ARC Review: A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian

A Midnight Puzzle
Author: Gigi Pandian
Series: Secret Staircase Mysteries (Book 3)
Publication: Minotaur Books (March 19, 2024)

Description: 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.

My Thoughts: 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. 

Favorite Quote:

"If she had rigged booby traps before she died and they only got triggered now for some reason, then how did she hang an axe from the ceiling with fishing wire without anyone seeing it for more than five years?"

Sanjay shrugged. "Since when do people on the internet make any sense?"

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.