stage door

Tempest Raj is planning her new show. A stage magician by trade, she now works with her family’s Secret Staircase Construction, where they install hidden rooms, bookshelf passageways, and yes, secret staircases in people’s homes. As someone steeped in misdirection, Tempest understands how to hide something in plain sight in a way that’s entertaining and special.

Her last show in Las Vegas did not end well, and she ended up having to move home to California. But she found that moving home brought her back to the family and friends she loved most, and she truly enjoyed her work with the Secret Staircase clients. But she wants more. So she has rented the local theater to put together one last show.

At least that’s what she’s telling everyone who asks. The truth is that her mother, also a stage magician, had a show at that theater five years ago and disappeared. Tempest has rented the theater to try to figure out what happened to her mother that night.

But for now, Tempest is distracted. The company is being sued by one of their clients. They had done some work in the home of Julian and Paloma Rhodes, creating a floating circular staircase, among other things. Paloma had tripped coming down the stairs and ended up in a coma. Julian is suing Secret Staircase Construction for shoddy work, and it is affecting their business, even though Tempest is convinced that Julian had damaged the step himself in an attempt to kill his wife.

But when Julian shows up at the theater at midnight one night, after calling Tempest, angry that she had asked him to come to the theater and then not shown up, Tempest knew immediately that trouble was brewing. She heads there, but it’s too late. Julian has been stabbed through the door. And then, when emergency personnel try to free him, one of them get stabbed also. He survives, but to Tempest it’s cleat that someone pretending to be her had lured Julian to the theater to make it look like she killed him.

Now Tempest has another murder to solve. And at the same theater. Will Tempest be able to solve the mysteries, or will she lose her family’s business, her freedom, and her one chance to finally figure out what happened to her mother?

A Midnight Puzzle is book 3 in Gigi Pandian’s clever Secret Staircase Mystery series. These books are smart and unusual, with an undercurrent of magic but nothing supernatural about the solutions. There is a lot of thoughtful misdirection and drama along with a grandfather who keeps everyone well fed, a fellow magician known as The Hindi Houdini, the Locked Room Library with a meeting room designed to look like a vintage train car, a rabbit names Abracadabra, and two potential love interests.

I listened to the audio book, narrated beautifully by Soneela Nankani. Nankani does an amazing job with all of Tempest’s family and friends, and her voice work of Tempest might be the best. It’s very dramatic and seems over the top at first, but the more you spend time with Tempest, the more you understand that is exactly how Tempest probably sounds inside her own head. It’s a perfect reading for the character, and now I can’t Imagine reading these books without Nankani’s voice in my head.

I really enjoyed A Midnight Puzzle. I love Tempest’s family and friends, and getting to spend time in this universe is always such a treat. And then there is the way I get to see a glimpse of the unusual world of the stage magician. The mysteries are well crafted, but there is humor and compassion throughout the book, so the story doesn’t get too dark. I thought the ending for this one was particularly satisfying, and I look forward to seeing how Tempest moves forward from this story.

Egalleys for A Midnight Puzzle were provided by Minotaur Books, with many thanks, but I bought the audio book myself through Audible.