Detective aunty A novel

Review by Booklist Review

After her panicked daughter, Sana, calls Kausar Khan and tells her that she has been charged with killing the landlord of her clothing boutique, Kausar, a widow, puts aside her years' long hesitation about returning to Toronto. Upon arriving at her daughter's home in the Golden Crescent neighborhood, Kausar immediately sets about helping in any way she can while staying vigilantly alert for any information or gossip that might lead to the identity of the real killer. Although Kausar is not actually a detective, she does have real talents for listening to people and observing things: the key skills any detective needs to solve a crime. Jalaluddin (Three Holidays and a Wedding, 2023) deftly pivots from writing romance novels to launching a mystery series: Kausar Khan Investigates. This cleverly crafted tale gracefully tips its literary cap to Golden Age mysteries while at the same time entering a relevant and intriguing twenty-first-century plot into the genre equation. Featuring a superbly nuanced protagonist--an aunty and grandmother who cares as much about her community as Agatha Christie's Jane Marple cared about St. Mary Mead--Jalaluddin's first Kausar Khan novel is a triumph.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Library Journal Review

Jalaluddin (Much Ado About Nada) moves from romance to mystery. Kausar Khan, who recently became a widow, receives a call from her grown daughter Sana, begging her to return to Toronto. Sana is suspected of murdering the landlord of the shopping plaza where she operates a clothing boutique. Kausar leaves her small town and returns to the suburb where she raised her children and where Sana still lives. The neighborhood has changed, and the killing is only the latest in a series of local unsolved crimes. With evidence mounting against Sana, Kausar turns to old and new friends, as well as her teenage granddaughter, for help. Using her observational skills and ability to get people to confide in her, she searches for the truth. Jalaluddin has created a complex character who must come to terms with her past as well as her future while dealing with outmoded ideas and behavior aimed at women of a certain age. Supporting characters add humor to the plot. VERDICT Recommended for fans of Sujata Massey's Perveen Mistry books and Robert Thorogood's "Marlow Murder Club" series.--Jean King

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

An aunty with keen observational skills uses her many talents to investigate a murder and save her family's reputation. Kausar Khan, still healing from her husband's death a year ago, gets a call no mother wants to receive--her daughter is the prime suspect in a murder investigation. Though Kausar hasn't been as close with 36-year-old Sana since moving to North Bay, Ontario, after a tragic incident compelled her to leave Toronto, she knows Sana couldn't have murdered Imran Thakur, the landlord of her desi clothing store, and heads home to help. When Kausar arrives, she learns just how much she's missed during her time away--one of her two granddaughters is wary of her Nani's presence; Sana's relationship with her husband, Hamza, appears volatile; and Sana seems to trust Kausar only for domestic help. With the support of May, her best friend and fellow Agatha Christie and Louise Penny lover, Kausar is determined to prove her worth. Relying on her ability to fly under the radar, she sets out to the Golden Crescent Plaza to find out what really happened between Imran and Sana that night. One woman Kausar questions says it best: "Thegoras, they think us quite harmless, don't they? What can a desi aunty accomplish, after all?" Kausar's ability to pull secrets out of members of her community, along with her unwavering attention to detail, has her flirting with the truth before long. Novelist Jalaluddin's first mystery is beyond satisfying, from Sherlock-style deductive reasoning to Christie-esque dinner parties, but infused with the flavors of samosa, biryani, and raita. Most tantalizing of all is Kausar herself, a proud South Asian Muslim woman defining her second act, a woman unafraid of turning her observational skills on herself, revealing deep pain and the personal flaws that stem from it. Put on a fresh pot of chai, because Kausar Aunty is just getting started. Who could resist "Jack Reacher in a dupatta"? Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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