Canadian novelist Uzma Jalaluddin made her name with warm romantic comedies, stories about Muslims, South Asians and Canadians. In 2025 she changed genre and turned to crime. Her Detective Aunty novels follow Kausar Khan, a widowed Muslim aunty who investigates murders in her old Toronto neighbourhood. Below you will find every Uzma Jalaluddin book in order, the Detective Aunty series, her awards and the answers to the questions readers ask most.
Who Is Uzma Jalaluddin? About the Canadian Author
Uzma Jalaluddin grew up in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto. Her parents immigrated to Canada from Hyderabad, India. She has taught high school since 2003, and she still works as a high school teacher. Today she lives outside Toronto with her husband and two sons.
Before her first novel, she wrote a parenting and culture column for the Toronto Star. She has also written for The Atlantic. She met her husband through a rishta, a set-up for the purpose of marriage.
Her storytelling explores identity, faith, tradition and family dynamics in the Toronto Muslim community. Her heroines, from Ayesha to Kausar, are Muslim women, and that representation is at the heart of her books. Several of them are set in the Golden Crescent, a Toronto neighbourhood of close families, gossiping aunties and small family businesses.
Is Detective Aunty a Series? Detective Aunty Investigates in Order
Yes. Detective Aunty is the first book in the Detective Aunty Investigates series featuring Kausar Khan, published by Harper Perennial. It is her first mystery. It has everything we look for in a cozy mystery: an amateur sleuth, a close-knit community and a crime solved by someone everyone underestimates.
- Detective Aunty (May 2025)
- Moonlight Murder (May 2026)
Detective Aunty (2025)
Kausar Khan is a widow living in North Bay, Ontario. After many years away, she comes back to Toronto because her daughter, Sana, is in trouble. Sana’s landlord, Imran Thakur, has been found stabbed, and Sana is the main suspect. Kausar teams up with her granddaughter and an old friend, May, who loves mystery novels as much as she does. Nobody takes a meddling aunty seriously, and that is exactly why the suspects talk to her.
Moonlight Murder (2026)
In the second book, a young man named Mateen is found dead in the Golden Crescent. He was close to Kausar’s granddaughter, Maleeha, so the case is personal from the start. The investigation also pulls Kausar back to an old tragedy: the hit-and-run death of her teenage son, Ali, years earlier.
No third book has been announced yet. For a book-by-book guide, see our Detective Aunty Investigates series page.
Uzma Jalaluddin Books in Order
Here is the full list of her novels, by publication year:
- Ayesha at Last (2018 in Canada, 2019 in the US)
- Hana Khan Carries On (2021)
- Much Ado About Nada (2023)
- Three Holidays and a Wedding (2023, with Marissa Stapley)
- Detective Aunty (2025)
- Yours for the Season (2025)
- Moonlight Murder (2026)
She has also written a play, The Rishta (2023).
Ayesha at Last, Much Ado About Nada and the other romance novels
Ayesha at Last, her debut novel, is a modern Muslim romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Ayesha Shamsi is a teacher and an aspiring poet. Khalid is a conservative young man she finds both attractive and judgmental.
Her second novel, Hana Khan Carries On, gives The Shop Around the Corner (and You’ve Got Mail) a Muslim twist. Hana’s family restaurant in the Golden Crescent is threatened by a new rival down the street. Then Hana falls for its owner, Aydin.
Much Ado About Nada is a second-chance romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Nada Syed, an engineer, runs into her ex, Baz, at a Muslim conference in Toronto.
Three Holidays and a Wedding and a new holiday romance
Three Holidays and a Wedding is a holiday romcom co-written with Marissa Stapley. Yours for the Season (December 2025) is another holiday story: a fake-engagement romance between an attorney, Sameera, and a rising-star chef, Tom. It was published by Mindy’s Book Studio, Mindy Kaling’s imprint with Amazon Publishing.
Awards, Reception and Film News
Ayesha at Last was a Goodreads Choice Award finalist and the Cosmopolitan UK Book of the Year. It was also one of Publishers Weekly’s best romance books of 2019. She has also been longlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal and the Toronto Book Awards. In November 2025, Queen’s University gave her an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
Hollywood noticed too. In 2021, Amazon Studios and Mindy Kaling announced a film based on Hana Khan Carries On. Fawzia Mirza was later named as director.
New Releases and Where to Start With Uzma Jalaluddin
If you came for mysteries, start with Detective Aunty and read Moonlight Murder next. The murders are solved in each book, but Kausar’s family story continues. If you prefer romance, start with Ayesha at Last, then Hana Khan Carries On. For a cozy winter read, pick one of the two holiday novels.
Looking for more books like these? Our Muslim fiction authors page collects writers who put Muslim characters at the centre of the story. You can also browse all cozy mystery writers on our site.
Frequently Asked Questions About Uzma Jalaluddin
What is Uzma Jalaluddin’s nationality?
She is Canadian. She grew up in Scarborough, Toronto, and her parents came to Canada from Hyderabad, India.
Where does Uzma Jalaluddin live?
She lives outside Toronto, Canada, with her husband and two sons.
What is Uzma Jalaluddin’s most popular book?
Uzma Jalaluddin is the author of Ayesha at Last, her best-known book. For cozy mystery readers, the one to read is Detective Aunty.
Is there a new Uzma Jalaluddin book?
Her newest release is Moonlight Murder, the second Detective Aunty mystery, published in May 2026.
Where can I find interviews and news about Uzma Jalaluddin and her books?
Her official website, uzmajalaluddin.com, collects her news, events and interviews. She also shares updates with her followers on Instagram.