A Midnight Puzzle - Gigi Pandian

The cover of Gigi Pandian's new book - A Midnight Puzzle - was what first caught my eye. And the description sounded good. 

"Multiple award-winning author Gigi Pandian and her sleuth Tempest Raj return in A Midnight Puzzle, where an old theater reveals a deadly booby trap, secrets, and one puzzle of a mystery."

Midnight Puzzle is the third book in the Secret Staircase series. I really liked the descriptions of the "illusion architecture" that the Secret Staircase Construction Company builds. 

Illusion is a large part of the series. Many members of the Raj family and their circle are professional illusionists and magicians. I thought this was a novel idea. Between that and the building company there are many opportunities for trouble.

Tempest Raj is the main character. She drives the storyline forward and has her hand in everything that's going on. There is a really large group of supporting players. A lot. I admit to having a hard time to keep track of who was who and how they fit in to the list of players.

The plot is a busy one as well. Pandian includes many twists and turns on the way to the final 'ta da". I initially appreciated the ups, downs and turnarounds of the narrative, but I started to tire as the book progressed. For this listener, it was overkill in the end.

The narrator for A Midnight Puzzle was award winner Soneela Nankani. She did a really great job of bringing Pandian's work to the audio format. She enunciates well. She has come up with a voice for every single cast member. Quite commendable - accents, age and more. Nankani also captures the action and emotion of the book with her voice. Again, really well done - I could hear every exclamation mark. 

A Midnight Puzzle was an good listen for me, but not a stand out. Listen to an excerpt. 

Marion Lane and the Raven's Revenge - T.A. Willberg

Marion Lane and the Raven's Revenge is the third book in T. A Willberg's absolutely wonderful Marion Lane series. 

First off - how about that cover? It's spot on for the series. The first two books are blue and red. Now, you could read this latest entry without reading those first two, but you'd be missing a really good thing. 

I love this series. Why? Well, what's not to love? How about a hidden detective agency below the streets of London, an eclectic group of 'Inquirers', wondrous, magical gadgets that aid in investigations and a spunky female lead character you'll love? The name of the agency, Miss Brickett’s Investigations & Inquiries, conjures up time and place and a different method of crime solving. The 1960 time period is perfect.

The settings are so well described and it's easy to imagine what London is like in 1960 - and the hidden spaces down below.

This latest crime opens the door to more of the many secrets at Miss Brickett's. But, it also brings dire danger to the front door for Marion, her friends and her colleagues.

This series is fresh, engaging and addictive. My inner sleuth happily imagines being an Inquirer on the case with Marion. Great plotting, wonderful characters whose lives keep moving forward. There's much more in store for Marion and et al. Can't wait! See for yourself - read an excerpt of Marion Land and the Raven's Revenge.

Lying Beside You - Michael Robotham

If Michael Robotham is the author, then I'll be reading it! Lying Beside You is the third book in his Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac series.

As a child, Cyrus survived a horrendous crime. As an adult, he works as a forensic psychologist who consults with the police. Evie too has survived appalling damage as a child. The one unusual thing she has is her ability to know when someone is lying. Cyrus has taken Evie under his wing, providing a home, an education and someone who believes in her.

Cyrus has been called in to profile on a case involving a murder and the disappearance of a young woman. And at her new part time job at a bar, Evie calls an uber to make sure that an inebriated woman gets safely home. Except she's not safe - she's now missing. Evie was the last one to see her - and the driver. Home life is complicated as Cyrus's brother is now coming for visits - from a secure psychiatric prison. 

I really like this pair of lead characters. Cyrus's deductive reasoning and sensible, calm manner is a polar opposite to Evie. She questions authority, rules and struggles to fit in. The supporting cast brings back many familiar faces and new ones as well. I found it easy to discern who I didn't like!

And just as good as the characterizations is the plotting. Robotham never takes the reader on a straight path to the final answer. I now that and yet, I was pretty sure I knew who the culprit was many chapters from the end. I was happily proven wrong as the path took a large turn as the final pages  got closer.  

Lying Beside You is another fantastic book from Robotham. I'm looking forward to his next book!

I chose to listen to Lying Beside You. And that choice was made based on the reader - Joe Jameson. He read the first and second books and I appreciate the continuity. His voice is rich and full and his speaking voice is clear and easy to understand. He has created voices for each character that suit perfectly. Cyrus's is calm and measured - the voice of reason. The Evie voice is great - you can hear the walls she's put up, the chip on her shoulder and the attitude that hides her insecurity. Just as identifiable are the voices for the supporting players. Jameson interprets the book well and uses his voice effectively, capturing the  emotions, situations danger and action as the book plays out. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I find myself more drawn into a book when I listen to it. Hear for yourself - listen to an excerpt of Lying Beside You.

The Devil You Know - P.J. Tracy

I really enjoyed P.J. Tracy's Monkeewrench series. The latest book from P.J. Tracy - The Devil You Know - is the third entry in the Detective Margaret Nolan series.

P.J. Tracy is the pseudonym for the mother-daughter writing duo of P.J. and Traci Lambrech. Sadly, P.J. Tracy passed away in 2016. Traci has continued to write on her own.

Which makes it all the harder to say that this newest book is a rare DNF for me. The premise sounded good - a female detective on the LAPD force and the death of an actor. But it was the delivery for this reader. I even went back and read the first few chapters, but it was the same on a second reading. 

I gave the book fifty pages, but had to call it a day by that point. I found the prose to be overwrought and the sentences to be too long. The use of many alternate choices for commonplace descriptors felt like a thesaurus had been used deliberately. 

Here's a sample:

"The bold, black headline possessed astonishing metaphysical properties, like the power to rearrange his anatomy: his heart was beating in his stomach, which was now in the the vicinity of his throat, and his balls had apparently departed from his body altogether, because he couldn't feel them." All one sentence.

The book opens with a murder - promising in this genre. Then a new chapter with a letter from 1864. Then we meet Sam, then Margaret, then Daphna, Seth, Evan and Becca. I'm sure there are more, but this hit the 50 page wall. More and more characters are added without clarity. What has happened? What is the role of all these players? Sadly, by then I had lost interest. I was hoping for a good police procedural. But The Devil You Know was all over the place. 

Not the book for me. But, loads of people enjoyed this title - I encourage you to read those reviews on Goodreads.