Confession - I skipped reading The Raven Thief, as I wasn't sure I was going to continue the series after the first book, Under Lock and Skeleton Key because I just wasn't all that interested in Tempest. I found her a bit bombastic and immature with the whole "I am The Tempest" stage bit, and I was probably unjustly comparing her to Pandian's other heroines, who I love.

But I got an invitation to read A Midnight Puzzle, saw that it was an "impossible mystery," and gave it a go, and I am so glad I did. I did miss some backstory and character development by not having read the second book, but it didn't take away from my reading experience.

I do still enjoy the secondary characters, such as Tempest's grandparents and her best friend, a bit more, but I like how Tempest has worked on herself and grown since the first book. I like how we see a bit of how her grandfather has made friends with people from all over their community and hope we get more glimpses into her family and friends.

This is also a great nod to John Dickson Carr and all impossible mysteries. I had the whodunnit narrowed down to one of two characters fairly early on, but the howdunnit stumped me pretty much to the end. I love that!

Why you should read this: If you like a more cerebral cozy, this is your series. There are red herrings, twists, turns, and all sorts of misdirection.

Why you might not want to: Tempest has a LOT of internal monologue. Because of the nature of the mysteries she solves, that's kind of unavoidable, since she has to work through multiple puzzles, but it make for a lot of telling and not showing.

I received an advance copy from Minotaur Books via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

4.25 out of 5 stars. Recommended

The third book in the Secret Staircase Mysteries was another twisty puzzle of a mystery.

Tempest Raj is enjoying her new career as a designer for her family's construction business. But all is not well with the business. A former client Julian Rhodes is suing the company for shoddy craftsmanship after his wife fell down the new staircase. Tempest and her family are sure that Rhodes attempted to murder his wife and damaged the staircase himself. But his fleet of lawyers may force the company to settle.

Then Julian Rhodes is murdered and left hanging, sword in chest, from the venue where Tempest has been planning the finale to her career as a stage magician. A booby trap in the same place injures a paramedic who is ministering to Rhodes and also damages the hand of Tempest's mentor Nicodemus the Necromancer when the two go to check out the site.

When Nicodemus's assistant Brodie is also found dead in a locked room mystery - found on the dust covered floor of a hidden stage at the theater - Tempest and her group of friends have another mystery to solve.

Tempest has a long-ago mystery to solve which has great impact on her life. A supposed curse has claimed the oldest child in a magical accident back to the days of her great-grandparents. It cost her the life of her aunt in Scotland who suffered a tragic accident while performing a new trick at her magic show. And it cost the life of Tempest's mother who disappeared in the same theater where Tempest was planning her final show because her mother was going to reveal who killed her sister.

It has always been Tempest's goal to find out who killed her aunt and her mother and this story lets her finally reach that goal and solve the two new murder too.

I enjoyed the twisty plot and the magical tricks in this story. I love the setting and Tempest's new career. I like her close family and interesting assortment of friends. While this book resolves the mystery that Tempest has been working on through the first three books, it isn't the end of the series. Her next case walks in the door at the end of the book.

The premise of "A Midnight Puzzle" is what initially drew me in and bumped this book towards the top of my TBR but the author's writing style kept me flipping pages eager to solve the mystery!

This is book three in the Secret Staircase Mysteries and just like the first two this book was equally bingeable and intriguing.

If you like a Cozy whodunnit Mystery filled with magic, illusion and memorable characters I would definitely check this book out!

Thank you Gigi Pandian, Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

BIPOC DIY Cozy Mystery featuring a former magician-turned-designer turns sleuth after a former client who's suing her family for his wife's "accident" is killed with a booby trap.

5/5 stars: This is a favorite series and it's a joy picking up Pandian's third entry in the Secret Staircase Mystery series, which is a DIY Cozy Mystery that takes place in California and features an Indian American former stage magician who now works for her family's home renovation company designing hidden doors, floating staircases and architectural puzzle walls. With plenty of twists and turns, Pandian has crafted a mystery that deftly balances the suspects, clues and red herrings and will leave you pondering the whodunit until the final reveal. I really enjoy how Pandian interweaves such a variety of magic tricks and illusions into the plot. Pandian's use of flashback POV chapters really enhances the resolution of the overarching plot involving Tempest's unsolved mystery family. Additionally, Pandian's writing and character work is stellar; the characters are well-rounded and complex while remaining incredibly likable. Tempest's smart and tough and has a unique, eclectic friend group; I especially love her friendship with Nicodemus and the description of his paper cutouts sounds so cool. And of course I can't forget to mention Abracadabra AKA Abra, Tempest's ten-pound, lop-eared rabbit. But wait, you'll for sure want to try out the absolutely yummy Indian recipes that are included. While you could read this as a stand-alone, you'll gain so much more by reading the series from the beginning; so be sure to pick up book one, Under Lock & Skeleton Key.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC of this book available to me.

This was a satisfying conclusion to the initial trilogy of books in this series. (Yes, more are in the works.) The major ongoing mysteries are neatly wrapped up with a nicely complex set of reveals at the end of the book. Some of the twists I saw coming, but a couple of them took me by surprise even though there were nicely laid clues that could have led me to them. If you are a fan of magic, secret rooms, or somewhat complex families then this book is for you.

3/5 ⭐️
This was fine. It was a fine murder mystery. I finished the whole thing. And it read fast, like I finished it in one day. But it was mid in comparison to other murder mystery books I’ve read.
I loved the premise. Our main character is an illusionist whose family is famous for making quirky houses filled with unique secret doors to secret rooms, and a murder happens at one location linked to their family history. That was cool, but I was still disappointed. The ending wrapped up in a sort of unsatisfying way. It honestly had me siding with the detective and agreeing with his annoyance for her butting her way into the case. There’s a fine line in doing that. And honestly, no one can top Miss Marple in accomplishing being the armchair detective who guides & helps the actual police to capturing the killers. She doesn’t do it herself. She assists the police and then lets them do their job. Besides that I was annoyed by the amount of times particular details were repeated. The worst was the amount of times we were told that her dad was the construction guy and her mom was the one to conjure the unique illusions to the houses, and that Julian is wrongfully suing them after his wife fell down the stairs in the house he was making them build after he heard they were building one for his neighbor. We were told all that at least once a chapter. And the chapters weren’t long. Every time those details were repeated I wanted to scream, I KNOW ALREADY! Sometimes I said it out loud before she could. In addition, there was way too much telling than showing. Especially when it came to character descriptions and backstories. It felt like I was being lectured this story rather than immersed in it.
Do I think people will enjoy this story, probably, it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve read. I didn’t DNF it. I would probably even recommend it to people. But it at the very least was not for me. And I’m a little disappointed cause I saw its potential if only a few things were fixed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Press for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

🎧🔲A MIDNIGHT PUZZLE by Gigi Pandian and read by the amazing Soneela Nankani is the next adventure in The Secret Staircase series.

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

I love these stories. I love the idea of a construction company that specializes in building secret spaces in fun and whimsical ways. I love the extended family ties, spanning continents of origin with perfect ease. I love the clever "locked-room" mysteries that surprise me every time. I love the friendships that give support. What I really loved in this one was the deeper dive into Tempest's mom's disappearance, an on-going mystery through the books.

Tempest Raj is an illusionist who has come back to work in her family construction company, Secret Staircase Construction. Recently, a horrible man tried to kill his wife by tampering with a project and then blaming the company. When he is found dead by a particularly odd mechanism at a theater, Tempest thinks booby-trap, and it won't be the first one! She has to find this killer and protect her family name.

I love getting to pair these stories with the audio! As the grandparents are Indian and Scottish, the accents are just so much fun and better than I could do in my head. The recipes in these books are also extremely tempting and the descriptions of the foods in the books always make me drool. I wish these people were real and lived next door.

I absolutely recommend this book for a stand-alone, but do go and check out the series too! This one comes out on March 19th, and for cozy mystery readers, this will be a great read.

Thank you @netgalley @macmillan.audio & @minotaur_books for this delightful reading experience!

Tempest Raj and her family have a unique business called Secret Staircase Construction. They create rooms that are referred to as architectural misdirection. The family business is under attack. Could the company's most recent construction be responsible for the death of one of their clients?

This series is written from Tempest's POV. I love her character! She is smart-mouthed, but insanely clever and talented. The idea of architectural puzzles is really cool and it was fun to imagine being in a room that had such a clever design. Of course, this book has a serious edge since there was a death, and this death had to be investigated. Of course, Tempest felt it was up to her to find the person responsible.

I so love this series. It is a literal case of locked room mysteries, and the first two book, Under Lock & Skeleton Key and The Raven Thief. In each book there is a unique construction that factors into the current mystery. In this book, A Midnight Puzzle, the family is in dire straits and I love how this book came along. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Many thanks to Minotaur Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Author Gigi Pandian delivers another fascinating page-turner with A Midnight Puzzle, the third book in the Secret Staircase series.
The book is as original and magical as the first two, and picks up where the last book left off with Tempest Raj on an almost obsessive quest to solve the murders of her aunt and mother. The question of whether those deaths are tied into the newer deaths in this book is constantly in the background, with Tempest determined to find a connection.
Of course, this wouldn't be a Secret Staircase book without hidden traps and a locked room mystery. Beneath those intriguing puzzles are the relationships that Tempest has come to rely on with family and friends, and how those relationships come into play as she works to solve the mysteries.
Superbly written and full of magic, artistry, and wonderful surprises, A Midnight Puzzle will keep you up long past midnight to reach its conclusion.
I was thrilled to get an ARC of #AMidnightPuzzle from #NetGalley.

A Midnight Puzzle is Book number 3 in the Secret Staircase Mystery series. I was unaware this book was part of a series when I started it, and although it worked fine as a standalone, I do think I would have appreciated it more having more of a background story on Tempest and some of the other side characters. Tempest is a former stage magician but now works for her father's construction company, Secret Staircase Construction. SSC is being targeted in a lawsuit involving a suspicious death and more mysteries and murder follows. I thought the mystery was solid and kept me guessing throughout. I loved the creepy and ominous theater as a setting. I do wish there had been more *puzzle* solving to the plot. But overall a fun and entertaining cozy mystery with a cast of eclectic characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for providing me a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

"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 truth: 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."

THIS is the series that true mystery aficionados love.

The cozy mystery series of my dreams!

Obsessed.

I started kind of not liking cozy mysteries as genre because the main characters don’t seem like they need to continue to meddle in investigations. But this series is not like that. Tempest being an illusionist and still searching for her missing mom makes this series make sense and you continue to really like the main characters.

Gobsmacked by the end of this one. Some things were easy to guess but some things-my jaw was on the floor.

This is book 3 and definitely has to be read in order there are a lot of characters but they are easy to keep track of.

If you are looking for a cozy mystery series with illusions/ stage magic and fun characters. This one is enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy.

A Midnight Puzzle gradually reels you into the story until I stayed up too late to try to finish it! This is the first of this series that I have read, but it works well as a stand-alone. I will definitely go back and read the first two books! The mixture of magic and mystery is so fitting. Both rely on misdirection to fool the audience and the reader. The characters are fun and interesting, a mixture of Indian and Scottish heritage. And a company that specializes in secret rooms, hidden passages, and puzzles is perfect!
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

Tempest Raj builds secret staircases for her family’s construction company which is now being attacked by a former customer who says their staircase was faulty and led to his wife’s death. Tempest gets a request from this former customer to meet and finds him dead. Solving his murder brings up secrets from her own family that need to be solved too. Fascinatingly plotted, this mystery brings the reader pure satisfaction.

Readers/listeners, decide which way you would like to access this latest Secret Staircase mystery or, like me, alternate between the two. I often do this so I can continue a story while I go on a walk or do chores.

This is the third book in this modern locked room series that pays tribute to the best classic mysteries and, I think, maybe to Nancy Drew. All of my favorite characters are here again, even those who are missing (Tempest’s mother).

In my opinion, this latest can be enjoyed without having read the earlier books but readers may want to read all three just for the fun and pleasure. There is backstory but enough is told so that someone new to the series can follow along.

Things are looking bad for the Secret Staircase company. There is a lawsuit and then, to make things worse, there is murder. Enjoy the magic, the detecting and the all around fun of this entry in the series. It was a good read.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the book and to Macmillan Audio for the listen. And, of course, thanks to NetGalley for both of these. All opinions are my own.

Is this when we learn about what actually happened to Emma Raj along with some others I shall not name here to avoid spoilers?! YES! Are we happy and sad to learn about the Raj curse? YES! Did Tempest outdo herself? YES!

Tempest decided to work with her papa and his construction crew. She was using her stage building skills to give people unique spaces. This was supposed to be Tempest's way to move away from trouble. But nope, they were still in trouble but legal kind this time. Someone took a fall because of their "faulty" construction and now, the husband was suing them. Story would be too anticlimactic if this was the only trouble they were in. Don't worry there was always more where those troubles come from

While Tempest was not the teenager, I think she finally grew up during this story. Figuring out the mysteries surrounding her past, present, and future. and understanding what people were capable of in their own self-preserving ways turned her into the woman her mother would be proud of. Now that major question marks are gone, I wonder what will come next

Another delightful mystery that can only be solved by Tempest Raj and her merry band! I loved the way this mystery unfurled, taking the reader in one direction and then shifting unexpectedly. The elements of storytelling, showmanship, and the supernatural gave this an air of intrigue that remained through the conclusion. Speaking of conclusions, the ending of this book feels final, and I hope that Pandian isn't done with this set of characters - I'd love to see where they go next!

A Midnight Puzzle is the third book in Gigi Pandian's Secret Staircase Series. A taut well written story in which Tempest Raj and her sleuthing friends once and for all try to unravel the details of the Raj family curse and the truths about the deaths of her aunt and mother.
The family's construction company is facing ruin due to a massive lawsuit by unscrupulous Julian Rhodes, who claims they were responsible for the accident that severely injured his wife. When Julian is murdered by a booby trap at the Whispering Creek Theater, which Tempest has rented for her final show, the mysteries deepen.
When her mentor, Nicodemus is also injured by a second booby trap, Tempest knows she has to finally uncover the truth. Deceptions, misdirection, unspoken truths and magic all come together in an unexpected conclusion.
Best of the series to date. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

A run romp of a mystery, part of a 3 book series but feel free to dive in here as I did. The mystery centers on a family of magicians, the Raj’s, and a reputed family curse that leads the eldest child to be killed by magic. Tempest Raj, the current eldest child of her father’s family, has seen this supposed curse in action in the death or disappearance of relatives on stage.

Tempest herself has taken leave of stage magic to join her father’s construction business and has transitioned into a talented designer of magical, whimsical, hidden elements in home construction: from hidden doors and staircase to secret entrances to tucked away rooms. Tempest delights in the work, but not in their latest client, the antagonistic Julian Rhodes who has a pattern of harassing and suing his contractors, the Rajs included.

Working late night on a project, Tempest gets a text to meet her client at an old theater she’s leased and where she’s hoping at some point to stage a one-woman production about her family curse tracing back to Edinborough. But when Tempest gets there, along with her mentor and long-time family friend Nicodermus the Necromancer, they find former client Julian Rhodes impaled and dead on the theater’s front door. Even worse, there’s a note on the door in Tempest’s handwriting inviting him inside.

Turns out there’s a whole cast of characters around the Raj family and Julian Rhodes who all are worthy suspects, even including the police investigator who’s worked on previous attacks targeting the family.

As Tempest delves more into their back stories, she emerges the prime investigator into Rhodes’ death and uses her intuition and knowledge of stage illusions to cleverly sort out the murder.

Thanks to Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

I really enjoyed this book. It is the ultimate locked room mystery. There are lots of twists and turns and just when you think you have figured everything out something new happens.
A magician turned builder for her family business,sets out to find out who is trying to destroy her family by claiming that faulty construction on their part caused a death. Things quickly take a twist when the person she suspects of murder is found dead in a most gruesome way at a theater she has rented. The very theater where her mother disappeared and she suspects was murdered.