5 Fun Facts About UNDER LOCK & SKELETON KEY

I can hardly believe publication day is here! Under Lock & Skeleton Key, my first Secret Staircase Mystery, is out in the world! It took me years to figure out how to tell Tempest Raj's story, so I'm thrilled that you can read it (or listen to it) today!

Fun fact #1: It's a locked-room mystery, aka an impossible crime. It's a puzzle mystery like those classic mysteries that posed a challenge to the reader. Can you figure out how Tempest's stage double ended up inside a wall sealed for a century?

Fun fact #2: The origin of the family business that builds sliding bookcases & more: "What happens when a carpenter and a stage magician fall in love? They form a Secret Staircase Construction business to bring magic to people through their homes."

Fun fact #3: Sanjay (The Hindi Houdini) from my Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mysteries, is one of the main characters in the new series!

Fun fact #4: The library in the novel first appeared in my story "The Locked Room Library" published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (and now nominated for both an Agatha and an Edgar Award!). The setting of a library devoted to classic mystery novels was so much fun to create, and I wish it really existed!

Fun fact #5 about Under Lock & Skeleton Key: It shares a publication day with the wonderful Alex Segura. I'm happy to call him a friend and I'm also a fan. His novel Secret Identity is out today as well. I got an advance reader copy and it's seriously so good! I hope you'll have fun with both of our books!

I Love Librarians

LibraryReads highlights public librarians’ favorite new books. Public library staff vote for their favorite books each month, and their top 10 picks serve as a national “library staff picks list” for new books each month. I was thrilled to learn that Under Lock & Skeleton Key is a LibraryReads pick for March! This isn’t just mysteries, but all adult fiction. 

Library Journal, the monthly trade publication for librarians, also gave it a fantastic review!

“Excellent…This “Secret Staircase” series starter is a fresh and magical locked-room mystery filled with fascinating and likable characters, incredible settings, and Tempest’s grandfather’s homecooked Indian meals.”

—Library Journal

The Vanishing Act of Tempest Raj

I can finally share the exciting news I hinted at earlier this summer: I sold my novel The Vanishing Act of Tempest Raj, at auction, to an editor and publisher that I'm so incredibly happy to be working with!

Here’s announcement from Publishers Marketplace: 

“Agatha Award winner Gigi Pandian’s The Vanishing Act of Tempest Raj, a locked-room mystery and first in a new Secret Staircase Construction series, in which a woman returns to her childhood home to help her family's business but instead wonders if the Raj family curse has followed her home, to Madeline Houpt at Minotaur, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Jill Marsal at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.”

This is the book I began writing on my 40th birthday writing retreat, but it took me a while to figure out how to tell Tempest’s story.  

Minotaur Books is a mystery imprint of St. Martin’s Press. They publish so many of my favorite mysteries, and my editor really gets me and my style of mystery fiction. I’m excited for this next step!