport.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yay, glad you’re here, Yosha! Congrats on your new book! And I love how you explore the boroughs in it. I’ve always enjoyed visiting NYC, though I don’t think I could live there. But I do have extended relatives who live in Brooklyn.
For me, I’m probably most connected to the places I’ve lived in/visited most frequently, which are SoCal/LA, Central Valley/Fresno, and SF Bay Area/Silicon Valley.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yosha, Huge congrats on The Midnight Taxi and its fabulous reviews–I cannot WAIT to read it! I met you at Bouchercon and when you told me the premise it went straight to my must-read list. I’m especially excited because I lived in NYC for decades (a grittier Windsor Terrace), where I worked in publishing and raised my kids. My heart will always be there. Thanks so much for visiting us Chicks today!
LikeLike
Congratulations on The Midnight Taxi!
My first duty station when I joined the Army was at Fort Ord in Monterey, CA. I left my heart there – just a little south of San Francisco :)! Almost 40 years later, a piece of my soul lives on the Monterey peninsula.
LikeLike
Congratulations on The Midnight Taxi! I’m on my library’s hold list – can’t wait to read the book.
LikeLike