The Midnight Puzzle, by Gigi Pandian

The Midnight Puzzle, by Gigi Pandian, is a creative mystery novel centered around some

very unusual personalities that almost give this story the feel of being a fantasy. But then,

these characters are stage magicians who live and breathe their craft in various ways. 

Since this was my first Secret Staircase Mystery, I was unfamiliar with these personalities,

so  it did feel that there were a lot of characters and backstories to keep track of. For

instance, Tempest Raj, the protagonist, has had her stage career ruined by a tragic

accident, but it was never clear to me exactly what occurred. I felt the same way

about the fates of her mother and aunt. Actually, there were several  stories tucked

into this book, perhaps too many to fully describe.  In the end, motives might have been

revealed, but many details were not. 

Tempest’s mentor, Nicodemus, is a fascinating character, and the concept of a construction

company with the mission of bringing a bit of magic into people’s lives is fabulous. Those are

a couple things I will certainly remember for a long time. It was a fun read. 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this opportunity.

Mission Churchill, by Alex Abella

This novel, which is both historical fiction and thriller, was an entertaining and somewhat

informative read for me. It begins in Cuba, in the year 1933. This scenario did confuse me at

first, since I had not realized that Winston Churchill had a writing career, and actually

observed the Cuban War of Independence, as a journalist. This was before he became the

British Prime Minister in 1940. 

The character development of Walter Thompson, who served as Churchill’s heroic bodyguard, was particularly engaging. In this story, Thompson tracks and chases would-be assassin Marcus Riley, an Irishman who wants revenge for the mistreatment of his people. Riley’s plans to kill the future prime minister involve several other men from different backgrounds, all demonstrating the various reasons why Churchill was not very popular.

The plot of this story was suitably intricate, but I did find the pacing to be uneven. For instance, Marcus Reilly is center stage during the beginning of the book, managing to meet Churchill right away. However, Reilly does not act, at first, like a trained hitman. After making a clumsy attempt at shooting his target, he runs away and he’s out of the story for many chapters. Meanwhile, the author depicts (extramarital) romantic interludes that may call attention to Churchill’s strained marriage, but which I didn’t find very interesting. 

When Marcus Reilly does return, he is very much a trained, ruthless killer. The scenes when Thompson is trailing and chasing Reilly are the best parts of the book, and I was expecting there to be more of that kind of action. In the end, I thought that some parts seemed a bit unlikely or not explained fully, but then, this does suggest a sequel.

Thank you very much to Book Whisperer and Netgalley for this opportunity.