Maya, Dead and Dreaming

Set in the mist-laden town of Shogie, Washington, in 1952, Maya, Lana Sabarwal’s Dead and Dreaming follows Munna Dhingra, an Indian secretary at Shuni University, who receives an anonymous letter claiming her childhood friend Maya Hickman was murdered fourteen years earlier, not drowned accidentally as officially ruled. Haunted by guilt for rejecting Maya’s plea for help on the day she died, Munna reluctantly partners with her boss, Andrew Weaver, and the enigmatic psychoanalyst Karenina to investigate. Their probe unravels the Hickman family’s secrets, with Shelly, her mother, now diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at the center of the scandal. Can Munna uncover the identity of the murderer and why her friend was murdered? The answers are shocking in this enthralling crime thriller.

Lana Sabarwal draws a fascinating portrait of Shogie, and as I read about the place, it felt like some place familiar with the rain-slicked, insular 1950s community where gossip is currency and social standing dictates survival. Munna’s journey, from self-doubting outsider to resolute truth-seeker, anchors the novel’s exploration of racial otherness, gender constraints, and the toll of silence. Shelly emerges as a devastatingly complex antagonist, her polished civility masking corrosive jealousy, while Karenina’s sharp intuition and Munna’s empathetic questioning form a compelling investigative duo. Thematically rich, the novel interrogates the fragility of memory, the violence of buried secrets, and the cost of truth. I enjoyed how the author uses recurring dreams to underscore the intersection of reality and trauma; the creek symbolizes both sanctuary and betrayal; and dialogue-driven interviews meticulously peel back layers of deception. More than a whodunit, Maya, Dead and Dreaming is a meditation on how the past pills into the present and the courage required to set it free. This was a page-turning read for me.