The Raven Thief

October 1, 2022

After her family's Secret Staircase Construction company completes one of its clever renovations, Tempest Raj joins Grandfather Ash at the homeowner's celebration--a mock s�ance meant to banish the bad vibes of her faithless ex-husband. Then he turns up dead, with Grandfather Ash the main suspect. Following Agatha/Anthony/Lefty award winner Pandian's well-received series launch, Under Lock & Skeleton Key; with a 50,000-copy first printing.

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Starred review from January 16, 2023
In Pandian’s excellent sequel to 2022’s Under Lock & Skeleton Key, magician Tempest Raj, whose parents run Secret Staircase Construction, a company that builds houses with such accoutrements as secret passageways and sliding bookcases, witnesses a crime marked by multiple impossibilities at a séance. Lavinia Kingsley is seeking to eradicate all traces of her ex-husband, author Corbin Colt, from her California home. She retains a conjuror, the Hindi Houdini, to lead a fake séance. But in the middle of the proceedings, Colt’s corpse is dropped onto the séance table, a knife sticking out of his chest and black raven feathers scattered about, an apparent reference to Colt’s book, The Raven. But the knife is fake, Colt was on a livestream moments before and miles away from where his corpse landed, and there seems to be no rational way for his body to have reached its destination. Pandian’s clever solution matches the challenge she sets for her endearingly imperfect lead. This brilliant homage to classic golden age authors such as John Dickson Carr augurs well for a long series run. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary

January 15, 2023
A former magician uses her expertise to solve an impossible murder. Call it magic, mentalism, or something else, but a love for all things illusory links Tempest Raj's family, from Tempest's past as a Vegas act to her current work with her dad constructing the Secret Staircase series' eponymous conveyances. After wrapping a job at Lavinia Kingsley's home, Tempest and her family, including her Grandpa Ash, are invited to the house to celebrate Lavinia's new beginnings: Her home renovation is going hand in hand with her recent separation from author Corbin Colt, whom she's divorcing. Lavinia is a bit of a personality, insisting on a full s�ance to mark the figurative death of Corbin from her life, but, as these things so often do, the figurative soon becomes literal as Corbin appears and dies mids�ance. How did he materialize, and who knew he'd be there and wanted him dead? Tempest is freaked out and frustrated: She wouldn't even have been there if her friend and fellow illusionist Sanjay hadn't been orchestrating the woo-woo action. Worse still is that Grandpa Ash appears to be the police's primary suspect, which makes no sense because all eight attendees were holding hands throughout the time of Corbin's murder. But then, things that look like they shouldn't make sense are really the specialty of illusionists, aren't they? Tempest applies her knowledge of the tricks of the trade to the puzzle of Corbin's death, highlighting the howdunit as much as the whodunit. Heavy dual concentrations on setup and illusion make this installment more tricky than substantive.

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May 15, 2023
Former stage magician Tempest Raj is home in Northern California working for her family's company, Secret Staircase Construction. A client, Lavinia Kingsley, insists Tempest's friend Sanjay perform a s�ance to rid her home of the spirit of her ex-husband, author Corbin Colt. Sanjay reluctantly agrees, and during the s�ance, the candle goes out, then Corbin is found dead in the middle of the table, but no one has entered or left the room and the participants never broke hands. Also, Corbin was 55 miles away minutes before his death. Tempest's beloved grandfather, a retired doctor and s�ance participant, becomes the chief suspect due to the blood on him from ministering to the victim and the restraining order the victim had against him. Tempest works to clear him, although her family's motive becomes more powerful with Corbin's found manuscript. She soon decides the perpetrator used trickery and misdirection to confuse them, and must rely on friends and family to solve the impossibilities in this compelling locked-room mystery populated by well-drawn characters and framed by books, food, and magic.

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