Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin
Move Over Miss Marple … There’s a New Sleuth in Town
Uzma Jalaluddin, a second-generation Canadian of Indian immigrant parents, intimately knows the Toronto South Asian community and is a devotee of Jane Austen, both of which serve as inspiration for her carefully crafted works of fiction.
She is a proven talent with success in several fields, including as a high school teacher, playwright and acclaimed author. For nearly a decade, she wrote a popular column about parenting and contemporary culture for the Toronto Star. Ayesha At Last, her debut novel, is a modern Muslim romantic comedy inspired by Pride and Prejudice.
This bestseller was named Publisher Weekly’s Best Book and Cosmopolitan UK’s Book of the Year in 2019. Her second novel, Hana Khan Carries On (2021), is in development as a film project with Amazon Studios and Mindy Kaling. Detective Aunty is her fifth work of fiction, with all the earmarks for launching a favorite new cozy mystery series. It has the tagline “When in trouble, call an aunty.” Whether advice is required or murder accusations arise, protagonist Kausar Khan is ready for the task at hand.
A Vivid Community and a Culture of Respect
The author’s works are set in the predominantly South Asian Muslim Golden Crescent neighborhood in Scarborough, Toronto. Many of the residents of this densely populated, close-knit community are descendants of immigrants from India. It is close to public transportation and has a wide variety of restaurants, malls and services, as well as a mixture of housing with many high-rise condominiums, apartments and single-family homes.
Women in the Desi culture, as early as age 30, though more typically middle-aged and older, are often deferentially addressed as “aunty.” This is done without a direct familial connection, as elders are greeted with respect, deference or affection. Blood relations have specific titles linked to their maternal or paternal position in a family. While it is a common social practice, if one is a cultural outsider, it is best to refrain from using it and unwise if not acquainted with the individual, who may feel it is disrespectful or inappropriate.
Detective Aunty Kausar Khan bristles and corrects a real estate investment broker who offhandedly calls her “Aunty” without permission, but graciously accepts the honorific from other strangers.
Note: Desi or Deshi refers to the proud cultural heritage of people from the vast Indian subcontinent and its diaspora.
A Life of Quiet Strength — and Unused Sleuthing Potential
Kausar is a 57-year-old widow whose husband Hassan died 18 months ago from aggressive pancreatic cancer. Their 39-year-long marriage had been arranged, but they enjoyed a close relationship based on trust despite their age difference. She was 17 years old, newly arrived from Hyderabad, India, and Hassan was a 32-year-old physician and former Canadian Air Force officer when they wed. Hassan worked long hours while Kausar kept an immaculate home, became an expert cook, a welcoming hostess, active in their community and a doting mother to their children. It appeared to be the most traditional of marriages, except this was insufficient for Kausar. She was exceptionally intelligent, perceptive and highly intuitive. Her library card allowed her to become a well-educated autodidact who pored over financial newspapers and magazines in preference to cookery books or fashion magazines.
Hassan recognized his young bride had a tremendous aptitude for number crunching while he lacked an understanding or interest in investment matters, and so he wisely, quietly allowed her to invest his earnings on their behalf. Thus, Kausar acquired several choice properties in Toronto as well as a substantial stock portfolio without ostentatiously displaying their wealth.
Their daughter Sana is now 36 years old and resides in Toronto with her husband and their two girls. She recently purchased an upscale clothing boutique specializing in traditional South Asian bridal and party garments and accessories. The light of their lives was their son Ali, who remains a ghostly presence occupying a huge hole in her heart. He was 15 when he was killed by a hit-and-run driver while walking home from a friend’s house. The unsolved case was perfunctorily investigated and quickly ignored by white police detectives who implied the boy was a young hooligan out when he shouldn’t have been. Life in Toronto without Ali has become unbearable.
Hassan moved his medical practice and their household over 200 miles distant to North Bay. Kausar has not yet driven in the 17 years they lived in this smaller Northern Ontario community, nor had she returned to Toronto. Their family flew or drove to see their parents. Kausar had turned her back on old friends when she left and made a new best friend, May Kildair, shortly after their relocation. Both women love mystery novels and first met at the public library. May was in her late 70s, a petite, vivacious blond yoga practitioner with four adult children and twelve grandchildren.
May was charmed by the use of honorifics and named herself “Teacher Aunty,“ and promptly dubbed Kausar “Detective Aunty“ for her uncanny ability to “notice things.” Hassan called it her “party trick,” as his wife was able to discern from people’s words, moods and behaviors potential issues or situations and make observations.
Murder, Mayhem and a Reluctant Heroine Returns
The second worst phone call in her life came from Sana, phoning to let her mother know she was about to be arrested as the prime suspect in the murder of her landlord. Imran Thakur was killed in her shop by an ornamental dagger taken from a window display. Sana implored her mother to come immediately to Toronto to take care of her two daughters, 15-year-old Maleeha and 10-year-old Fizza. May took Kausar to the airport and gave her a notebook with Kausar Khan Investigates scrawled on top of the first page. Sana’s husband Hamza is conspicuously absent from their massive, lavish and expensively appointed home.
The Golden Crescent Plaza is more down-market than anticipated. Unlike his creepy, smarmy son, Imran’s late father had been a conscientious landlord who had built and carefully maintained the mall, which housed a large grocery, a Tamil bakery, a take-out restaurant, a small bubble tea house, a combination phone and computer repair store, as well as Sana’s clothing store. The formerly thriving community has deteriorated, and crime is on the rise.
Detective Aunty immediately steps in to take care of her daughter’s household, shopping, cooking and cleaning while simultaneously beginning her own investigation. The detectives seem all too eager to pin the crime on Sana and close the case. Kausar had planned to spend a week in Toronto before returning home, but it took her about twice as long to achieve results and confirm, “When in trouble, call an aunty.”
The Plot Thickens
It was obvious her daughter’s marriage was failing, her extravagant son-in-law had squandered Sana’s inheritance and that her granddaughters required a loving, stabilizing influence in their lives. The mall is up for sale with two competing buyers. If the one who wishes to demolish it and develop it for housing succeeds, not only would the neighborhood be without a grocer and other shops, but her daughter would lose her investment and be stuck with costly inventory.
There were other crimes to be uncovered: the large Golden Crescent Plaza’s parking lot is used after hours by a major car theft ring, and a local investment advisor is enticing and bilking clients with a Ponzi-type scheme. Kausar’s walking shoes get a workout as she interviews the tenants and family members of the landlord, pushes the detectives to expand their investigation, and considers the evidence.
Ultimately, in homage to her favorite author, Agatha Christie, and her trademark locked-room mysteries, she persuades the detectives to join her in gathering the suspects she has identified while she shares her findings and identifies the real killer. It’s a whirlwind two weeks that includes the possibility of a future romance with a handsome silver-haired attorney who had been a family friend.
Detective Aunty has renewed her determination to reopen her son Ali’s cold case file and chased away some of the demons while clearing her daughter’s name. At peace and with purpose, Kausar Khan is ready to return to Toronto, where she can be an active participant in her family’s life. It’s a delightful cozy mystery that invites the question, “How long must readers wait for a sequel?” Uzma Jalaluddin has created a delightful new heroine who surely has many more cases to solve.
About Uzma Jalaluddin:
Uzma Jalaluddin is the author of Detective Aunty (2025), featuring Kausar Khan, a South Asian Miss Marple, as well as Much Ado About Nada (2023), a second-chance romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and Three Holidays and a Wedding (2023), a multi-faith holiday romcom co-written with Marissa Stapley, which was a Good Morning America Buzz Pick. Her debut novel, Ayesha at Last (2019), was a Goodreads Choice Award Finalist, Cosmopolitan UK Book of the Year and Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of 2019. Her second novel, Hana Khan Carries On (2021), was an instant Canadian bestseller and named a 2021 Best Romance Novel by the Washington Post. It is currently in development for film by Amazon Studios and Mindy Kaling.
Uzma is a former contributor to The Toronto Star and has written for The Atlantic. She lives outside Toronto, Canada, with her husband and two sons.
Publish Date: 5/6/2025
Genre: Crime, Fiction, Mystery
Author: Uzma Jalaluddin
Page Count: 336 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial
ISBN: 9780063434875