Uzma Jalaluddin

This is yet another a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, this time about Muslims living in Canada, but it definitely -- and deftly -- justifies its existence. I thought it was lovely.

When Ayesha’s best friend Clara attempts to introduce her to a work colleague, Khalid, Ayesha and Khalid make instant assumptions about each other. Khalid doesn’t approve of Muslims hanging out in bars; Ayesha resents his judgemental comment and judges his traditional “fundy” attire. But Ayesha and Khalid show more soon cross paths again because they are both involved with organising a youth conference at the local mosque.

I liked how Ayesha at Last just draws on bits and pieces of Pride and Prejudice. I couldn’t predict lots of things, like how Clara’s part of the story would unfold, or what Ayesha’s cousin Hafsa (the closest Ayesha has to a sister) would do next, or what had happened with Khalid’s sister.

It also meant that there was room in the story to explore Ayesha’s poetry, her relationship with her grandparents and her questions about her late father, and Khalid’s interactions with his new, Islamaphobic boss. In hindsight, that last one bears a slight similarity to the way people in the Bennet’s neighbourhood take an almost instant dislike to Darcy -- but Darcy’s wealth and position mean he’s minimally affected by what such people think of him, a privilege Khalid doesn’t have.

“The mosque executive board is meeting this morning and I plan to be there. I will get rid of this silly youth conference idea once and for all. Imagine, Khalid -- boys and girls mixing at the mosque. They should all stay home and listen to their parents. If they just stopped being so besharam and texting each other all the time, they wouldn’t have all these mental health issues, or wear leggings. It’s disgraceful.” (-- Khalid’s mother) show less

The title led me to think it was based on the Shakespeare play but halfway through I realized it was using my fave Austen novel, Persuasion as its model. Incredibly well done, too. Near the end of the book, she manages to be able to use some of its most famous lines and have it work in a Muslim community in Toronto. The tweaks to Austen's story really works in the context and Nada herself has a lot of complexity that makes her situation relatable to the modern day. Jalaluddin just keeps show more getting better and better. show less

In the second volume of the “Detective Aunty” series, Kausar Khan has moved back to the Golden Crescent neighborhood of Toronto to be closer to her daughter and granddaughters. She has filled a closet of her new unfurnished apartment with boxes of records from her son’s hit-and-run death some two decades ago, a death that had sent her into a tailspin of depression. Now she feels almost ready to start opening the boxes and begin an investigation into what really happened that night, but show more first her granddaughter comes to her with a more recent mystery. A boy at her school has been found dead in a local pond, after an overdose. The authorities think it’s a suicide, but Maleeha is convinced he would not kill himself. Nor would he take drugs. Something suspicious led to the death, and she wants her grandmother, who has already earned a reputation as a sleuth, to find out what really happened.

The two cases unfold in tandem, with the help of Kausar’s good friend May and Nasir Hafeez, who clearly would like to be more than friends, but who respects Kausar’s wish to keep her independence. She had been married, as was the custom among Indian Muslims of her generation, to an older man whom she had never met, and while it had been a happy union, she was exploring the feeling of living on her own terms for the first time in her life. Bit by bit, Kausar assembles fragments of information about the night her son died and the circumstances that led to Maleeha’s friend’s death, visiting with teachers at their school who led a poetry club, and tracking down anyone who might have information about why her son was on an unfamiliar street the night he was hit by a car. Though the solution to both mysteries seems a leap of faith, the author has played fair and sprinkled clues throughout the story, though few readers would be able to put them together quite the way Kausar does.

Though set in an urban area, there’s something of the feeling of a small-town mystery in this cozy-but-not-too-cute series. The fictional neighborhood of Golden Crescent is largely inhabited by immigrants from the Indian subcontinent, and they tend to know one another through the mosque, the public school, and business relationships. Part of the charm of the series is being invited into this close-knit community, where challenging events are often met with a quote from the Koran or the Hadith and where tradition and contemporary Canadian life coexist comfortably. Kausar’s quest for self-discovery late in life is nicely drawn, as are the family members and surrounding figures, including a shambolic lost teen and a cold and scary father who lives a modest life but is connected to the criminal underworld.

Some read for plot, some for characters, others for the way it all is woven together with stylish writing; here there’s something for all kinds of readers, a well-balanced mix of all of the ingredients that make for a good mystery. Readers will be left eager for Kausar’s next adventure. show less

Cozy in Scarborough, Toronto 🍁
A review of the Harper Perennial paperback (May 6, 2025) released simultaneously with the eBook/audiobook.

"I'm not interfering," Kausar said. "I only want to find out what's going on."
"That is the literal definition of interfering, Mom." Adam sighed.

[Maybe a 4, but bumped up to a 5 due to Toronto & Canadian bias 😊]
I can't hide my delight and bias here about this cozy mystery which has the widow Kausar Khan returning to Toronto to help her daughter Sana who show more is the lead suspect in the murder of a shady landlord in the suburban plaza where the daughter operates a clothing store.

Kausar and her husband Dr. Khan had retreated to North Bay after the trauma of their youngest son being fatally injured in a hit and run in Toronto. Kausar has refused to travel back for 15+ years, although Sana and her 2 grandchildren have visited North Bay periodically. When her daughter is facing possible arrest, trial and conviction, Kausar steels herself to return.

What follows is her amateur investigation and her reconnections with friends from the past as she uncovers shady real estate dealings, undercover police operations, a possible car-theft ring and last but not least, the actual murderer! This is often done with a nod and a wink to Agatha Christie and the methods of Hercule Poirot (one of my current ongoing binge-reads) ending with the now famous "gather all the suspects in a room for the final reveal."

May said. “Now, back to the case. Are you going to tell me who killed Imran? I know you’ve figured it out.”
Kausar shook her head and tried to look mysterious. “According to your detective shows, I’m not allowed to unmask the killer until the very end.”
“How about a hint?” May wheedled. “Poirot always gave Hastings a fair shot.”

We are left hanging a bit at the end with some unresolved issues, but this is not cause for an Unsatisfactory Ending Alert! Instead it is a sign that we can hope for the return of Kausar Khan in a future book #2 of a hopefully ongoing series. show less