Having bunch of wits and cozy tone for a crime investigation premise; both heartwarming and tense with fun characterization as I followed Kausar Khan; a grandmother in her 50s who suddenly needs to return to her Scarborough neighborhood after an urgent call received from her daughter, Sana who gets accused of a murder when she found her landlord died on her boutique’s floor.

Some mess and secrets intertwined getting me too hooked on how Kausar would unfolds the whodunnit. So invested to Kausar’s backstory and I liked how it explored that ‘second act’ premise after her depression phase of losing Ali and followed by Hassan’s death. Of grief and healling, bit chaotic and thrilling to see how the author crafted most characters in here with their tantrum of probs and traumas— that insight on immigrant struggles with a sharp gaze to patriarchal, societal judgments and traditional gender norms that quite thoroughly explored through its culture, familial and marginalized community dynamics setting.

Loved May so much; a sidekick to Kausar that I admired their friendship a lot. A puzzling mystery but liking how Kausar being so observant and smart in handling the conflict— an amateur sleuth auntie who followed the blows of gossip and neighborhood drama while sipping on her cups of chai. It gets twisty much than I thought— of fraud, betrayal and one’s loyalty, did not expect a party to end the chaos but overall exhilarating for the intro and 1st crime-to-solve in the series.

A note to myself if I ever get a chance to read the 2nd book later— Ali’s case that gets me curious (high chance it has a link to this same crime) and Nasir with his flirts trying to win Kausar’s heart. I swoon!

Thank you Times Reads for the gifted copy!