Gigi Pandian Books in Order
Explore Gigi Pandian books in order, with quick summaries, series guides, and easy where-to-start tips for Jaya Jones, Zoe Faust, and Tempest Raj.
Last updated: July 5, 2026
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Publication Order
41 books
Artifact
by Gigi Pandian
2012
After an old flame dies, Jaya Jones receives an artifact and a cryptic plea for help. The clues send her from London to the Scottish Highlands on the trail of a lost Indian treasure, and the murderer hunting it.
Other People's Baggage
by Gigi Pandian
2012
A storm, a luggage mix-up, and three sharp amateur sleuths set this linked novella collection in motion. Each wrong suitcase opens the door to a different mystery, with the stories cleverly crossing paths along the way.
Pillow Stalk
by Gigi Pandian
2012
Madison Night's retro style makes her memorable, and suddenly that feels dangerous. When a killer targets women dressed like her, Madison has to solve the case before her signature look makes her the next victim.
That Touch of Ink
by Gigi Pandian
2013
A mysterious five-thousand-dollar bill arrives in Madison Night's mail like a threat from the past. Her search for the sender leads to a dead body, a returning ex, and a trail of rare money and counterfeit trouble.
The Hindi Houdini
by Gigi Pandian
2013
Magician Sanjay Rai, known onstage as the Hindi Houdini, takes the lead in this locked-room mystery. When a baffling crime strikes the Napa Valley winery theater where he performs, stagecraft becomes part of the solution.
Pirate Vishnu
by Gigi Pandian
2014
A treasure map drawn before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake leads Jaya Jones from California to the southern tip of India. To restore a revered treasure, she has to outwit a killer and decode the secrets of her own ancestor.
Quicksand
by Gigi Pandian
2015
Jaya Jones ends up on the wrong side of a Louvre art heist and has to clear her name fast. Following clues from an illuminated manuscript, she races through Paris and Mont Saint-Michel in search of a killer and a buried secret.
The Accidental Alchemist
by Gigi Pandian
2015
Zoe Faust wants a quiet new life in Portland, but a living gargoyle named Dorian arrives with a stolen alchemy text and a desperate problem. When murder lands on her doorstep, Zoe has to reopen a past she meant to leave behind.
With Vics You Get Eggroll
by Gigi Pandian
2015
Madison Night is juggling clients and a product endorsement when reports of missing women turn into murder. Evidence points at Tex Allen, and Madison must untangle a copycat scheme before someone she cares about is destroyed.
Michelangelo's Ghost
by Gigi Pandian
2016
When Jaya Jones's old professor dies after uncovering clues to a lost treasure, Jaya and her brother follow the trail to Italy. Ghost stories, hidden art, and a modern killer wait in the shadows of the Park of Monsters.
The Masquerading Magician
by Gigi Pandian
2016
A night at a magic show turns deadly for Zoe Faust and Dorian when murder points back to old robberies and a dangerous alchemy book. What starts as entertainment quickly becomes a personal and deadly investigation.
The Decorator Who Knew Too Much
by Gigi Pandian
2017
A Palm Springs decorating job should be a welcome escape for Madison Night. Instead she finds a body by the work site, old nightmares resurfacing, and a murder that hits far too close to the help she has been told to seek.
The Elusive Elixir
by Gigi Pandian
2017
Dorian is slowly turning back to stone, and Zoe Faust may be the only one who can save him. Their search for the Elixir of Life links a 1942 crime, Notre Dame, and a missing gargoyle to fresh danger.
The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn
by Gigi Pandian
2017
Snowed in at an old inn, Jaya Jones and Tamarind Ortega find a dead man in the library, and Tamarind becomes the prime suspect. To clear her friend, Jaya must untangle a present murder tied to a haunting from the 1930s.
The Ninja's Illusion
by Gigi Pandian
2017
A famed illusion in Kyoto and a colonial-era treasure send Jaya Jones and Sanjay Rai, the Hindi Houdini, to Japan. What begins as a magician's puzzle quickly turns into a dangerous hunt with higher stakes than either expects.
Lover Come Hack
by Gigi Pandian
2018
After a falling-out with a close friend, Madison Night throws herself into a design competition to steady her life. Then the friend is murdered, and a wave of anonymous hacking turns a personal feud into a much darker puzzle.
Midnight Ice
by Gigi Pandian
2018
Heartbroken and looking for distance, Madison Night heads cross-country to escape a breakup. Instead she stumbles into danger, missing diamonds, and the hard truth that running away does not leave the past behind.
The Cambodian Curse
by Gigi Pandian
2018
This collection gathers nine locked-room mysteries, led by a title case involving a vanished Cambodian sculpture and an impossible murder. Jaya Jones and other sleuths move through stories full of magic, history, and cleverly sealed crimes.
The Pajama Frame
by Gigi Pandian
2018
An elderly friend leaves Madison Night a shuttered pajama factory, along with more questions than comfort. As she digs into an old death tied to the building, the factory's buried secrets start feeling very much alive.
The Alchemist's Illusion
by Gigi Pandian
2019
A dangerous painting becomes Zoe Faust's path to a missing mentor, Nicolas Flamel. As art, greed, and alchemy collide in Portland, Zoe and Dorian have to solve a modern murder tangled up with very old secrets.
The Glass Thief
by Gigi Pandian
2019
A ghost-haunted French family, three murders across seventy years, and a missing Cambodian sculpture pull Jaya Jones into her darkest case yet. To stop a flesh-and-blood killer, she must follow the trail from San Francisco to France and Cambodia.
Apprehend Me No Flowers
by Gigi Pandian
2020
With her business tied up in court, Madison Night is desperate for a distraction, and finds one when she and Tex discover two bodies in a park. A volunteer project and a neighborhood florist soon pull her deeper into the cold case.
The Lost Gargoyle of Paris
by Gigi Pandian
2020
Zoe Faust and Dorian return to Paris after a mysterious discovery is found in the wreckage of Notre Dame. When a long-lost Victor Hugo gargoyle illustration vanishes under impossible circumstances, art and alchemy collide.
Sweeps Week
by Richard Helms
2021
A vanished letter, a bricked-up door, and rumors of a ghost test librarian Tamarind Ortega and stage magician Sanjay Rai. To solve the case, they must explain an impossible theft modeled on a classic locked-room story.
Teacher's Threat
by Gigi Pandian
2021
Trying to rebuild after losing her business, Madison Night heads back to school for an MBA. When a professor is murdered after a tense class, she has to study the people around her before the case turns deadly.
The Alchemist of Fire and Fortune
by Gigi Pandian
2021
A blackmailer, a treasure map, and secrets on the Oregon coast drag Zoe Faust into fresh danger. As Dorian chases pirate gold with help from local teens, old loyalties and hidden truths threaten Zoe's found family.
Love Me or Grieve Me
by Gigi Pandian
2022
A newspaper obituary mix-up leaves Madison Night reading about her own supposed death. The mistake leads her to a forgotten jazz singer, an old unsolved murder, and secrets that may put Madison next in line.
The Alchemist of Riddle and Ruin
by Gigi Pandian
2022
Zoe Faust sees what looks like the ghost of a girl murdered sixteen years earlier. To protect the people she loves, Zoe and Dorian must reopen an unsolved party-game killing and decide whether the specter is spirit or flesh.
The Christmas Caper
by Gigi Pandian
2022
Tempest Raj heads to Scotland for Christmas and expects family tradition, not a baffling art theft. In Edinburgh's festive old streets, she takes on an impossible heist before the holiday mood turns properly dark.
The Kill of it All
by Gigi Pandian
2022
Madison Night's business is finally taking off when a police publicity campaign puts her in front of the cameras. Then the original spokeswoman is murdered, and Madison learns that the spotlight can be a dangerous place to stand.
Under Lock & Skeleton Key
by Gigi Pandian
2022
After a disastrous stage accident, Tempest Raj returns home to her family's hidden-door construction business. When a woman is found dead inside a supposedly sealed wall, Tempest has to face an impossible crime and old family fears.
Please Don't Push Up the Daisies
by Gigi Pandian
2023
When Madison Night meets Tex Allen's family, she expects awkward introductions, not a corpse in an arboretum. With Tex sidelined and tensions blooming everywhere, Madison has to dig through rivalries and grudges before they bury her too.
The Alchemist of Monsters and Mayhem
by Gigi Pandian
2023
When a tea shop is vandalized and rare blends are stolen, Zoe Faust follows the clues to an eerie mansion full of carnivorous plants and sinister topiary. Then a corpse appears in the conservatory, and the case gets stranger fast.
The Raven Thief
by Gigi Pandian
2023
A mock seance turns deadly when a famous mystery writer dies in front of a table full of suspects whose hands never break contact. Tempest Raj has to clear her grandfather by solving a murder that looks impossible.
A Midnight Puzzle
by Gigi Pandian
2024
A midnight phone call sends Tempest Raj to an old theater, where she finds a body and a deadly booby trap. With her family's business under suspicion, she has to solve the puzzle before the next staged disaster strikes.
The Alchemist of Brushstrokes and Brimstone
by Gigi Pandian
2024
A stolen portrait, Zoe Faust's last link to her brother, opens the door to murder and a forgotten woman artist. Zoe and Dorian must recover the painting and uncover a lost color recipe worth killing for.
The Glass Bottom Hoax
by Gigi Pandian
2024
Madison Night goes undercover on a cruise ship as a Doris Day impersonator, with Tex posing as her manager husband. Then the entertainment director is murdered, and Madison has to expose both a killer and a possible crime ring at sea.
A Gargoyle's Guide to Murder
by Gigi Pandian
2025
Dorian follows a dangerous book from his past to England and witnesses a murder that leaves no body behind. With Zoe at his side, he faces poisoned books, a country house full of suspects, and a killer nobody believes exists.
The Library Game
by Gigi Pandian
2025
While renovating a public library devoted to great fictional detectives, Tempest Raj witnesses an actor's murder during a rehearsal, then the body vanishes. To solve it, she must figure out who is turning classic mystery plots into a deadly game.
My Nightmare Is Yours
by Gigi Pandian
2026
A retro recording studio job turns tricky when Madison Night's client becomes tangled in a singer's murder. As suspects crowd the stage and Tex backs the wrong theory, Madison has to find the truth before loyalty ruins everything.
The Alchemist of All Hallows Eve
by Gigi Pandian
2026
An autumn mystery draws Zoe Faust and Dorian into another tangle of old secrets, danger, and alchemical trouble. Expect a cozy mix of magic, clues, and found family as Halloween shadows start to close in.
Where should I start?
If you want globe-trotting treasure hunts: Artifact → Pirate Vishnu → Quicksand
If you want cozy fantasy and magic: The Accidental Alchemist → The Masquerading Magician → The Elusive Elixir
If you love impossible crimes and hidden passages: Under Lock & Skeleton Key → The Raven Thief → A Midnight Puzzle
If you want a quick sample of her short fiction: The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn → The Locked Room Library → The Christmas Caper
Author bio
Gigi Pandian grew up with roots in New Mexico and the southern tip of India, and she spent much of her childhood tagging along on her parents' academic research trips around the world. Those early miles show up all through her fiction, where travel, history, and place are never just decoration. They are part of the mystery.
She started writing mysteries as a kid.
Years later, while working on her own PhD, she realized she was happier imagining the adventures of academics than becoming one. She left academia, went to art school, and began shaping the kind of books she wanted to read, puzzle-driven stories with humor, heart, and a strong sense of place. She has also said that classic locked-room mysteries were a longtime love, which helps explain why so many of her books care as much about the how of a crime as the who.
Her debut novel, Artifact, introduced historian Jaya Jones and set the template for one side of her work, globe-trotting mysteries tied to treasures from India's colonial past. Readers who enjoy cross-cultural history, clever clues, and a little romance usually keep going with Pirate Vishnu, Quicksand, and Michelangelo's Ghost, where Jaya's investigations carry her from Scotland and India to France, Italy, Japan, and Cambodia.
Pandian then took a different turn with The Accidental Alchemist, a cozy fantasy mystery about centuries-old alchemist Zoe Faust and Dorian Robert-Houdin, a living gargoyle with serious opinions and serious cooking skills. Books like The Elusive Elixir and The Alchemist's Illusion mix magic, murder, friendship, and old secrets, but they stay warmhearted and playful. The recipes tucked into the series tell you a lot about the mood she likes to create.
She clearly loves an impossible problem.
That love runs through her short fiction and the Secret Staircase books too. The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn won an Agatha Award, The Cambodian Curse won a Derringer Award, and The Locked Room Library was a finalist for an Edgar Award. In the Secret Staircase series, beginning with Under Lock & Skeleton Key, illusionist Tempest Raj untangles baffling crimes in houses full of hidden rooms, sliding bookcases, and family secrets.
Across all three series, certain pleasures keep returning: overlooked history, food, stage magic, hidden architecture, found family, and characters who use curiosity to get themselves into trouble and back out again. Pandian has described her books as traditional mysteries for adults that avoid graphic violence, sex, and bad language, which makes them especially welcoming for readers who want suspense without grimness.
Life has shaped the work, too. Pandian is a breast cancer survivor, and she has written openly about how that experience sharpened her focus on travel, cooking, friendship, and the stories she most wanted to tell. She now lives outside San Francisco with her husband and, as she likes to joke, a gargoyle watching over the garden.
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