Dharma: A Rekha Rao Mystery by Vee Kumari
Rekha Rao, a thirty-something Indian American professor of art history, is disillusioned by academia and haunted by the murder of her father. She believes police convicted the wrong person, and moves away from her match-making family.
As she tries to manage her PTSD and heal her broken heart from a previously abusive boyfriend, she gets entangled in a second murder, that of her mentor and father figure.
Rekha is attracted to the handsome detective Al Newton, who is investigating the murder, but steers clear of him because of her distaste for cops and fear of a new relationship. The two constantly clash, starting a love-hate relationship. Meanwhile, her family is busy setting her up to meet a suitor, an Indian attorney. When police arrest one of her students and accuse her mentor of theft, Rekha is left with no other choice but to look for the killer on her own.
Questions and Answers For and From the Author:
1. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I loved words, and I wanted to be an English professor.
2. What is your education/career background?
I have a medical degree from India and a Ph.D. (Anatomy) from UC Davis
3. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? Or what first inspired you to write?
As a scientist, my fall back was reading fiction. When I retired, it gave me the time to try it.
4. When you are struggling to write/have writer’s block, what are some ways that help you find your creative muse again?
I always turn to freewriting by hand. I have several notebooks on the project I’m working on, and others in the pipeline.
5. What do you think makes a good story?
A good story speaks about issues that are universal and poses challenges to all of us regardless of our differences.
6. What inspired your story?
I watched an OPRAH/Dr. PHIL an episode about a family who came to get help after the father came to the realization that he was always gay. Their genuine grief and need to find their way back as a family touched me. It’s best to keep this under cover since this is one of the threads that’s revealed only towards the end!
Facebook: @veekumari
Instagram: @vee6873hollywood
Twitter: @veekumari1
#Dharma #RekhaRao #mystery
This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.
