A Midnight Puzzle is the 3rd book in the Secret Staircase Mystery series. Tempest Raj is a magician, who has not been performing due to an incident a year earlier. She works for her family's company, Secret Staircase Construction. They are being sued by Julian, a man whose wife was injured in one of their rooms, however he was the one who tried to kill her. She has been in a coma, but has recently come out of it and is in hiding from him. When Tempest gets a call from Julian to meet him at the historic Whispering Creek Theater, she goes, only to find his dead body impaled on a door. When the paramedics arrive, another blade shoots out of the door wounding one of them. Tempest realizes that the door has been booby trapped. Her family and even Tempest are suspected of murder, as they were being sued and would be capable of setting a booby trap. His wife is also a suspect, but they can't find her. Tempest puts her puzzle skills to work to solve the crime and get her loved ones off the hook.

I enjoy this series as it has lots of elements I enjoy. The family connections are wonderful, she has great friends, the magic acts are interesting, and the murders are always well plotted. Tempest's family is a combination of Indian and Scottish, which is a great mix. Her grandparents are wonderful and loving. There is an ongoing mystery in this series dealing with Tempest's mother and aunt, and I am happy to say it is finally solved in this book. Tempest's friends are so supportive of her and will drop everything when she needs help, just like she would do for them. Some of the characters are a bit quirky and eccentric, which adds to the likability of the cast. This mystery was not an easy one to solve and when she finally does it results in some uncomfortable situations due to betrayal and lies. I listened to A Midnight Puzzle narrated by Soneela Nankani. She gave the various characters their own identifiable voices handling the accents well, and added just enough emotion and expression to add to my enjoyment of the story. I have enjoyed other books by this talented voice actress and won't hesitate to listen to other books she narrates.

Tempest finds the answers she is looking for in this installment. I love how these novels are truly like a puzzle that must be put together.

Having not read the last in this series, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I began reading A Midnight Puzzle, but what a fun audiobook listen, that now has me excited to go back and read the last two in the series.

With the chill in the air, this was the perfect cozy mystery to curl up with. Featuring enjoyable characters and ending with a cliffhanger, it was just the kind of read I needed.

*many thanks to Minotaur Books, Macmillan audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Thrilling and deeply captivating. The mystery keeps you engaged and constantly thinking. I'm looking forward to Gigi Pandian's next work.

I am a big fan of the Secret Staircase crew. I am especially fond of the grandparents who live in the treehouse!
Every installment of this series explores more about the background of the characters. It is fun to learn about them.
I look forward to reading future installments of this series.
The narrator did a fine job reading the book.

I really like the characters and this fun, underrated cozy mystery series. This third installment, however, had some serious pacing issues and felt really convoluted with multiple subplots going on. I wouldn't have mind if the overarching mystery regarding Tempest's mom's disappearance stretched out a bit longer if it made the story stronger. When we do get to the part of the big reveal about Tempest's mom and aunt it felt underwhelming and anti-climatic. While I am slightly disappointed, I still enjoyed it and will be continuing the series. I really like Soneela Nankani's narration with this series. She really brings the warmth and humor of the characters. I especially love how she voices Grandpa Ash.

I jumped into this series at the third book and while I do think it works as a standalone, I also think it would be best read in order.

Tempest is an illusionist who works with her dad, owner of Secret Staircase Construction, a construction company that specializes in hidden doors, floating staircases, and architectural puzzle walls. When a former client threatens to sue after an accident involving his wife, weird things start to pop up that pulls together Tempest's late mother, a family curse and murder.

If you love magic, magicians and performance art, this cozy mystery is right up your alley. With a who done it style mystery, author Gigi Pandian did a good job at pacing and keeping the big ah-ha moments a real surprise. I enjoyed the cast of characters and the detail that went into explaining the various traps and stunts used during the action scenes.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC.

I didn't realize A Midnight Puzzle was the third book in a series by Gigi Pandian, but I was able to enjoy this mystery. Tempest Raj works in her father's construction company after leaving Las Vegas where she performed magic acts. A former client is now suing her father's company and threatens to destroy their lives. Then the man is found murdered, and Tempest works to find the killer.. An enjoyable story and i look forward to catching up on the first two books in the series.
I was given an ARC of A Midnight Puzzle by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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For starters, I have not read the first 2 books in this series. I think this book works well as a standalone but likely would be easier to get into if more background was known prior. It took me a minute to figure it all out. Once I did, I really liked it! Tempest is our FMC who is an illusionist. With magic performances as a theme in a spooky theater, combined with her family’s business of building hidden rooms/stairs/structure and Indian family dynamics (complete with some recipes added in at the end 😋), this was an entertaining read. The mystery was intricate with decently hidden twists. I liked the characters and easily connected with them.

No issues with the narration to mention. I enjoyed the performance and would for sure listen to them again!

audiobook ARC: thank you NetGalley, Gigi Pandian and Macmillan audio

Book three of the series is just as good as one and two. The mystery within a mystery comes to completion and I for one hope that this is not the last in this series. Secret Staircase Construction company faces not only a law suit but also ghosts of the past. This is a stand alone cozy but you really should start at the beginning to get all the nuisances related to Moriarty. That being said, my mind was completely blown by the reveal. Ms. Pandian does an expert job of crafting this story with misdirection and magic, not a paranormal sort of magic, just good old fashioned LA style Magic Castle magic. This one starts out with an attempted murder, a lawsuit, a career ending accident, two deaths, missing files both international and local, and Pop-Up justice. Great plot build and so many skillfully laid red herrings that I was creating a suspect list that was not getting anymore narrow until the pieces started falling into place for Tempest. A little bittersweet in some parts and I would really like for her to pick a guy because her two suitors and similar yet very different. This one was definitely a puzzle with so many pieces, similar to a mystery puzzle where you don't know what the picture is supposed to look like until all of the pieces are in place. This puzzle kept me going page by page and piece by piece until the big reveal that was absolutely jaw-dropping. I would give this 5 out of 5 puzzle pieces. Kudos to the narrator as well for doing such a great job with the voices for each character, it really brought the story to "life" for me.

If you love locked room mysteries and clever whodunits (not to mention amazing secret room designs!), this series is for you.

A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian is the latest installment in the Secret Staircase series. Like the first two books on the series, Tempest Raj finds herself in the middle on another impossible mystery. This series has interesting characters (I especially love Tempest’s grandparents!) and locked room mysteries that keep you guessing. Sprinkle in Secret Staircase Construction’s intricate projects and Tempest’s magician background and it’s just pure fun to read.

I listened to the audiobook and I highly recommend it! The narrator is the perfect voice for Tempest. The pacing is great and the story works well in audio format.

A note on the series: You can pick this latest mystery up as a standalone and read it, however - in addition to the whodunit in this novel there’s also an overarching mystery of what happened to Tempest’s mother. I think you’ll enjoy this book much more if you start at the beginning with Under Lock and Skeleton Key.

I adore this series. I think this series is such a unique cozy mystery series with the magician element. I definitely like the main character, and feel connected to the side characters as well.. I enjoyed the set up of the mystery and how much more this mystery utilized the magician element in comparison to the other two. However, I did enjoy the first and second installment more than this one, but this one was still really strong. I didn't love one of the reveals, but besides that I really enjoyed where the story went and I did not see it coming. I cannot wait for the next in the series!

I really enjoyed Under Lock and Skeleton Key so I was excited to read another story with Tempest and gang. I continue to be impressed by the narrator’s ability to do the various voices and accents required in this story. Also, I need a cookbook with all her grandfather’s recipes.

This book was my first introduction to this series and author. I enjoyed the mystery and the character dramas. I absolutely love the idea behind the secret staircase construction company. Who doesn't like fantasizing about secret rooms, though? The only thing I did not enjoy was the jealousy between guys over the main character Tempest when none of them were even serious enough to warrant such jealousy. I loved the character of Grandpa Ash, who was so sweet and enjoyed taking care of people and providing them with delicious home cooked meals.

This is a review of the audiobook!

This is the third book in the Secret Stairway mystery series and I think this is the best!!

First off you really need to read at least the first book in the series “Under Lock and Skeleton Key”. This one introduces of the characters, and there are a lot! It's a gradual build-up of characters throughout the three books.

The novel is told through Tempest Raj’ POV. Tempest has been surprised that she is really enjoying working for the family company!! She has settled into designing architectural puzzles. They are a great group of friends and family and everyone’s job is different.

Now the reputation of the company is in question. A customer, Julian Rhodes, is bringing a lawsuit against the company. His wife was seriously injured when she fell down the new staircase they built. He feels that Secret Staircase is responsible for it’s “shoddy” construction.

The blurb on this novel is lengthy and I don’t want to ruin this very engaging read by talking about the plot.

This one has everything you’ll love:

Interesting and fun combination of Scottish and Indian parents, the food sounds so delicious!!

Great characters that I’m getting to know better with every book.

A quite twisty and intricate plot that was so well done it kept me guessing for a long time.

In this novel Tempest finally feels some resolution for the death of her aunt and the disappearance of her mother. I think this is a great transition – now Tempest can get on with her life and I can’t wait to come along with her.

I really enjoy this series and highly recommend this novel to everyone. FYI no harm comes to the pet bunny named Abracadabra - perhaps excessive snuggling?

I received an audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.

This was the first book I have read by Gigi Pandian and I'm really glad I found this author. This is part of a series but I thought it was fine as a standalone. I would like to go back and read the other two books. I really enjoyed Soneela Nankani telling this story. I was entertained through out this book. I felt like this had great pacing and plenty of possible culprits. This was a fun mystery that I couldn’t get enough of and can't wait to see what Gigi comes up with next. I would recommend this book.


Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this ARC for my honest opinion.

An edge of your seat mystery that bring closure to the series of Tempest Raj, stage magician! Another murder for Tempest to solve- but this one brings her even closer to discovering the real mystery of who murdered her aunt and mom- and destroying the Raj family curse once and for all! This fun mystery pulls back the curtain on magic to reveal the solution to the most important question of Tempests career!

This was a fairly entertaining book, but it was simply not for me. I did not connect with the story much or the characters. It was a miss for me.

3.5 stars rounded down

I was really disappointed by this story. It was about 15 or 20 chapters longer than it should have been. If this were a stand alone mystery it would have been fine, but as the third (final?) book in a series it just didn't quite work. There was too much going on, too many murders, and entire plotlines of "misdirection" that just wound up making the story feel like a slog. The author reintroduces the main characters over and over again and it felt tedious as someone who'd read the first 2 books within the last year.

If you've never read the first two books then I recommend skipping them and only reading this one, or skip this one and only read the second one which is going to stand as my favourite.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the audio ARC.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the audiobook.

I just found my new favorite author!

This was such a fun listen. The narrator was great at giving each character a unique voice.

I’ve already gotten 2 of this author’s other books (how have I never heard of her before???)