Tempest sits down for a question-and-answer session with dru’s book musings so that we can learn more about what makes her tick. Let’s see what she has to say.

What is your full name?
Tempest Raj

How old are you?
27

What is your profession?
I used to be a stage illusionist—yes, a magician headlining huge shows!—but my career was sabotaged last year. It was disappointing at first, but… I’m surprised by how much I love my new job. Now I work in what I like to think of as “architectural misdirection.”

More specifically, I work for my dad’s business, Secret Staircase Construction. We build elements like sliding bookcases and hidden libraries into peoples’ homes. Though, it’s funny, we rarely build secret staircases—they take up too much space.

So while I used to create illusion on the stage, now I build illusion into homes. For both, story is everything. A magic trick is forgettable if it doesn’t have a meaningful story behind it. And a room with a door blocked by a bookcase is simply a crowded house—unless you create a visual illusion to disguise the door and it leads somewhere meaningful.

Do you have a significant other?
Nope, it’s just me.

Do you have any children?
Unless you count my fur baby, not yet.

Do you have any siblings?
No biological siblings, but Ivy, my BFF, feels like my sister. I’ll share more about her below.

Are your parents nearby?
Sometimes I feel like they’re too near. After my original career crashed and burned, I moved back home to my childhood bedroom in the home where my dad lives.

My maternal grandparents, Ashok Raj and Morag Ferguson-Raj, live in the tree house in the backyard—but it’s not really fair to call it a tree house. The tree house my dad built me as a kid is now the outdoor dining room deck of the house, but my parents build a full two-story in-law unit around that deck. It was an experiment as they developed magical architectural elements before officially launching their Secret Staircase Construction business.

Who is your best friend?
Ivy Youngblood. She’s a welder and Jill-of-all-trades by training, and more recently, she’s realized she wants to be a librarian. So in addition to working for Secret Staircase Construction part-time, she’s been working at the Locked Room Library (a library devoted to Golden Age mysteries) and studying to finish her college degree that she previously abandoned.

Ivy and I met as kids, and we bonded over our shared love of mysteries. Scooby Doo, Encyclopedia Brown, The Three Investigators, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, etc., followed by Golden Age classics when we reached our teenage years. When I took after my mom and grandfather and went into magic, I didn’t have as much time to read, but Ivy kept going. She’s an expert on authors like John Dickson Carr and Agatha Christie, so if you ever have any questions about classic mysteries, Ivy is the person to go to.

Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
My curmudgeonly 15-pound lop-eared rabbit Abra, short for Abracadabra.

Rabbits are far more intelligent than people give them credit for. Abra knows his name, is house-trained, and is a fantastic judge of character.

What town do you live in?
Hidden Creek, California. It’s a small down in the Bay Area of Northern California, with a quirky architectural feature: a hidden creek that runs through the steep hillside, sometimes overground but often underground.

That landscape means houses can’t be build as closely together as in most of the Bay Area, so my family lives on a large-but-steep patch of land we named Fiddler’s Folly.

What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
While temporarily living in my childhood bedroom, I’m building my own home. We have enough land at Fiddler’s Folly that I can build my own place and still have a sense of privacy.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
My own private secret staircase! I’m not someone who overuses exclamation points, but that was absolutely necessary. This house was a tiny bungalow when my parents first moved in, but they renovated it countless times to find their construction path.

My bedroom has a secret staircase you can only find and open if you know the secret way in. Each time I want to visit my bedroom, the hidden door swings open and small lights click on to light the stairway. It’s not so bad temporarily being in my childhood bedroom.

What is your favorite meal and dessert?
Anything my grandfather, Grandpa Ash, cooks or bakes. He makes what I’d consider fusion food, but he simply considers it using all the culinary delights he’s experienced in his life, from his childhood in South India to his adult life in Scotland and his retirement in California. He’ll often add unexpected spices to a traditional Scottish dish, or pair California cuisine with a refreshing Indian drink.

Do you have any hobbies?
Practicing magic tricks and reading classic detective fiction.

What music do you listen to?
The Scottish fiddle.

What is your favorite color?
Red is my signature color. I used to wear black with pops of red when I performed on stage as The Tempest. Now that I’m simply Tempest Raj, I wear simple jeans and T-shirts, but add a pop of red on my feet or on my lips.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
Edinburgh for Christmas last year was a treat. Even though I ended up having to solve an art heist… but that’s another story.

Are you a morning or night person?
I used to be a night owl, because those are the hours of a performer. I’m still getting used to waking up before daybreak for the life of someone who helps renovate homes.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
Watching a classic mystery movie via a projector that Ivy uses to project films onto a white wall in her apartment. With my best friend at my side, a bowl of popcorn on my lap, and a twisty mystery on the screen, that’s a perfect night.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
“The Tempest.” Oh, but that’s already been taken… How about “The Tempest of Hidden Creek”?

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
If my friend Sanjay heard you ask this question, he’d insist that I’m a professional, based on how many crimes I’ve solved. It’s so many now that people have started asking for my help.

But really, that’s only because being a magician who used to create impossible illusions, I have the skillset to solve seemingly impossible crimes.

I’d still say I’m an amateur. Definitely. Probably… Yes, amateur.

What is a typical day in your life like?
I’m lucky that there’s no typical day. Life is as varied working for Secret Staircase Construction as it was commanding a stage in front of thousands. I’m extremely fortunate—except for all the murders.

A Midnight Puzzle, A Secret Staircase Mystery Book #3
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: March 2024
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase link

In heroine Tempest Raj, modern-day queen of the locked room mystery Gigi Pandian has created a brilliant homage to the greats of classic detective fiction.



Secret Staircase Construction is under attack, and Tempest Raj feels helpless. After former client Julian Rhodes tried to kill his wife, he blamed her “accident” on the home renovation company’s craftsmanship. Now the family business—known for bringing magic into homes through hidden doors, floating staircases, and architectural puzzle walls—is at a breaking point. No amount of Scottish and Indian meals from her grandfather can distract Tempest from the truth: they’re being framed.



When Tempest receives an urgent midnight phone call from Julian, she decides to meet him at the historic Whispering Creek Theater—only to find his dead body, a sword through his chest. After a blade appears from thin air to claim another victim, Tempest is certain they’re dealing with a booby trap… something Secret Staircase Construction could easily build. Tempest refuses to wait for the investigation to turn to her or her loved ones. She knows the pieces of the puzzle are right in front of her, she just has to put them together correctly before more disaster strikes.

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, family secrets, and one puzzle of a mystery.

About the author
Gigi Pandian is the USA Today bestselling and multiple-award-winning author of the Secret Staircase mysteries, inspired by elements from her own family background. She is also the author of the Accidental Alchemist mysteries, the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries, and more than a dozen locked-room mystery short stories. Gigi has won Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Derringer awards, and was a finalist for an Edgar Award. A breast cancer survivor and accidental almost-vegan who adores cooking, she lives with her husband (and a gargoyle who watches over the backyard garden) in Northern California. Learn more and sign up for her email newsletter at gigipandian.com.