A Midnight Puzzle, by Gigi Pandian

In heroine Tempest Raj, modern-day queen of the locked room mystery Gigi Pandian has created a brilliant homage to the greats of classic detective fiction.

Secret Staircase Construction is under attack, and Tempest Raj feels helpless. After former client Julian Rhodes tried to kill his wife, he blamed her "accident" on the home renovation company’s craftsmanship. Now the family business—known for bringing magic into homes through hidden doors, floating staircases, and architectural puzzle walls—is at a breaking point. No amount of Scottish and Indian meals from her grandfather can distract Tempest from the they’re being framed.

When Tempest receives an urgent midnight phone call from Julian, she decides to meet him at the historic Whispering Creek Theater—only to find his dead body, a sword through his chest. After a blade appears from thin air to claim another victim, Tempest is certain they’re dealing with a booby trap… something Secret Staircase Construction could easily build. Tempest refuses to wait for the investigation to turn to her or her loved ones. She knows the pieces of the puzzle are right in front of her, she just has to put them together correctly before more disaster strikes.

Multiple award-winning author Gigi Pandian and her sleuth Tempest Raj return in A Midnight Puzzle, where an old theater reveals a deadly booby trap, secrets, and one puzzle of a mystery.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

Puzzles, illusions, and murder

A Midnight Puzzle is the third book in the Secret Staircase Mysteries, a delightful cozy mystery series featuring Tempest Raj, a stage magician/illusionist, and her family. The series gets its name from her father’s architecture-and-construction company, which specializes in secret rooms, hidden staircases, and other architectural puzzles. Tempest’s skills in creating and figuring out illusions come in very handy as she and her friends investigate several murders, each involving the Secret Staircase firm’s clients or jobsite in some way.

There’s a lot I love about these books, from the fiendishly hard-to-solve locked-room plots, to the multicultural Tempest and her equally diverse family and friends, to the magic and illusions. (Note: Ms. Pandian is careful not to reveal the secrets behind any illusions or magic tricks that have not yet been made public.) Tempest herself is engaging and sympathetic, albeit somewhat obsessed with solving the mysteries impacting her family (and defying police orders to stay out of their investigation.) And the plots usually keep me guessing; I can sometimes figure out who, but I have yet to win the trifecta of “who, how, and why.”

The third installment in the series wraps up a three-book arc concerning the disappearance and presumed murder of Tempest’s mother 5 years earlier. This was a subplot in the first book, but became significantly more important in the second book. In A Midnight Puzzle, it takes center stage, deeply entwined with the present-day murder of one of Secret Staircase’s most unpleasant clients to date. But as rumors swirl that the ghost of Tempest’s mom was responsible, and then her mentor Nico is injured, Tempest feels compelled to investigate to clear her mother’s name and save her father’s company. As usual, Tempest is aided by her friends Ivy, a mystery fan and budding librarian; Sanjay, the “Hindi Houdini”; and Gideon, a stone sculptor who works for Tempest’s dad (and is sweet on Tempest.) We also see a lot more of Tempest’s aforementioned mentor, Nicodemus “the Necromancer,” a British illusionist with a side talent for creating amazing paper-cutout pop-ups.

This time, I fared better in figuring out “who,” although I missed some of “why” and a fair bit of “how.” I did not, however, find it easy to sort out the “who,” so the mystery kept me well entertained. I enjoyed the various twists and turns of the plot, but this time around, I was more exasperated by the way Tempest continued to ignore the police detective’s injunctions to stay out of things. She enters a building considered the crime scene more than once, despite the detective’s clear and repeated warning. I completely understood her motivations, and that particular detective is an absolute arse, but you can’t go around breaking the law (and breaking into buildings) just because the detective in charge of the case is pigheaded.

That aside, though, I really enjoyed A Midnight Puzzle. And although this three-book arc has wrapped up, there is a clear hint in the last chapter that Tempest’s role as an amateur investigator is far from over. I’m looking forward to more of Tempest, her family, and Ms. Pandian’s locked-room mysteries.

Challenges: COYER Unwind, Chapt. 1; NetGalley & Edelweiss Challenge 2024

About Gigi Pandian

Gigi Pandian is the USA Today bestselling author of the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Series (Artifact, Pirate Vishnu, and Quicksand) and the Accidental Alchemist mysteries (The Accidental Alchemist and The Masquerading Magician). After spending her childhood being dragged around the world by her cultural anthropologist parents, she now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Gigi’s debut novel was awarded a Malice Domestic Grant and named a “Best of 2012” debut mystery novel by Suspense Magazine. The follow-up won the Left Coast Crime Rose Award. Gigi also writes locked-room “impossible crime” short stories, and her story “The Hindi Houdini” was short-listed for Agatha and Macavity awards.

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• COYER Unwind (2024) - Chapter 1
• NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2024

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