After her husband's unexpected death twelve months earlier, Kausar Khan never thought she'd receive another phone call as heartbreaking — until her thirty-something daughter, Sana, phones to say 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 remembers has changed. The murder of Sana's landlord is only the latest in a wave of local crimes that have gone unsolved.

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

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 could not have predicted the secrets, lies, and betrayals she finds along the way.

(From HarperCollins Canada)

Detective Aunty is available in May 2025.

Uzma Jalaluddin is a teacher, parenting columnist and author based in Ontario. She is also the author of the novels Ayesha At Last, Hana Khan Carries On, Much Ado About Nada and Three Holidays and a Wedding.