Thank you for the ARC.

The striking cover art of Detective Aunty immediately caught my attention, prompting me to read the description—and from there, it quickly climbed to the top of my TBR pile. The novel is packed with multiple intertwining plot lines: Did Sana commit murder? What’s happening in her marriage? How did her teenage daughter come into so much money? With these mysteries unfolding, the cast of characters grows, each adding layers to the intrigue.

At the heart of the story is Kausar, the determined mother and curious detective, who returns to Toronto after her daughter, Sana, is arrested for murder. While Kausar is loving and deeply concerned, her personal grief and heartbreak have kept her disconnected from much of her daughter’s life. Now, she is committed to being present—to solving the case, keeping Sana out of jail, and mending the fractured relationships..

Filled with mystery, secrets, and complex family dynamics, Detective Aunty delivers a gripping narrative that explores both crime and relationships. The character development is rich and well-crafted, setting the stage for future novels that will undoubtedly expand on this world.

ARC via Netgalley

I thought this was a solid first move into mysteries by Uzma Jalaluddin. I love her romance books and I thought the main character Kausar was an interesting lead who has room to develop as she goes. That being said it was slightly too slow paced for me personally. I like cozy mysteries but this had a bit too much description of financial crimes for me. I will definitely give the next one a try.

Kausar gets a life changing call from her adult daughter Sana. Sana has been arrested for murder and she needs her mom to help take care of her and her own two daughters. Sana owns and runs a clothing store in a small suburb shopping center and her landlord was found killed in her store. Kausar is determined to prove her daughter's innocence and uncover the true murderer. This is a cozy mystery but with serious elements. There's humor as well as heart break and sadness. It was a fun read with a satisfying ending. I enjoyed the audiobook! The narrator was great.

I can definitely see this book as being the start of a series. It is set up in a way that makes you get to know the characters and begin to care for them. While it wasn't my favorite detective, it will definitely make me want to read more books in this series. I think it was a solid 1st book.

Always grateful to have another diverse mystery to recommend to our library patrons! I enjoyed the Toronto setting as I knew nothing about the city. Looking forward to more in the series.

Uzma Jalaluddin makes a smooth and seamless transition from romance to cozy mystery. Kausar Khan, a recent 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 sleuthing to clear her daughters name. Using her keen observational skills and ability to get people to confide in her, she searches for the truth. Kausar is a tenancious aunty who must come to terms with her past as well as her future. Recommended for fans of Robert Thorogood's "Marlow Murder Club" series,

I can't wait for more Kausar adventures in the future. The narrator does a great job in capturing the emotions of the characters and tries her best to convey the accents of the various community members so they are distinct but not in a mocking way. Many thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy of the book.

I loved this book!

I'm not usually a mystery reader, but I decided to give this a try since I'm a fan of Jalaluddin's Romance books.

The setting was perfect- with multicultural, immigrant Toronto serving as a vibrant background. The amount of well-rounded characters in the community added to the depth of this story. The coziness factor was perfect for me- there is a murder but it happens offstage with no graphic violence or bloody scenes to worry about. And well, the intrigue- trying to figure out the whodunit was a delicious journey.

I especially enjoyed the main character, Kausar, a recently widowed grandmother originally from Pakistan, now in her 50's returning 'home' to Toronto to help her daughter who's been accused of murder. Sharp and ever curious, she has a knack for solving mysteries, yet she's discounted by most of the people she meets as just a harmless old auntie. She uses this to her advantage, of course.

Aside from the mystery aspect, there is also a romantic element that I'm hoping continues in the next installment of the series.

And another aside is that I adored that this novel was centered around women and their relationship to themselves and each other.

The narrator did a fantastic job - keeping me fully engaged throughout and even when she voiced the multiple oher characters in the book.

I can't wait to read the other installments of this series!

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮…

Kausar Khan is a widow who is called to the small neighborhood in Toronto where she once lived when her daughter is suspected of murder. Her keen observation skills and sharp wit make her an excellent amateur sleuth.


The story is a leisurely whodunnit that will have you trying to solve the case alongside Kausar. The strong family and friendship ties, portrayed with complexity and depth, were a highlight of the story. Kausar’s relationship with her daughter and her granddaughter was exceptionally well done. Kausar comes off a bit stoic, but you see how these relationships affect her deeply.


While the story gives us a peek into the desi/Muslim community, it is fun to watch Kausar use her skills to obtain information from community members.


The book closes with a bit of an open ending, so I’m glad this is just the beginning of the series. I can’t wait to see what Aunty’s up to next.


🎧I enjoyed having the audiobook to share my time with in this book. Narrated by Deepti Gupta, I felt I was genuinely listening to Aunty.


Thank you @harperperennial for this gifted book. Thank you @harperaudio @harpercollins for the gifted audiobook via #netgalley.

This a cozy, whodunit mystery series starter with a widow and meddlesome aunty, Kausar, filling the role of detective to clear her adult daughter's name of a murder. Kausar returns to Golden Cresent, the suburb where here and her late husband raised their family, only to find there might be more to the story than her daughter is letting on. Friendships, family and food set a cozy stage for Kausar to start her second act. Thank you to NetGalley for an ALC of this book.

I don't know if its my mid-30s catching up to me, but I love a cozy mystery, especially when its an Aunty solving the murder. Detective Aunty was a fun and slow burn mystery. I enjoyed entering the world of immigrant families within a community in Toronto, and exploring those dynamics.

If you're looking for a diverse cozy mystery, give Detective Aunty a try!

Thank you to NetGalley for the access to this publication in exchange for my honest opinions.

A fantastic start to a new Canadian cozy mystery series featuring Kausar Khan, a feisty South Asian widow with a knack for solving mysteries, who rushes from her North Bay home when her daughter gets arrested for murder in Toronto.

I really enjoyed this amateur detective story featuring an older female lead. Kausar loves her family and has missed spending time with her daughter and granddaughters. She digs into what's really happening with her son-in-law, her daughter's store and finds herself in a bit of romance with an actual police detective.

Great on audio and recommended for fans of the Vera Wong series. I can't wait to read more of Kausar's second act adventures! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

A delightful mystery with quiet depths. Pros: Uzma Jalaluddin has a sure hand with plot, pacing, and character-building. The story rolls along smoothly and quickly; though the narration is 10.5 hours, the time flies by. The main character, Kausar Khan, is appealing and any woman/mother in her same time of life can quickly relate to her concerns, worries, and priorities, but there is multi-generational interest here: younger readers (30s) can relate to Kausar's daughter, Sana, and the character of Kausar's teenage granddaughter adds further perspective. The author includes a great deal of information about Desi culture--though never in an artificial, teachy way--which is particularly interesting to readers unfamiliar with South Asian traditions. This level of detail and scene-building adds much to the cozy flavor of the story. As the layers of involvement unfold, the family/community plotline adds a lot of interest. Themes of grief, generational trauma, depression, adolescence, independence, and later-life romance add surprising depth to the story: Kausar is a wise mother and Auntie, and the author lets us inside her thoughts and decisions in a way that add greatly to the story. Deepti Gupta does a wonderful job with the narration, neither going over the top or underplaying character voices.
Cons: Not many! There is of course a great deal of suspension of disbelief at Kausar being allowed the level of access and involvement she gets to the investigation, and the historic connection the author leans on for this access is a bit thin. Also to tie up the multiple plot threads at the end, the book relies on an Agatha-Christie-ish group reveal that, while a cute reference to Kausar's love of Christie mysteries, does make it nearly impossible for the reader to have a sense that they could have figured the mystery out based on the clues Kausar comes across along the way.
All this said, I can't wait for the next installment in this budding series!

This was so much fun while still touching on some very serious topics. The characters had a lot of depth, and I am looking forward to seeing how the events in this book will follow to the sequel, and this one hasn't even come out yet! I am already looking forward to book two! Amazing. Also it's really more intelligent than your average cozy (and I do enjoy cozies) and a bit like the Vera Wong books, by Jesse Q. Sutanto, in vibe. If you like mysteries but have limited patience for 'cozy mysteries", I would recommend taking a look at this one.