Book 044 of 350 ~ 2025

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One star because it features libraries and Librarians.

It started off fun (great narrator btw), felt like it plateaued for a bit in the middle then picked right back up towards the third end of the book.

First one from the series that I read/listened and that's due to its title.

One or split into two sitting kinda read.

I received a complimentary copy of both the ebook and the audiobook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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The Library Game is a delightful mystery packed with secret passages, literary puzzles, and Pandian’s signature charm. The plot keeps you guessing, and the setting is pure book-lover’s paradise. A few moments felt a bit rushed, but overall, a fun, clever read. Perfect for mystery fans!

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the ARC of this book!

I didn't realize going in that this was the fourth book in a cozy mystery series, but the author did a good job of introducing characters and the setting, so I didn’t feel lost even though I’d never read the first three books. I really wanted to like the book, but I felt like it did a lot more telling than showing, so I’m only giving it 2.5 stars.

I liked that the main character, Tempest Raj, is a tough South Asian female sleuth, and her family and group of friends were really diverse. The narrator did a great job with all of the voices and I didn't have trouble determining who was speaking on the rare occasion it wasn't specifically stated. What I didn’t like is that I felt that the story belabored that point and took every opportunity to remind us of their ethnicities even when it didn’t add anything to the scene. Once or twice in the beginning is enough to get a mental image of the characters and then move on. I also really like that Tempest’s family’s construction business specializes in secret staircases and hidden home features. That’s cool and played well with the storyline of this book set in a home-turned-library. But I felt the story was fed to us step by step instead of giving us clues to allow us to try to figure out whodunnit for ourselves.

It was an easy enough read (well, listen, in my case) but I wasn’t particularly excited to turn it on and hear what happened next. Sadly, this is not a series I will be picking up.

ANOTHER FANTASTIC LOCKED ROOM MYSTERY WITH THE GANG WE'VE COME TO LOVE!
Once again Gigi has given us a locked room mystery that's impossible to figure out as she welcomes us to hang out with this great cast of characters and join them in figuring out who done it. As usual it is letter perfect and just the right length. The Narrater is also the perfect choice and the tango music at the beginning and end is so much fun! The only problem I have with this book is that there isn't another one ready to read right now! I loved this book and highly recommend it . It is a stand-alone that can be read right now, if you are new to the Secret Staircase mysteries. Thank you to the publisher for this ARC.

Thank you so Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook ARC of the Library Game!

So I didn’t know until I was part way through the book, that this is actually a series. It is easily read as a stand alone though! This is a cozy mystery if you want that bit of intrigue without the heaviness of some books.

First of all, I absolutely love the idea of a company doing home renovations that incorporate secret doorways, passages and more! It set this story up to feel mysterious from the start. Though that aspect didn’t necessarily play a huge role in the mystery, it was still fun having it there.

There are lots of characters to keep track of in this book and some of them I completely forgot existed for parts of the story. It made it kind of tricky to follow and remember who the people were when they showed up later.

That said, the narration for this book was fantastic. The amount of different characters were still kept unique even with the one voice. I thought she did a great job of showing a dynamic range of emotion throughout the story.

The mystery itself wasn’t overly complex but it almost felt simplistic. The motive felt weak to me, but I guess people do crazy stuff for less.

This is definitely a book worth reading if you like lighter mysteries. It’s fun and just the right amount of dangerous intrigue.

A fun bookish mystery with a magical twist! The Library Game is a delightful mix of mystery, magic, and literary fun. Turning a house into a detective-themed library is the perfect setting for an escape-room-style whodunit, and Gigi Pandian makes great use of secret passages and clever illusions. The impossible crime kept me guessing, and the book is packed with fun nods to classic mysteries. Some parts felt a little over the top, but that’s part of the charm. A must-read for fans of locked-room puzzles and bookish adventures!

Thank you Gigi Pandian, St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I am of the firm opinion that publishers should go back to numbering series entries on the spine and make it clear in marketing blurbs that the book is part of a larger whole. That said, The Library Game is number 4 in Gigi Pandian's Secret Staircase series. Having not read entries 1-3, I was lost. The plot was easy enough to follow but cozies are as much about the repeat characters as anything else and I couldn't even keep who was who straight. Without the kind of affinity that gets built in over time, I couldn't care enough to truly engage. Beyond that, I think that this particular series might be more suited to a young adult audience. I imagine readers of the previous book in the series will enjoy this entry.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thought I was over cozy mysteries but this series has me in a chokehold. I love that the characters make sense to be trying to unfold what happened and don’t seem to be going out of their way to investigate like lil busy bodies.

I think you could read it as a standalone but WHY?! I’d start from the beginning it’s all great.

Thanks to netgalley and Macmillan for an alc

"In The Library Game, Tempest Raj and Secret Staircase Construction are renovating a classic detective fiction library that just got its first real-life mystery."

I've read all of the Secret Staircase novels, and while generally enjoyable, I find them a bit repetitive and dry at times. Just a bit...twee? Do people still say that? I don't know, but this one was a real slog for me.

Tempest and her gaggle of amateur sleuths are out to solve a locked-room mystery (my favourite!) with much whining, eating, and twirling, as usual. I just couldn't get into this one, and I'm not sure I'll continue with the series. I thought book 3 was a nice place to end Tempest's story, with the big mysteries of the series solved. The stakes seemed lower, and I really didn't care about the mystery. I really can't tell why! I guess I've just lost interest. Oh well.

I received a free audiobook copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

*ARC received from NetGalley*

I love a good murder mystery! It had humor and lightheartedness to it even though someone was dead. The idea of a construction company that specializes in building secret rooms and such is something that would be so cool to utilize in real life. It was a super quick and easy read. The characters were likable and there wasn't too much fluff. Things got to the point quickly. I didn't read any of the other books in this series, but I would like to after this one! You don't need to read them in order either to understand what's going on. There's enough information that they can all be read a standalones.

The Library Game is the 4th book in the Secret Staircase Mystery series and it is an intriguing locked room cozy mystery. The characters are very likable and the mystery kept me guessing. I enjoy how the parts of the mystery are solved a little at a time. Tempest Raj was a stage magician but now works for her family's Secret Staircase Construction Company. Her friends Ivy, Sanjay, and Gideon are wonderful, supportive friends and help with investigating. Tempest has finally chosen one of the guys to date but they all still hang out. Secret Staircase Construction is renovating a house into a mystery library. The new owner wants to host a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater and all four friends are helping out. During one of the rehearsals, they think a local is dead and then he disappears. The group is together and no one leaves the room so they are confused how it could happen. There are some strange things going on as well to complicate the situation. This is such an intriguing book and series and I am looking forward to more adventures with the friends. The audiobook is very well done and is narrated by Somehow Hannah #TheLibraryGame #TheSecretStaircaseMystery #MacmillanAudio #GigiPandian

Overall The Library Game was OK. I enjoyed the narration by Soneela Nankani very much. If not for her character voices and talent (and the means to listen at 2x speed) this may have been a DNF for me. The Library Game is a locked door, closed circle murder mystery. I usually like cozy murder mysteries, (especially with a locked door premise), but a few elements kept me from really enjoying this story.

Admittedly, this is the first book I’ve read in the series and I was hoping it would spark an interest to go back and read the previous books in the collection. The only reason why I jumped into the middle of a series is that it was noted in the description that this could be read as a stand alone. I don’t fully agree with that. While I was able to keep up with the story overall, I could tell that there’ were some underlying circumstances that I was out of the loop in totally getting. While it didn’t keep me from understanding the events, it felt like there were many inside jokes or past conversations that I wasn’t privy to jumping in at book #4. The characters are well formed and for the genre everything that happens is plausible.

I just could never shake two things:
1) the pacing seemed off. It bogged down in the middle. Several times the author makes references to the group giving adult “Scooby-Doo” vibes, but instead of being sweet and nostalgic it made them too goofy or overly confident they’d solved the case before the case was actually solved.

2) it felt as if I was the new kid, really trying to be part of this group of smart, fun crime solvers, but the closest I felt was nosy neighbor they treated kindly because they are kind, neighborly people.

After all that, if you’ve read and enjoyed the other books in the Secret Staircase series, The Library Game is probably a good next episode to indulge in reading or listening to the audiobook.

Tempest Raj and her father own and run a very interesting company called Secret Staircase Construction. Honestly, that’s what made me choose this book in the first place. Just before their latest job is to be opened to the public a murder occurs in the house/soon to be library. Why the person died and who did it is the basis for the whole story. Tempest’s friends and family work to find the murderer, absolve her friend Sanjay and open the newest library in their town.

The character development is good. The friends really work well together. No one seemed like a blithering idiot, which is nice. Tempest’s grandfather Ash is an extremely talented cook and baker. The descriptions of his delicious foods and treats was a welcome addition to all the sleuthing.

I couldn't get into this book, it felt like too many vague reminders of the previous story were included, either tell me what happened or don't mention it so much. But overall nothing really grabbed me and made me want to keep reading,

Another enjoyable read from Gigi Pandian, and the fourth in the Secret Staircase series.

In terms of the mystery and the quality of how the characters are written, this was a return to form for the series, which slipped a lot in the third book. Here we get the best of Tempest, Ivy, and the rest of the gang, as well as a well plotted mystery.

I still wish this series would spend more time on the architectural detail and the stage magic driven stuff that made the first book in the series so exceptional. This one gives us a bit more of the latter, but not much of the former. I wish we saw more of Tempest’s relatives as well, who are delightful and featured more prominently earlier in the series.

I was very happy with the mystery itself, which felt both solidly plotted and thoroughly enjoyable. It seems like Pandian won’t have any trouble keeping this series going, so I hope we see another installment in the not too distant future.

This book was a bit different than my typical reads so I was excited to try something new. It was a pretty light hearted mystery, though there is a death it wasn't presented in a graphic or gruesome way. I found it to be a bit slow up until the last 15% or so of the book and found myself having a hard time going back to listen up until that point. The main character Tempest is enjoyable, however some of the elements of her character are over the top for me, mostly regarding the magician aspect. This could be because I haven't read the first 3 books in the series, but I didn't realize it was part of a series until after listening. I do think it holds up as a standalone book, but there very well may be some aspects that would be more believable and exciting with the previous 3 for context.
I am an elementary school librarian so the title intrigued me, but the library in the books definitely wasn't a traditional one.
The narrator was excellent! The recipe at the end was also a fun surprise, and sounds delicious to boot!
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance listening copy of this book.

This was my first book by this author and I’m hooked. Even though this is part of a series, it is good as a standalone book. There were so many twists and turns, misdirection and confusion in this locked room mystery. I am interested in more books by this author and would recommend it for mystery lovers.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

(3.75 stars)
The fourth book in the Secret Staircase mystery series is another delightful locked-room mystery. This time the family-owned specialty construction company doesn’t figure into the story very much, but the talents of the former magician, Tempest Raj, definitely does. Tempest and her friends are putting on a show that is an escape room/murder mystery dinner play. It’s being staged in Gray House, which was a private home filled with classic mystery novels that is being turned into a library - if the town council approves the plan. The show is supposed to be part of the town’s Summer Stroll festivities. But when one of the actors is found murdered, will the show be able to go on?

There are several characters to keep track of, but if you’ve read at least one of the previous books, that won’t be an issue. The main “players” include Tempest’s friend and possible future boyfriend, Gideon, a talented stone carver; Sanjay, her magician friend who bills himself as the Hindu Houdini; Ivy, who runs the existing local mystery-themed library, and more. As usual, Grandpa Ash provides delicious-sounding food! (Don’t miss the blackberry crumble cobbler recipe at the end of the book.) And Abra, Tempest’s pet rabbit, makes a couple of appearances.

The locked-room aspect was well done, as always. Do we actually see what we think we see? In addition to the mystery, there’s an emphasis on family and friendship, which I always appreciate.

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient. The audiobook was narrated by Soneela Nankani, who once again did a great job with the many characters and accents.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook and to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you @NetGalley and @MacmillanAudio for the ARC. I did not know this was a series before reading this book, now I need to go back and read them all. This was such a fun mystery and adding the setting for a murder mystery party was perfect. Tempest makes secret staircases for houses and especially Libraries. She plans to unveil a new house turned Library with a murder mystery show, but the murder turns real. A must read.

This was my first time reading a book by Gigi Pandian. The Library Game is the fourth book in the series, but it read like a stand-alone. I enjoyed this book so much I want to back and read the other books in the Secret Staircase Mysteries.

Our protagonist Tempest works for the family business Secret Stairway Construction where she designs hidden libraries and secret passages. At the end of a job building a library, the owners want to celebrate a murder mystery party, however thing go awry preparing for it

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listener copy. The narrator Soneela Nankani was wonderful, and kept me engaged in the story. I highly recommend this book, it's filled with great and diverse characters and kept me guessing the whole time. 4.5 stars

Fun mystery to get into. The characters were relatable but mysterious enough to keep the reader guessing. I liked the idea of actors/magicians playing a “trick” in order to get the reader off the perpetrators trail. When you find out the truth at the end of the book it feels like you should have known all along but the distractions worked! This was a fun whodunnit to read if you like to keep guessing throughout the story!