About:
"I’m Gigi Pandian, a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning mystery author, breast cancer survivor, and accidental almost-vegan. I write the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mystery series (about a globe-trotting Indian-American historian), and the Accidental Alchemist mysteries (about an alchemist and a gargoyle chef in Portland, Oregon).
I’m the only child of cultural anthropologist parents from New Mexico and the southern tip of India. I spent my childhood being dragged around the world on their research trips, and that’s when I started writing stories that were a cross between Agatha Christie and Indiana Jones. It’s what I still do today.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my husband and a gargoyle who watches over our backyard organic vegetable garden. My debut mystery novel, Artifact, was awarded a Malice Domestic Grant and named a “Best of 2012” Debut Novel by Suspense Magazine, and several of my other books and stories have gone on to win additional mystery awards. Yes, this has been a fun ride! I’m now six years cancer-free, and I’m having a wonderful time on this journey."
Gigi writes two series and short stories.
1. The Accidental Alchemist series - 3 books in the series with #4 coming out January 2019
The Accidental Alchemist, The Masquerading Magician, The Elusive Elixir. The Alchemist Illusion is coming out in 2019.
"Unpacking her belongings in her new hometown of Portland, Oregon, herbalist and reformed alchemist Zoe Faust can’t help but notice she’s picked up a stowaway. Dorian Robert-Houdin is a living, breathing three-and-half-foot gargoyle—not to mention a master of French cuisine—and he needs Zoe’s expertise to decipher a centuries-old text. Zoe, who’s trying to put her old life behind her, isn’t so sure she wants to reopen her alchemical past . . . until the dead man on her porch leaves her no choice."
Zoe gets involved in local mysteries in town while trying to figure out how to keep Dorian from turning back to stone. Dorian is/was master chef and cooks up lots of delicious cuisine while Zoe solves mysteries. I have read two of the three Alchemist books and really like the story line. I love the character Dorian the gargoyle. He is a lovable character, not an ominous, scary gargoyle like you think of on old buildings. And I like whimsical, odd characters.
Bonus: the books include recipes from Gigi. I make the Vegan Oatmeal cookies once or twice a month. So good and good for you.
2. Jaya Jones Adventure Series: 5 books in the series
Artifact, Pirate Vishnu, Quicksand, Michelangelo's Ghost, The Ninja's Illusion
"When historian Jaya Jones receives a mysterious package containing a jewel-encrusted artifact from India, she discovers the secrets of a lost Indian treasure may be hidden in a Scottish legend from the days of the British Raj.
But she’s not the only one on the trail.
From San Francisco to the Highlands of Scotland, Jaya must evade a shadowy stalker as she follows hints from the hastily scrawled note to a remote archaeological dig.
Helping her decipher the cryptic clues are her magician best friend, a devastatingly handsome art historian with something to hide, and a charming archaeologist running for his life.
When a member of the dig’s crew is murdered, Jaya must figure out which of the scholars vying for her affections might be the love of her life—and which one is a killer. "
But she’s not the only one on the trail.
From San Francisco to the Highlands of Scotland, Jaya must evade a shadowy stalker as she follows hints from the hastily scrawled note to a remote archaeological dig.
Helping her decipher the cryptic clues are her magician best friend, a devastatingly handsome art historian with something to hide, and a charming archaeologist running for his life.
When a member of the dig’s crew is murdered, Jaya must figure out which of the scholars vying for her affections might be the love of her life—and which one is a killer. "
Short Stories:
1. The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn: A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery
"An unsolved murder from the 1930s.
A ghost story to explain the impossible crime.
A dead man in the haunted library.
And no way for the authorities to reach the survivors until the snowstorm clears…
A snowstorm waylays Jaya Jones and Tamarind Ortega. It seems almost too good to be true that they find rooms for the night in beautiful old inn—until they find a dead man clutching an Agatha Christie novel in the secluded hotel’s library. Worse yet, Tamarind is accused of the crime.
To clear her friend, Jaya must delve into the history of the hotel’s haunted library. The present-day mystery is eerily similar to a mysterious unsolved death in the 1930s—could it be the work of the library’s avenging ghost?"
A ghost story to explain the impossible crime.
A dead man in the haunted library.
And no way for the authorities to reach the survivors until the snowstorm clears…
A snowstorm waylays Jaya Jones and Tamarind Ortega. It seems almost too good to be true that they find rooms for the night in beautiful old inn—until they find a dead man clutching an Agatha Christie novel in the secluded hotel’s library. Worse yet, Tamarind is accused of the crime.
To clear her friend, Jaya must delve into the history of the hotel’s haunted library. The present-day mystery is eerily similar to a mysterious unsolved death in the 1930s—could it be the work of the library’s avenging ghost?"
This is a "locked room mystery. I have read it and it is excellent. This has opened my eyes to the Jaya Jones series.
2. Six anthologies of locked room mysteries featuring Jaya Jones stories
Malice Domestic Most Conventional
Asian Pulp
Boucheron Anthology: Murder at the Beach
Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology
Fish Nets: The Second Guppy Anthology
Sisters In Crime Los Angeles: Ladies Night
Other People's Baggage: Three interconnected mystery novellas
Coming out in October 2018 is The Cambodian Curse & Other Stories: A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Short Story Collection. These are stories from the above anthologies written by Gigi.
"A treasure trove of nine locked room mysteries. 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."It is available for preorder. I have mine queued up.
You can read more about Gigi, how she came to writing books, all of her research adventures and more of her bio at this link. She is very interesting and I recommend her books if you like adventure/treasure hunting books, mysteries with whimsy and/or locked room mysteries. And I love the covers of her books.
http://gigipandian.com/
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