Interview with Soneela Nankani, narrator of the Secret Staircase Mysteries audiobooks

I’m so pleased that not only are all of my books available as audiobooks, but I have fantastic narrators!

My Secret Staircase Mysteries are produced by Macmillan Audio and narrated by Soneela Nankani. Soneela captures not only Tempest’s voice wonderfully, but also the nuances of the whole cast. Not only that, but she captures the whimsical and mysterious spirit of the books.

I hope you’ll enjoy the interview with Soneela below!

Audiobook narrator Soneela Nankani (photo by Jody Christopherson)

What's your favorite thing about being an audiobook narrator?

I’m a huge book nerd. I love to lose myself in stories, learn new things, walk in characters’ shoes. As a kid, I was always toting at least 5 books around. And when I was in 8th grade, I discovered the theater (fun fact: I was cast as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors) and it ignited my love of performance. I’m still a book nerd and I went on to get my MFA in Acting. So I guess I would say, my favorite part of being a narrator is the fact that everyday I get to do two of my absolute favorite things - read and perform. 

I also really enjoy discovering new writers through my work. And soaking up new information through each and every book - I am the self-professed queen of random facts. 

What's the most surprising thing you've learned about narrating? 

It’s demanding and requires a lot of discipline! After the very first recording session I ever had, I went home and slept for 3 hours. Now I know a lot more about how to prepare.  I have to do quite a bit of research to prepare for each book. I have to get a good amount of sleep the night before a session. I have to warm up my voice and body before stepping into the studio. I have to take lots of breaks to move and drink water during each session. There’s a lot more that goes into it than you might think!

Who's your favorite character from Gigi's books that you've narrated? 
It’s so hard to choose!  I love quirky characters and Gigi’s got loads. Obviously Tempest. I love her audacity and totally relate to her journey to find herself after the death of her mother and the sabotaging of her career. Also Ash, Ivy and Nicodemus. I adore all of them in their own right, but also because of their complicatedly caring relationships with Tempest. And Moriarty, in the last book especially, has become so fascinatingly complex. I can’t wait to see what happens with him. 

Anything else you'd like to add?

In my experience as a narrator, there’s something particularly special about getting to work on a series. Getting to spend time with the same characters book after book. Getting to go along for the ride as the characters grow and change. After a while, the main characters start to feel like good friends that I get excited about visiting each time. I definitely feel that for Tempest and her family and the Secret Staircase Construction crew. I can’t wait to see what Ash is cooking up the next time I see them.

Listen to a sample of the A Midnight Puzzle audiobook:

MacmillanAudio · A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian, audiobook excerpt

The Treehouse at Tempest Raj's family home

One of my favorite whimsical elements in the Secret Staircase Mysteries is the treehouse in the backyard of Tempest Raj’s family home.

Tempest’s grandparents, Ashok and Morag, live in the treehouse. It’s not technically a treehouse any longer, because it was once a true treehouse deck when Tempest was a kid, then as Secret Staircase Construction grew, they experimented with their own home. A child’s treehouse became a fully functional in-law unit built between two giant oak trees, with the old trees used as central points for two decks.

I was delighted to find a company that makes tiny treehouses for houseplants—and one of their treehouses looks so much like the one I imagined for Grandpa Ash and Grannie Mor!

The treehouse in my Secret Staircase Mysteries is has two decks, one of which is the heart of the home with a big family dining table. That deck and dining table are an extension of the kitchen, where Ash cooks family meals (many of his recipes are in the backs of the books).

This tiny treehouse has the dining table deck I imagined long before I found this! So of course I had to buy it for the houseplant that sits at my writing desk.

Weaving my favorite mysterious elements into A MIDNIGHT PUZZLE

Even though I’m a mystery writer, first and foremost I’m a mystery reader. I’ve loved the traditional mystery genre since I was a kid, and my favorites were the books with mysteries that were true fair-play puzzles (where the reader is given all the clues and could theoretically solve the crime before the detective) and had a big dollop of fun alongside the mystery.

That fun might be had by a humorous cast of characters I wanted to spend time with, a gothic atmosphere that drew me in like I was listening to an eerie ghost story, an ingenious puzzle with twists and turns that kept me turning pages, or whimsical elements that added unexpected moments of joy.

When I set out to write A Midnight Puzzle, my latest Secret Staircase Mystery with sleuth Tempest Raj, I had such fun crafting a locked-room mystery that uses so many mysterious elements I love:

🔍 A gothic backdrop.

🔍 A supposed haunting at a creepy old theater built to resemble a cathedral.

🔍 A mysteriously regenerating booby trap.

🔍 A devious impossible crime.

🔍 Lots of cozy fun with Tempest and her friends and family working together to solve multiple mysteries, both past and present.

🔍 The Secret Staircase Construction team renovating a house known as the Whispering House. 

🔍 Delicious recipes from Grandpa Ash. 

🔍 A treehouse.

🔍 Architectural misdirection.

My sleuth Tempest Raj faces her most baffling mystery yet: After she’s lured to the old theater where her mom vanished years ago, a deadly booby trap strikes and kills a man threatening the family business, Secret Staircase Construction. As one baffling crime leads to an impossible one, family secrets are at the heart of both a present-day murder and the truth of what really happened to Tempest’s mom when she vanished.

A Midnight Puzzle is now available from Minotaur Books.