Rekha Rao, a thirty-something Indian American professor of art history is disillusioned by academia and haunted by the murder of her father, for which she believes police convicted the wrong person. She moves away from her match-making family, to live an independent life. As luck would have it, she gets entangled in a second murder, that of her mentor and father figure, Professor Joseph Faust. An idol of the Hindu Goddess Durga, the murder weapon, and is found on the body. Rekha is asked to help Detective Al Newton understand the relationship, if any, between the meaning of the statue and the motive for the murder. Rekha is attracted to Al but steers clear of him because of her distaste for cops and a prior abusive experience with a boyfriend, doing only what was asked of her. The two constantly clash, starting a love-hate relationship. When police arrest one of her students, and accuse Faust of idol theft, Rekha's 'dharma', her duty, rears its head, and propels her into looking for the killer on her own. Despite interference from Al, and having to meet a suitor set up by her aunt, she finds the killer, and in the process, tastes the prospect of a romance, and discovers her true identity.