Today a little extract!

Synopsis

Returning to Sydney, Detective Ramesh Ryan is promoted to the Homicide Squad. Zoe Yang joins him there. Now a detective herself, she is assigned as his junior partner. Straight up, the cops are off and running—investigating the discovery of a murdered company director. Following the clues, Detective Ryan finds that this and a second murder may be linked to past events.

As the pressure mounts for a quick solution to the case, the detective finds that he too, is in the killer’s crosshairs. But Ryan is distracted from the investigation by a romantic encounter with an old university friend. He also worries about his mother, Mumta, and her new obsessive desire for grandchildren from her only son. Could this be linked to her recent medical tests? And there’s another pressing problem—the plague of rats in his apartment block. 

Detective Ryan’s hands are well and truly full.  

Extract

Context:

A worried Detective Ramesh Ryan has driven down at high speed to the local hospital, having just discovered that his mother Mumta has checked herself in because of ‘a woman’s problem’.

Extract:

“Oh,” said Detective Ryan. “Mom, what are you doing here?”

“Didn’t Agnes tell you?”

“She said something about a woman’s problem. But why didn’t you tell me you were coming here today? You knew I’d be calling…. Oh, and happy birthday, by the way.” He frowned. “Damn.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I left your present in the car.”

Mumta smiled. “That’s nice. I appreciate presents. When you get to my age, you are grateful for anything.”

“Your age. You’re fifty-nine. Sorry, sixty today, and hardly …” Detective Ryan began.

“Shh.” Mumta put her finger to her lips. “Don’t go around telling everyone my age.”

“Oh … okay.” Ramesh peered at his mother. Her black hair framed an attractive, symmetrical face and bright, shining brown eyes. “You know you look good for your age.” 

“Must you, Ramesh. I’m not too fond of that expression. It makes me feel like a horse about to be put down.”

Ryan shook his head. This always happened with his mother. She had a habit of taking the conversation completely off-base. It was time to return to the slopes.

“So, Mom, my question was, what are you doing here?”

Mumta leaned forward and whispered. “I came for a biopsy on my br—” She hesitated. “I don’t like talking about this with you. That’s why I never mentioned it.”

“Your breast? You just had a breast biopsy?” The detective’s face registered his concern.

Mumta picked up a cup from the table and sipped tea. “Yes. But it’s nothing to worry about. I’ll get my results in a few days, and I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Ryan studied his mother. He was trained to spot deceit, and what his mom had just said was a blatant lie. She was worried. If she was concerned, so too should he be.

“What exactly did they say?” Ryan asked.

“If you had become what I wanted you to become, a doctor, you would know.” Mumta waved her hands around. “They’re all here.”

“Who?” asked Ryan, confused.

“Doctors, of course. And you could have been one of them if you hadn’t decided to become a policeman.” Mumta spat the word out like a piece of dirt from her mouth.