Jacob Shymanski

We reviewed her 2023 novel, Three Holidays and a Wedding, last year, a book I thought was super original and a perfect cozy holiday read.

It was set in a small Canadian town when a traveling family gets diverted and snowed in there during the holidays.

And this in a year where three holidays line up to happen all at the same time.

Eid, Christmas, and Hanukkah.

It was like a super sweet Canadian multicultural Hallmark movie in a book.

It was really cool.

Jalaluddin's latest book, though, is Detective Aunty.

It's an Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery.

And it's her first foray into mystery because before this, her books were typically romantic comedies.

But one thing that's consistent in all her works is that they're all set within Southeast Asian and Muslim communities, specifically in and around the GTA.

That's the Greater Toronto Area.

But I think an important part of the quality of these books that has to be mentioned is that they're positive and cheerful.

They're intelligent and sweet, but they're just wholesome.

They're warm, which makes them an absolute breeze to listen to.

Fantastic audiobook editions too.

Today, I'm talking to Usma Jalaluddin.

This is Audiobook Cafe.

I'm Jacob Szymanski.

All of the titles I just mentioned are available on Sela in human narrated audio.

And of course, they're also on Audible.