A sleepy town. A precocious girl. A drizzly night. A chilling death that makes no sense at all.

June 1938: Teenager Maya Hickman is found dead in a creek, leaving the sleepy town of Shogie, Washington shocked and baffled. Fourteen years later, Maya begins haunting the dreams of her childhood friend and quiet Indian immigrant, Munna Dhingra, just as an anonymous letter arrives musing “Why Maya Had to Die.”

Why now? Why Munna? Rich, beautiful Maya never needed Munna when she was alive. How could she possibly need her now that she’s dead? Does Munna know something without even realizing it? And what does the eerie letter mean?

Stalked by guilt and desperate to prevent more deaths, Munna befriends Karenina – a fiendishly brilliant psychoanalyst with the uncanny ability to unearth dark secrets from even the most lighthearted conversations. As the two pull at the threads of Munna’s broken memories and the town’s vicious gossip, they unravel a web of jealousy, betrayal, and forbidden relationships within a tight-knit community desperate to cling to its veneer of tranquility.

But every secret uncovered leads to more questions and every step forward heightens a sense of encroaching dread, as Munna and Karenina race against time to piece together a complex psychological puzzle. Will they find out in time . . . why Maya had to die?

Maya, Dead and Dreaming is a mystery inspired by Agatha Christie with a dash of Jhumpa Lahiri.