Tempest Raj is part of an intriguing family. Her parents designed fantastical houses with secret passageways and very unusual structures. She has her own magical show on stage but has come home in shame due to a mishap in Las Vegas. It seems there is a curse on the family where the eldest child will die by magic. She has lost her mother and sister and that makes her the current eldest. I absolutely enjoyed this book. It was very interesting and kept me guessing until the end of the story. I am looking forward to reading the next one.

Pandian's Secret Staircase Mysteries just aren't my thing. I downloaded the ebooks and the audiobooks, but couldn't get into them. Maybe at another time, but the mysteries didn't pull me in.

Meet Tempest Raj and employees of her fathers Secret Staircase Company. "Under Lock & Skeleton Key" is a must-read for all Gigi Pandian fans or anyone else who loves a well crafted mystery. Pandian is the modern master of the locked room, but more than that, she has strong characters (long-time readers may recognize a name or two) with fascinating family lore and a strong sense place. I want to keep exploring the family home with all its tricks and surprises for many more books.

🗝️A career-ending accident on stage sends magician Tempest Raj home to her father and grandparents only to stumble on her murdered stage double inside a wall of the old house that Secret Staircase Construction, the company founded by her mother and father, is working on.

Things I loved:

🗝️Everything.

Seriously, go read this book.

It’s on sale today. Get off Instagram and go get your copy.

Okay…I guess you want more…

🗝️A loving multicultural family–Indian and Scottish
🗝️Other diverse characters
🗝️Delectable descriptions of food including a few recipes
🗝️Witty and heartwarming writing
🗝️A lop-eared bunny named Abracadabra who, yes, escapes from his cage
🗝️Mentions of all kinds of art, from woodworking, to welding, to painting, to music and more
🗝️A special library just for lovers of traditional mysteries
🗝️References to classic mystery novels and films
🗝️A most excellent friend group including a fabulous best friend
🗝️A centuries old curse
🗝️Mysteries, magic tricks, puzzles, riddles, and keys
🗝️A layered and complex mystery with a layered and complex solution (plus something left unsolved that may return in a later book?)
🗝️An indomitable heroine

This definitely has some trappings of a cozy mystery but fans of golden age and traditional mysteries will love this too. I could even see some crossover for fans of books like Caraval.

A headscratching mystery with a thought-provoking solution. Locked room mysteries are hard to pull off and this one was done extremely well.

Whimsical and brilliant read. Loved it and devoured this book. Thank you! Also phenomenal narrator. I thought it was paired nicely and really made the book all that more special!! Thank you for this copy!

A fun cozy mystery. I loved the home renovation/secret room business! How fun is that? And the main character is a disgraced stage magician! I definitely think the cover doesn't do it justice.

I absolutely loved this book! I listened to this at work and it was hard to stop listening. It was so easy to get wrapped up in the mystery and the whimsical writing. There were so many fun elements including hidden rooms, secret entrances and a livable treehouse. Tempest is an illusionist who goes back home after her Las Vegas show got cancelled due to a sabotage gone wrong. She agreed to help with her family business, Secret Staircase Construction while she is home. Her former assistant was found dead inside a wall in a house her family company was working on. She then needed to figure out whether there is actually a family curse or there is someone is coming after her to make it look that way. This was my first cozy locked room mystery and it was a treat. I cannot wait for the rest of the series to come out!

Thank you to NetGallery and to Macmillan Audio for giving me a copy for my honest review.

I loved this book! Magic, hidden staircases, murder, and puzzles. It was so fun. I listened to the audiobook and I really enjoyed the narrator.

I was really enjoying Under Lock and Skeleton Key. Unfortunately, I decided that the audiobook format was not the best way to read this book. The narrator Soneela Nankani was fantastic, her accents were amazing. However, learning about the wonderful food of Indian culture and magic at the same time on audio meant I could not look up what the author was writing about, because I could not see the words and I mostly consume audiobooks on my commutes. I am looking forward to finishing the book on ebook format.

Loved it!
Attached is my interview with Gigi Pandian one the Crime Writers of Color Podcast.
https://www.crimewritersofcolor.com/cwoc-podcast/kellye-and-gigi

A great start to a new cozy mystery series!

I loved the Indian culture that the family in this book were based around. Reading this made me hungry with all the talk about food so beware! The mystery aspect was very well done. Sometimes cozies can get a bit repetitive but this one had a story line that was really unique. We get family mystery, job drama, rekindling friendship, and a smidgeon of haunting. The set up for future books has me super excited to continue with Tempest’s story.

The construction company’s structures were really neat and the detail allowed me to visualize well what they looked like. Abra was my favorite and I loved that he played a part in solving the mystery.

The audio was amazing for this book if that is your go to!

Thank you to NetGalley for the audio ARC and goodreads for the giveaway physical copy!

Under Lock & Skeleton Key is the first in a new series by Pandian.

Tempest is back home after an accident at work cause her to look careless. She is replaced with her stage double. While Tempest is trying to get back into the game and back to her life, she is stuck helping out her father in his unique construction business.

As they are looking at one house they discover a body in a wall that has been sealed. How did the body get into a wall? How come the body is none other than Tempest’s stage double. What was she doing here?

As Tempest begins to believe that she was the one that was meant to have been murdered, she starts to believe that the family curse that killed her aunt and mother has now come for her. She is determined to find out if there is a way to have gotten a body into the wall that wouldn’t register to an untrained eye. Is there magical deception at going on here? Is there a curse out to get her or was is there a murderer in her mists? She is determined to find out either way.

Tempest finds that her old family and friends are something she wants to stay in her life as she discovers that slowing down to enjoy life is something she really needs.

Tempest’s father’s business is so interesting and hard to understand how it is not thriving. If nothing else they should definitely expand there business to other areas and perhaps go national with it. I think it sounds amazing! I would have loved to read more about it.

The little mysteries within were interesting and I was interested to see what came of them. They were all great.

The murder mystery itself seemed like a side note and not as front and center for much of the book. I didn’t find that to be a problem as the other parts of the story were interesting and kept me guessing.

The murder mystery itself kept me interested and I had no idea what to think. I kept guessing and never ended up with the right guess. I don’t know how I would have seen it coming though. Maybe that’s just me.

Soneela Nankani did a wonderful job with he narration of this story. I read it at 3x speed. I would gladly listen to other narrations done by her in the further.

I had never heard of her or read any of her book prior to this one I found on NetGalley. I think I will have to check out some of her other books as well. When the next book in this series comes out I will be reading it.

A wonderful book! I started passing around the hard copies at work as soon as it was released. We'll be using it in our mystery book club, too. Under Lock & Skeleton Key is a different type of mystery, with it's magic and mystic elements, but the mystery itself is not overlooked. It has it's twists and turns and you'll be changing your mind about whodunnit, and how they did it!

This book is a proverbial kitchen sink of mystery tropes, which usually makes for a confused and messy novel. But it worked beautifully here and resulted in one of the most fun mysteries I’ve read in a while.

The story is a terrific ode to classic and locked room mysteries, carrying forward all of the themes that make such novels mystery classics but updated in tone for a modern audience. The story has some humor to it, which helps with the sometimes-stilted and wooden nature of golden age style mysteries.

Pandian gets right about hidden room/secret passage tropes what so many authors get wrong, and all of the architectural elements that play into the story make it a fun play-along-at-home story for the reader. While it’s not one you’re likely to solve on your own until near the end of the book, the flawless plotting and structure mean no frustrating info dump in the climax and a satisfying journey throughout the narrative.

A+ for setting, use of mystery themes and tropes, and excellent characters, and an enjoyable read for both adults and for a younger audience. I’m already eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

Surprising given that it’s heavily rooted in atmosphere and descriptive detail, this story translated wonderfully into audiobook format. The narrator was measured but expressive, and the pacing lends itself well to the medium.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately, it was not for me. This book will absolutely find its reader and most likely it will be a middle school child. I was just bored.

This was such a fun locked room mystery. I love a mystery that is based around a cool magic trick. Pandian created an entertaining puzzle with some interesting characters. Overall this was a fast-paced and fun story with some really delicious and delightful elements.

📖 Tempest Raj is the latest in a family of world-famous magicians who also happen to be haunted by a deadly curse. After a near-tragic accident, Tempest returns to her family home in California where she is feeling pressure to join her father's construction company, which specializes in hidden rooms and staircases. Reluctantly, she agrees to help with their latest client, whose project uncovers a deadly secret. Tempest races to uncover the truth and avoid becoming the next victim claimed by the family curse.

🎧 Soneela Nankani narrated the audiobook and did a really wonderful job. She brought a really refreshing and believable voice to Tempest, and it really made for a delightful listen.

I enjoyed this book but not as much as I was expecting to. I had high hopes as the premise sounded so interesting but it fell flat a bit. It was still a solid listen and a quick listen. I definitely got sucked into it and couldn’t put it down.

2.5/5 star rating.

In Under Lock & Skeleton Key, Tempest Raj finds herself in a very strange situation: she's moved back home after her career as an illusionist takes a nosedive, is working for her father's construction company, and has found the woman who ruined her career dead inside the house her father's company is working in. What's even more strange is that the dead girl, Cassidy, is Tempest's nearly identical stunt double which leads Tempest to ask, is this murder the result of Cassidy's actions or was this a missed attempt on her life? A longstanding legend of the Raj family curse also doesn't help matters. Along with her family and friends, Tempest digs into this crime and discovers not only Cassidy's secrets, but some in her family as well.

There were many things about this book that I enjoyed, but overall it was not a win for me. I loved the premise and the characters. I think that the Indian culture was really well infused into the story, especially the food! However, there were many parts that I simply glazed over. Tempest's father is a specialty builder and designs homes with secret doors and hidden elements. The amount of time spent describing so many different trap doors or hidden locks was just too much. I appreciate the attempt at realistically explaining some elements to us, but it was so overly explained that I lost interest and stopped trying to follow. The same could, unfortunately, be said for the resolution of this murder. It was so COMPLICATED. And not in a way that seemed clever, but a way that seemed overwrought. I was in the middle of listening the denouement of the murder mystery and was pulled away from the story. In most murder mysteries I've read, this would have caused me serious frustration and I would have done whatever I could to get back to my book. With this one, I didn't get back to this book for days because, by that point, I just didn't care anymore. The ending was too complicated and felt over my head which took out the interest for me.

The narration of this book was great. I'd heard books from Soneela Nankani before and recognized her voice instantly. This audiobook really showcased her ability and range when it came to accents. She did a great job!

This was a fun and fast murder mystery that adds the aspect of magic and slight of hand intertwined with a family curse. I enjoyed the characters, though I found I got confused a few times because there were so many, and the main character Tempest whose insight and mind always seemed on step ahead. I also like the object of the charm bracelet and the mystery behind the inheritance her mom left her. There was a lot going on in this book that ended up connecting together so it was hard to come across a dull moment. While everything connected together in the end, it did seem too easily figured out at the end with Tempest making several "aha" moments without much evidence or thought. I do wish that there was more involving secret rooms and staircases, along with more detail about the skeleton key because that had me excited. This was a good escape read that read a bit like a cozy mystery if that is what you are in the mood for!