What do readers think of The Midnight Taxi by Yosha Gunasekera? Write your own review.

I rarely give thrillers 5 stars, but The Midnight Taxi by Yosha Gunasekera deserves every single one. The characters were developed well and super lovable. It was so easy to root for “Siri” the NY taxi-cab driver and her sweet spirit. She also just happens to love true-crime podcasts. The blossoming friendship between Siri and Amaya was forged with circumstances and a shared want for belonging as brown women finding her place in America. The reader was led to the twists by small clue drops throughout the story until the dramatic reveal in the last pages turned. Gunasekera’s writing is sweet, funny, suspenseful and perfectly descriptive of New York City mixed with a with a dose of family drama and multicultural challenges. This is supposed to be the first in a series and I cannot wait for more!

Great mystery - with a somewhat slow beginning. But once the mystery was laid out - many questions to solve. It had good character development. The characters where very witty and humous at times, providing a LOL moment. A good plus for me was learning about Sri Lankan culture and food.

Taking place in NYC was fully believable- with its Melting pot culture and many bodegas. It does bring in women's rights, race, prejudices and questions the justice system while dealing with the Mystery of who killed the passenger in the Taxi. A very enjoyable book, hope the character meet again to solve another mystery,

I was impressed even before I remembered that this was Gunasekera's debut novel. I immediately liked Siri's character, especially her self deprecating wit. The story itself was also easy to get caught up in. A murder mystery, a chance meeting that becomes immediately evolves into a friendship/lawyer-client relationship, and a short timeline to prevent an innocent woman from spending the next 25 years or so in prison. Amaya was also a woman to be reckoned with from the get go, a great combination of guts, brains, and a willingness to help someone in need. The way that the story was augmented by exploring the hardships faced by immigrant women was also poignant without disturbing the pace of the story. Combine all of this with a twist at the end that I barely saw coming, and it makes sense that I read the last half of the book in one sitting. While the last chapter seemed a bit rushed, I liked the way that life works out for Siri, and I would be curious to see how she evolves in her new life. This was a fun vacation read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys mysteries.

First of all I loved this book. I was happy to see there may be a second book coming our way. So what was so good about this novel … The character development was great!! The relationship that developed between Siri ( a cab driver in NYC) and Amaya ( a lawyer lead us through a mystery escapade of finding a murderer, It is through their relationship that we learn about Sri Lankan culture and food.

Siri is a caring, warm woman who loves crime podcasts. Her hard life as a NYC cab driver gave her broad experiences. She cares about her passengers and tries to make them feel comfortable on their journey no matter how short or long that ride is. Amaya understands Siri and also comes across as a smart no nonsense caring person. She is compassionate and definitely someone I would call a fixer. Her clients can rely on her to be their advocate. I would be honored to meet both these characters in my real life. Very impressionable!!

The plot was no nonsense, rapid fire speed. There were no parts I would say were unnecessary or chapters the author could have left out. The way the author built up the story was excellent. The setting in NYC was perfect. Memorable places I have visited and so much of the city portrayed on the pages of this book and interwoven.

Yosha Gunasekera made the book a mystery, but so much more. The writer is actually an attorney and is Sri Lankan. She wrapped this book in a big red bow bringing race, women rights, prejudices all together while writing a "mystery novel". But this book was so much more and look forward to reading more books written by this author.
This book would be a great bookclub addition.

Thank you BookBrowse and NetGalley, and Penguin Random House for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

This author kept the reader involved in solving the murder. How in the world did fingerprints appear on a knife that was not touched by taxi cab driver, Siri! Both Amaya, public defender. and Siri work hard to solve this mystery and clear Siri's name. Alex's involvement was certainly a surprise.

A fun, charming mystery with lots of style.

I loved read this debut novel from Yosha Gunasekera and on the edge of my seat waiting for the sequels

I didn't know what kind of book The Midnight Taxi was when I picked it up. I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised.

Mixing genuine humor with serious tones involving racism, the plight of the working class, the criminal justice system, and other real societal issues, Yosha Gunasekera delivers a fresh mystery novel involving a Sri Lankan taxi driver that kept me engaged until the very end. With such serious topics being central to the story, it was surprising that not only thrills, but humor carries the story throughout the novel, and the ending was very unexpected. The author's description of all the boroughs and hidden places of New York City really added to the narrative. Her heroine's constant search for the perfect bodega food and her descriptions of life for working class immigrants were spot on and gave the story added color. The dialog was frequently laugh out loud witty, and her use of metaphors was very effective.

This is one of the most unique stories I have read in years and one of my best reads of 2025. I can't wait to read the next novel in what I hope becomes a series. This is an author to keep your eye on.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable mystery and a great reminder of the beauty of NYC and its melting pot. Having lived all my life there, it is spot on with the comments regarding food, people and social commentary. Nice twists and turns and perfect for a snowy weekend treat.

I was also able to read part of the next book and looking forward to her next venture.