After her husband’s unexpected death eighteen months ago, Kausar Khan never thought she’d receive another phone call as heartbreaking—until her thirty-something daughter, Sana, phones to say that she’s been arrested for killing the unpopular landlord of her clothing boutique. Determined to help her child, Kausar heads to Toronto for the first time in nearly twenty years.

Returning to the Golden Crescent suburb where she raised her children and where her daughter still lives, Kausar finds that the thriving neighborhood she remembered has changed. The murder of Sana’s landlord is only the latest in a wave of local crimes which have gone unsolved.

And the facts of the case are Sana found the man dead in her shop at a suspiciously early hour, with a dagger from her windowfront display plunged in his chest. And Kausar—a woman with a keen sense of observation and deep wisdom honed by her years—senses there’s more to the story than her daughter is telling.

With the help of some old friends and her plucky teenage granddaughter, Kausar digs into the investigation to uncover the truth. Because who better to pry answers from unwilling suspects than a meddlesome aunty? But even Kausar can’t predict the secrets, lies, and betrayals she finds along the way…

Review:

Captivating, humorous, and suspenseful!

Detective Aunty is a well-paced, amusing murder mystery that takes you into the life of Kausar Khan, a middle-aged widow who, after her daughter becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a local businessman, returns to Scarborough to prove her innocence, discover what’s really going on, and ultimately identify the killer.

The prose is witty and light. The characters are quirky, intelligent, and intriguing. And the plot is a mysterious, engaging whodunit full of family, friendship, community, secrets, greed, suspects, deduction, red herrings, and amateur sleuthing.

Overall, Detective Aunty is a cosy, satisfying, entertaining read by Jalaluddin that was so much fun with all its intricacies, culture, and drama, and which I do hope, and was slightly hinted at, may just be the first in a multitude of books in the Kausar Khan Investigates series.

This novel is available now.

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