A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian

Item: A Midnight Puzzle
Rating: 5
Author: BaronessMom

Posted February 19, 2024 by BaronessMom in Mystery, Review, Series / 0 Comments

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A Midnight Puzzle

by Gigi Pandian

Series: Secret Staircase Mystery #3
Series Rating:

Published by Minotaur on March 19, 2024
Setting: Northern California
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 352
Format: Audible Audiobook, Hardcover, Kindle
Source: the Publisher
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Nook
Also in this series: Under Lock & Skeleton Key

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.

A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian is fantastic. The author is a master at mystery and magnificent at bringing cultures together.

Will Tempest finally unmask her mother’s killer before she is caught in a trap?

This is the conclusion of the Raj curse. Tempest and her Scooby gang are still investigating the murder of Tempest’s mom and aunt. However, the lawsuit that has been filed against her family business is trying on her nerves. Then she has friends from her days of magic visiting.

This installment let’s us see how Tempest and the Raj family handle stress. I loved how her family and friends stand by her. Tempest is a strong character; she has excellent instincts, but sometimes she doesn’t listen. I do believe that she has learned not to go off on her own. Honestly, in this installment, I feel that Tempest grows the most.

The mystery doesn’t wrap up the way that Tempest would like, but in real life, things don’t always follow your plan, and the author brings that point home. The author left an opening for Tempest to investigate new mysteries; I hope that works out for them.

Five Stars

I loved the wrap-up but was appalled by some things that people close to the Raj family did while still calling themselves friends. Ms. Pandian kept me on the seat of my chair, but I didn’t figure out how the killings happened or who the culprit was. My rating for A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian is five stars. I highly recommend it to all mystery readers out there. Ms. Pandian is a master at the locked room aspect. I believe she would give Ms. Christie a run for her money.

A few recipes are included at the end of the book: Quick-Cook Dosa, Chocolate Almond Spread, and Mango Ice Cream.

Secret Staircase Mystery

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian.

Until the next time,

About Gigi Pandian

Gigi Pandian is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning mystery author, breast cancer survivor, and accidental almost-vegan. The child of cultural anthropologists from New Mexico and the southern tip of India, she spent her childhood being dragged around the world on their research trips and now lives outside San Francisco with her husband and a gargoyle who watches over the garden. Gigi writes the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mysteries, the Accidental Alchemist Mysteries, and locked-room mystery short stories. Her debut novel, Artifact, was awarded a Malice Domestic Grant and named a “Best of 2012” Debut Novel by Suspense Magazine, and her fiction has received Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Derringer Awards, and been nominated for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award. Along with Kellye Garrett and Walter Mosley, she’s one of the co-founders of Crime Writers of Color.

Gigi’s locked-room mystery short story “The Locked Room Library” appeared in the July/August 2021 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, the latest Accidental Alchemist novel, The Alchemist of Fire and Fortune, was published in October, 2021, and her first Secret Staircase mystery, Under Lock & Skeleton Key, is coming from Minotaur Books in March 2022.