Under Lock and Skeleton Key (Secret Staircase Mystery #1) by Gigi Pandian (2022)

 

A locked door mystery, a puzzle mystery, magic, family curse, misdirection, hidden staircases/rooms, and quirky characters – all can be found in Under Lock and Skeleton Key, the first book in a new mystery series by Gigi Pandian.

Tempest Raj is a once famous but now disgraced illusionist who has returned to her childhood home after losing everything. Her’s is not the average family; her mother, another magician, disappeared while performing on stage five year before, her father designs and constructs hidden rooms and staircases inside homes, and her grandparents live in a house built in a tree.

Tempest doesn’t believe in the family curse that the eldest Raj in each generation will die by magic but begins to wonder when her doppelgänger stage assistant is found murdered inside a 100-year old wall at her father’s latest construction site. Concerned that perhaps her life is in danger, Tempest sets out to find the murderer herself with the help of her best friend, Ivy. She is convinced the murder is simply a case of misdirection, a subject in which Tempest is an expert. All she needs is to find the one thread that will unravel everything.

The reader is introduced to a variety of characters that are something difficult to keep straight and all of whom will undoubtedly appear in future books. The writing is repetitive at times and much of the story revolves around the preparation and eating of foods from India and Scotland. Some reviewers felt the book was written with the young adult audience in mind and I would agree. However, if you enjoyed Nancy Drew mysteries growing up, you should enjoy Under Lock and Skeleton Key.

The second installment of this series, The Raven Thief, is due out in March 2023.

3.64 stars on Goodreads, 4.1 on Amazon.

This book is not available at EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get it for you from an area library.

Ghosting: A Widow’s Voyage Out by Barbara Lazear Ascher (2021) B Ascher

Ghosting, as defined by the author, is the absence of an element vital to the enterprise. In this case the enterprise is marriage and the missing element is her husband.

Grief is a very intense and individual emotion. No two people experience it in quite the same way. Although there have been many books written on coping with grief, none are as powerful as the memoirs of a grief survivor. Barbara Lazear Ascher's Ghosting is such a book.

Ascher was in her early twenties when she married Bob, a much older man. From the beginning both acknowledged the likelihood that he would predecease her. The pair enjoy an intense, loving relationship for 35 years before the enviable happens. Ascher discovers, as every griever does, that it is impossible to prepare oneself for the loss of a loved one. As she learns that love has no boundaries she comes to the realization that her husband’s motto “Life is a love story” is indeed true.

The author writes very frankly about her marriage, her husband’s illness and death and her ensuing sorrow. The writing is so descriptive the the author’s agony and despair often leap off the page. The reader also shares in Ascher’s joy as she eventually moves beyond her grief and begins a new voyage.

Less than 200 pages long with chapters ranging from a few paragraphs to seven pages, Ghosting is a compelling read.

4.09 stars in Goodreads, 4.3 on Amazon