Cozy Mystery Review: A Midnight Puzzle | Gigi Pandian | Secret Staircase Mystery #3

Gigi Pandian’s A Midnight Puzzle is a fun, relatively light mystery centering around a family of magicians. This premise feels fresh—as a frequent mystery reader I don’t think I’ve come across something like this before. A Midnight Puzzle is the third book in Pandian’s Secret Staircase Mystery series and I do think some context is lost if you haven’t read the first two, though this can be read as a standalone if you’re ok not fully understanding certain aspects of prior books that led to where this book begins. This is in many ways the conclusion to a three-novel arc within the series.

Classic illusionist Nicodemus the Necromancer has always been a mentor to Tempest Raj (of the Raj family of magicians). When Nicodemus begins his retirement tour, it comes with bittersweet feelings about leaving his stage persona and work behind. Tempest doesn’t relate—she has left stage magic behind and is working at her father’s company, Secret Staircase Construction. This outlet allows Tempest to be creative and work with her hands to create illusory works of architectural art.

Tempest has always lived with a cloud over her that her father’s family has been cursed for centuries. The curse posits that the eldest child of the Raj family dies by magic. Tempest has seen other members of their family fall victim to the curse. Tempest is glad to work in her current role away from magic. When her client Julian Rhodes mysteriously dies, it’s unclear whether the cause of death was supernatural or something more grounded in the physical world. Tempest must prove that Secret Staircase wasn’t responsible for his death and determine how this all connects to her family’s curse!

This book picks up where the previous book The Raven Thief left off and it does feel like a conclusion of sorts to the mystery that has spanned the first three books. When I finished, I actually wondered if Pandian plans to wrap this as a trilogy or continue the series. Either way would work—there is certainly plenty of story that could be told about the Raj family in future books.

The combination of Indian and Scottish heritage in this series has been a high point. The food always sounds delicious and I find myself wanting to be there to try what the characters are eating—especially the food cooked by Tempest’s grandfather, Ash! There are a few recipes at the end of the book so perhaps I will be able to try some of the food myself.

The blend of the two cultures is one of my favorite parts to this series. In A Midnight Puzzle, the reader finally gets an answer to what happened to Tempest’s mother and aunt who used to work together as illusionists. Is there truly a curse on their family that the oldest dies by magic? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

This is more cerebral than an average cozy mystery, though it definitely still fits within the genre. I think it is fun in these books that the trope in cozy mysteries of “is that a dead body or a mannequin?” actually makes a ton of sense in this series because there are plenty of fake deaths in magic! The plot is complex—a lot of subplots interweave into the central mystery. The plot is really a puzzle in and of itself, but if you give it the time you’ll surely find the twists at the end satisfying!

Audiobook Review | A Midnight Puzzle

I did the audiobook for A Midnight Puzzle and it helped because there is quite a bit of visualization that is needed with certain aspects of this book (hello, hidden staircases!). Soneela Nankani narrated the audiobook and she’s a narrator whom I always enjoy! She did a great job with the complexity of the story and the various accents—Indian grandparents, Scottish grandmother, and Americans, to name a few.

Thank you Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for my copy. Opinions are my own.

About the Author | Gigi Pandian

Gigi Pandian is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning mystery author, breast cancer survivor, and accidental almost-vegan. She’s the child of professors from New Mexico and the southern tip of India, and spent her childhood traveling around the world on their research trips. She now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and a gargoyle who watches over the garden.

She writes the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mystery series, the Accidental Alchemist mysteries, and the Secret Staircase mysteries.

Her debut novel was awarded a Malice Domestic Grant and named a Best of 2012 Debut by Suspense Magazine, her mysteries have been awarded the Agatha, Rose, Lefty, and Derringer awards, and been short-listed for the Edgar.

About the Book | A Midnight Puzzle

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.