This would've been so much better if 100 pages were shaved off. It took forever for the story to end. It was stretched out and so, so repetitive. If I hear the word, misdirection one more time... you can make a drinking game out of it. On the positive, I liked all the characters; although their antics and dialogue reminds you of Scooby-Doo and young adult-ish, nevertheless it leaves one with a warm, cozy feeling. I like the author's writing style & wit.

The mystery was fine. I just wish it wasn't so long and repetitive. ( )

I loved reading this. The mystery has as many twists and turns as in a funhouse. Maybe more as you never know where there will be a sleight of hand. :) ( )

Fairly entertaining and fun, a sweet story but not ultimately not really my style. ( )

Star magician Tempest Raj is on top of the world as a major headliner in Las Vegas, wowing massive audiences with her story-based magic show - until the moment that her body double sabotages her act and her life falls apart. She returns home to the Bay Area, where her father’s special construction company, Secret Staircase Construction, has a new job of creating a special space from an old pantry in a century-old home. When the crawlspace is found to contain a body, Tempest realizes something strange is going on, and when that body turns out to be her body double, she knows that she has more than a simple mystery on her hands…. This is the first of a projected series by an author new to me, and it’s a lot of fun. Who would not be charmed by a company that specializes in creating secret passages behind bookcases, accessible only if you know exactly which book to move in a precise manner to open the panel? The whole premise of this series is simply delightful, and the interesting back story of Tempest and her family (part South Indian, part Scottish, part Californian and all magicians going back five generations) adds to the enjoyment. I already have the second book, The Raven Thief, and am looking forward to future entries as this series is off to a wonderful start; recommended! ( )

I have enjoyed Gigi Pandian’s work ever since I first picked up a Jaya Jones mystery, but it’s always been a hard-won enjoyment. There’s just something about her writing that I can’t quite put my finger on, whether it’s characterisations, or tone, I don’t know. Usually, by the mid-way point I’m over it and enjoying the story. This one was more of a struggle from beginning to end.

Some stream of consciousness thoughts: I love the premise of secret passageways, hidden rooms … who doesn’t? I’m not so much a fan of the stage magician stuff. I love magic and illusions, just not the usually seedy backstage stuff. I found the ‘curse’ in the Raj family a non-starter; I just didn’t buy into it from the start and the drama Pandian tried to build out of it just continued to fall flat. I like the cross-over of characters that takes place between this series and Jaya Jones and I liked most of the new characters too. The ‘tension’ between the two BFF’s also felt manufactured. Basically, whenever Pandian tried to drum up drama in the story, it backfired (for me). I thoroughly enjoyed the veiled references to gargoyle’s (Adrian!), and the introduction of an escape-artist bunny called Abra was a nice change of pace as a series mascot.

The plot was very well done, if maybe a tad … I don’t know; I just know when the denouement came I felt nothing. Not surprise, not annoyance, not disbelief. Just … nothing. But it was well crafted, and I had no hint of where things were going. Her use of a magician’s misdirection in the plot was a tad heavy handed, but really only in retrospect.

Overall, it’s not a bad mystery, even though I’m making it sound like it might be. This is, I think, Pandian’s first mainstream, big-publisher book, and perhaps I feel like she tried a tad too hard, but in spite of that, I will gladly read the second book in the series. ( )