Sanjay first appeared in Artifact and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Sanjay.

What is your name?
Sanjay Rai. And my stage name is The Hindi Houdini.

How old are you?
I’m about to turn 30.

What is your profession?
Stage magician.

Do you have a significant other?
That’s a sensitive issue right now. The short answer is no. You don’t happen to know any single women who love magic and travel, and who don’t mind a guy with erratic hours, do you?Not yet. Someday.

Any children?
Not yet. Someday.

Do you have any sibling(s)?
I’m an only child.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
Sadly, I’m on tour too much to have a pet. But I’m a cat person.

What town do you live in?
San Francisco.

House or building complex? Own or Rent?
I rent a loft apartment that serves as both my magic workshop and my home.

What is your favorite spot in your house?
It’s an open floorplan apartment, with one wall of windows that stretch from floor to ceiling, and great views of the city. Sometimes I’ll find that I’ve been working on a new illusion all night, so it’s nice to fall into the comfy armchair in the corner and watch the sunrise through the grand windows.

Who is your best friend?
Jaya Jones. She’s a historian who’s gotten a bit of media attention lately, so you might have heard of her. She’s discovered some historical treasures from India that were previously lost for centuries, and caught the people who were willing to go to extreme lengths to get the treasures for themselves.

Amateur sleuth or professional?
I’m a professional at creating misdirection, but an amateur when it comes to solving crimes in which a criminal uses the principles of magic for less innocent purposes.

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
Sometimes on my own, and sometimes with Jaya. She’s the one who dragged me into solving seemingly impossible crimes in the first place.

Favorite meal?
I know what you’re thinking. There’s a guy who looks like he can eat spicy food. But it’s not true. I grew up in the Silicon Valley, not India like my parents. I enjoy trying new restaurants in San Francisco, but can you keep a secret? Give me a peanut butter and banana sandwich any time, and I’m in heaven. I can’t let that get out, though. I have a reputation to maintain.

Favorite dessert? 
Gulab jamun. I have a major sweet tooth.

Favorite hobby?
When I’m not on the road, I play the sitar a couple of nights a week.

Favorite vacation spot?
Napa Valley, in California’s wine country.

Favorite color?
Black. It’s a magician’s best friend.

Favorite author?
Clayton Rawson. He’s an author who wrote books about a magician named Merlini.

Favorite sports team?
San Jose Sharks.

Movies or Broadway?
In solidarity with other live stage performers, definitely Broadway.

Are you a morning or a night person?
Night.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
No day is the same, but my days always involve a lot of practice. Successful sleight of hand doesn’t come easy. Today was pretty typical. I’ve been practicing all week for a new magic show, and today I took a mid-day break to have lunch with Jaya at a Cambodian restaurant (it was a little spicy for my taste, but don’t tell Jaya I said that). Jaya wanted my advice about an impossible theft that had taken place at a local museum. It’s a really interesting case, actually, involving looted antiquities, art theft, and a Cambodian curse.

Editor’s Note: Gulab jamun is a classic Indian sweet or dessert that is very famous and is enjoyed in most festive and celebration meals. Gulab jamun are berry sized balls dunked in rose flavored sugar syrup.

Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win a zine by artist Sue Parman (aka Gigi’s artist mom!) with original illustrations of the stories in The Cambodian Curse & Other Stories. Worldwide entrants welcome. The giveaway ends October 19, 2018. Good luck everyone! Bonus question: Do you read anthologies?

You can read about Sanjay in The Cambodian Curse and Other Stories, a Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Collection.

A treasure trove of nine locked room mysteries from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author Gigi Pandian, all set in the Jaya Jones world.

Appearing here for the first time, novelette The Cambodian Curse: When an ancient and supposedly cursed Cambodian sculpture disappears from an impenetrable museum, and the carving’s owner is killed by an invisible assailant while a witness is a few feet away, historian Jaya Jones and her old nemesis Henry North team up to solve the baffling crime.

Stories included: “The Cambodian Curse,” “The Hindi Houdini,” “The Haunted Room,” “The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn,” “The Curse of Cloud Castle,” “Tempest in a Teapot,” “A Dark and Stormy Light,” “The Shadow of the River,” plus bonus novella “Fool’s Gold.”

With an Introduction from New York Times bestselling author Laurie R. King addressing why we love locked rooms, and a Foreword from impossible crime mystery historian Douglas G. Greene, teasing out the tradition of John Dickson Carr that Pandian is following. This collection is filled with ingenious stories of magic, mystery, and history.

Purchase Link
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About the author
Gigi Pandian is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha and Lefty Award-winning mystery author, breast cancer survivor, and accidental almost-vegan. The child of cultural anthropologists from New Mexico and the southern tip of India, she spent her childhood traveling around the world on their research trips, and now lives outside San Francisco with her husband and a gargoyle who watches over the garden. Gigi writes the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries, Accidental Alchemist mysteries, and locked-room mystery short stories. Her debut novel Artifact was awarded a Malice Domestic Grant, kicking off the fun.

Learn more about Gigi and her books at gigipandian.com, sign up for her email newsletter for the latest news, and connect with her on social media: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

All comments are welcomed.