The Ninja's Illusion (A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery #5)

Author:  Gigi Pandian
Genre:   Mystery/Suspense

Hardcover; Trade Paperback; [Audio CD]; Digital Book
ISBN:  9781635112542; 9781635112511; [9781515963745]
Henery Press Publishing [Tantor Audio]
294 Pages
$31.94; $15.95; $24.97; $6.99 Amazon
May 29, 2017

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A fabled illusion performed by a stage magician who claims to possess real supernatural powers.  A treasure from the colonial era in India when international supremacies vied for power.  A phantom trading ship lost over 200 years ago.  And a ninja whose murderous intentions in present-day Japan connect the deeds of a long-dead trader who was much more than he seemed...

When Jaya travels from San Francisco to Japan with her stage magician best friend Sanjay -- a.k.a. The Hindi Houdini -- for his Japanese debut, she jumps at the chance to pursue her own research that could solve a tantalizing centuries-old mystery.

With the colorful autumn leaves of historic Kyoto falling around her, Jaya soon loses sight of what's real and what's a deception.  A mysterious ninja attempts to sabotage Sanjay's trick, along with Japan's most controversial magician, Akira.  Ancient folklore blurs the lines between illusion and reality when a magician's assistant appears to be a kitsune, a mythical fox spirit.  As tricks escalate to murder, Jaya and her friends must unravel secrets hidden in the ancient capital of Japan, before one of their own becomes the next victim.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

When Jaya Jones, a history professor at a San Francisco university, has a break Thanksgiving week, she intends to travel to Japan to see her best friend, Sanjay, known as the Hindi Houdini, perform his magic.  But before leaving, she receives a cryptic call from him telling her not to come.  Jaya, who also is a well-known treasure hunter who finds artifacts and turns them over to the countries where they belong, is meeting with Professor Nakamura as well, refuses to stay and goes anyway.

Once she reaches Japan, Sanjay refuses to tell her anything except that 'it's complicated.'  When she meets the magician he'll be working with, Akira, she finds the man rude and arrogant.  His assistant, Yako (whose real name is Yoko), is supposedly a kitsune, a fox who can take human form.  While Jaya doesn't believe it, she still wants to know what is really happening.  Yet with the appearance of Sanjay's mentor Sébastien, a retired French magician who still creates mechanical wonders for others, it only complicates things.  Once Jaya learns that tricks have been sabotaged and a mysterious ninja is following them, she wants Sanjay to stop.  When he refuses, and Akira is murdered, Sanjay still intends to continue, making Jaya worried for him.

But then another magician enters the scene, even more attacks are occurring, and Jaya begins to discover that her own research regarding helping Professor Nakamura might have something to do with what's going on with Sanjay's rope trick.  It also might have deadly consequences for one of them, if she doesn't find the truth, and soon...

This is the fifth book in the series, and I have to say I've loved every one of them.  I also have to say that unfortunately, I've read the sixth one first, so this is a bit of a 'backtrack' for me, which I usually don't do; but this is how much I love this series.  (To clarify, if I miss a book, I usually won't go back and read the previous one, but continue on.)

At any rate, the mystery is top-notch, blending Jaya's research with Sanjay's magic, and it works.  We are drawn into the tale easily, and the descriptions of the area around Jaya is rich and colorful.  It makes one want to visit one of the temples, or at the very least, spend time in Kyoto itself.  As a bonus, we get to see Jaya as she is at her most confused regarding her personal life, and deciding what she really wants; giving us more insight as to the type of person she is.

There is plenty of suspense and enlightenment of Japanese history regarding the treatment of foreigners in ancient times. For myself, I found it fascinating; but I usually do with with Ms. Pandian's books.  She is a writer who does her research well, and every time I choose one of her books I know that not only will I be entertained, but learn something new.

When the ending comes and the killer is revealed, it is a bit of a surprise, but there are clues leading up to it and we learn the identity the same time as Jaya; yet the author gives us enough of a tight climax that makes it all worthwhile.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Ninjas-Illusion-Jones-Treasure-Mystery/dp/1635112540/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2138737571

More on Gigi Pandian's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/gigi-pandian/

The Glass Thief (A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery #6)

Author:  Gigi Pandian
Genre:   Mystery/Suspense

Hardcover: Trade Paperback: Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781635115550; 9781635115558
Henery Press Publishing
274 Pages
$31.95; $15.95; $6.99 Amazon
November 12, 2019

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A locked room mystery at a Paris mansion.  A supposed ghost haunting a French family who looted treasure from Cambodia.

A reclusive thriller author writing a novel in honor of historian Jaya Jones - is it a work of fiction or a devious device to lure Jaya into solving a chilling mystery?

Three unsolved murders spanning seventy years have befallen the same French family, each taking place two nights before Christmas at their Paris mansion - and blamed on the family ghost.

When Jaya realizes the truth hits closer to home than she realized, she must risk everything as she flees San Francisco for France and Cambodia to find a missing sculpture known as the Serpent King and stop a flesh and blood killer.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Jaya Jones is a professor of history at a San Francisco university.  She’s nearing the end of the semester when a couple of students - Wesley and Becca - bring her what appears to be an old letter that was found inside a book at the library.  Both are excited that it could be from the Gold Rush days and want to know what she thinks.  Jaya, who also has her own ‘history’ of finding treasure - for museums to display, of course - is excited for them and urges them to pursue it as part of their papers.

Meanwhile, she’s also been a huge fan of author Rick Coronado, who writes a series about adventurer Gabriella Glass.  He’s been out of sight for seven years, though, since he was found after missing for six weeks and apparently suffering from amnesia.  Now it appears that he’s begun to write again, but there’s a catch - his latest book is going to be titled The Glass Thief, with the emphasis on thief, not glass, since Glass is the last name of his protagonist - the catch being that Jaya is going to be part of the book.

But is she?  Once Jaya receives - without asking for any part of this - a couple of preview chapters, she’s intrigued.  She finds that Rick knows of her and her escapades through newspaper articles written of her and the fact that a reporter once saw one of his books in her messenger bag.  When Jaya reads the pages, she begins to wonder about the story, and after doing a little research of her own she discovers that it might not be a story after all, but a real-life tale of greed, intrigue, theft, adventure...and murder.  

Then her love Lane Peters, an ex-thief himself, surprises Jaya one evening in more ways than one.  The shock sent her running from him and she hasn’t spoken to him since, trying to decide what she’s going to do about their relationship or even if she wants to do anything about it.  

But when she gets Rick to agree to meet her to find out what he’s really after, he never shows up.  She’s also warned off doing anything at all in a most dramatic way, but Jaya doesn’t scare easily.  Now she finds herself in Paris trying to solve a long-ago murder, search for hidden treasure, and find out who wants her out of the way...

I have to say that I absolutely love Ms. Pandian's Jaya Jones mysteries.  I have never found one that disappoint, and this latest is no different.  Jaya is an enigma of a woman.  She's a professor at a university in San Francisco, but when she's not teaching she travels all over the world seeking lost treasures so that she may return them to their own countries' museums.  She loves her family but has little to do with them, involving herself instead with the friends she's made and grown to love as much, if not more, than her own family; and her relationship with former thief Lane Peters has caused strong emotions within her, and not limited to love.  She's not afraid to take risks or face danger, yet would rather not her friends join her in this.  As I said, she's an enigma.

Jaya, having received the book chapters from her idol Rick Coronado, reads between the pages as she's supposed to do: Rick is asking for her help.  But is it help in finding a ghost who supposedly killed a man seven years ago, or finding a lost treasure that more than likely led to the death?  Or is it both?

After an altercation with Lane that doesn't go well, leaving her refusing to speak to him, she tells Rick if he doesn't meet with her she won't help him.  But when he never shows, and something occurs to make her realize that there's more at stake than she at first thought, she sets out for France as soon as possible and asks an old friend for help in her quest. 

Soon it's apparent that there is more going on than a ghost wandering the grounds of an old mansion, and Jaya begins putting the puzzle together piece by piece.  But it's only when she realizes that Lane plays a bigger role in her hunt for lost treasure, and someone has been playing her much like her own tabla, that Jaya is able to see the truth for what it is.

The story is intriguing, suspenseful, and fascinating.  It's tightly woven with each thread started on it's own and pulled through slowly piece by piece to create a tapestry of misdirection and mystery intended to make the reader watch carefully for each clue that is given.  Ms. Pandian has indeed created a wonderful tale that takes us once again to other countries where many of us may never have the chance to travel.  It is an exquisite journey of history, riddles, and secrets revealed - which also bring revelations to Jaya herself.

In the end, it only leaves us wanting more, and I find myself eagerly awaiting the next adventure to see where Jaya will take us.  Highly recommended.

https://smile.amazon.com/Glass-Thief-Jones-Treasure-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07WDLNLFG/ref

Goodreads:

More on Gigi Pandian's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/gigi-pandian/

Michelangelo's Ghost (A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery #4)

Author:  Gigi Pandian
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback; Audio CD; Ebook
ISBN #: 9781635110722; 9781635110692; 9781515951469
Henery Press
288 Pages
$28.83; $15.95; $29.99; $6.99 Amazon
October 4, 2016

Five Stars

A lost work of art linking India to the Italian Renaissance.  A killer hiding behind a centuries-old ghost story.  And a hidden treasure in Italy's macabre sculpture garden known as the Park of Monsters...When Jaya's old professor dies under eerie circumstances shortly after discovering manuscripts that point to a treasure in Italy's Park of Monsters, Jaya and her brother pick up the trail.  From San Francisco the heart of Italy, Jaya is haunted by the a ghost story inexorably linked to the masterpieces of a long-dead artist and the deeds of a modern-day murderer.  Untrustworthy colleagues, disappearing boyfriends, and old enemies - who can Jaya trust when the ghost wails?

********

History professor Jaya Jones is preparing for finals week at university when she receives a cryptic email from her ex-mentor, Professor Lilith Vine.  Lilith, it seems, isn't highly thought of in the academic world - she had an early historical discovery when she was in her twenties and has been chasing the ghost ever since trying to recreate that notoriety - but it backfired when she continued to seek out fame and glory; two things that never again materialized in her career.  When she left the university for a smaller one, she wanted Jaya to go with her, but Jaya listened to other faculty and turned her down, leaving her feeling guilty about the encounter.  Now, though, she believes the least she can do is visit Lilith and find out what all the secrecy is about.

When she arrives at Lilith's home, she finds nothing much has changed - Lilith, you see, is a functioning alcoholic, and Jaya is skeptical about the story she's telling her regarding a Renaissance painter's hidden artwork - until she sees the sketchbooks.  Sketchbooks from the 16th century, written in the hand of Lazzaro Allegri, an artist who may have been Michelangelo's protege.  Lilith, who is not in good health, traveled to Italy to discover more information and has passed what she has learned onto Jaya, in hopes that she will continue to find the truth:  that Lazzaro traveled from Italy to India and applied Renaissance painting techniques to Indian subjects.  What Lilith wants her to do is travel to Italy and try to find Lazzaro's hidden studio, and hopefully what remains of his artwork.

Jaya, of course, agrees to go once she sees the sketchbooks and other information Lilith has gathered.  But she's not going alone...her brother Mahilan "Fish", has arrived in San Francisco to visit her with his new girlfriend Ava in tow, and they've decided to take the vacation with her.  Their destination is Bomarzo, Italy, to the Park of Monsters, where the studio is supposedly hidden.  The Park of Monsters (very real) was created by an Italian in honor of his late wife (although I don't believe I'd want such an 'honor' created for me) and from what Lilith has already discovered, is where the studio is hidden.

But finding the treasure - if it exists - isn't going to be easy.  The park has been transformed into an an amusement park of sorts, so getting into it after hours might be tricky.  Then there's the legend of the ghost that haunts the grounds - when it rains, you can hear the wails of an Italian woman who mourns the loss of her dead husband; so much so that the locals believe the history and refuse to go anywhere near where the ghost walks.  But when Jaya, Mahilan and Ava hear the wails themselves, they're not so sure the legend isn't true.

It also doesn't help that Jaya hasn't been able to reach Lane and let him know where she is, and she discovers there's a fourth sketchbook, but it too has disappeared.  With two disappearances, the appearance of an elusive thief and a ghost warning them away from the area, Jaya still remains determined to find the hidden studio.  But when the stakes are raised and it seems that there's a killer on the loose, a killer who might have murdered Lilith Vine and now be after Jaya, just how far will she be willing to go to find an elusive treasure?

There are a couple of subplots woven into the tale:  we learn a little more about Mahilan throughout the story, some of which is quite amusing; his new relationship with Ava, who could be "the one" (but Jaya is still on the fence regarding this); Jaya's own relationship with the elusive Lane Peters, whom she obviously adores but isn't sure if they have a future, and the 'Hindi Houdini' Sanjay, Jaya's best friend (who obviously adores her).  Somewhere in this group I've mentioned there is a secret that could bode for either good or bad in the long run...

Ms. Pandian has once again given us a fascinating tale.  Michelangelo's Ghost is full of adventure and intrigue, carrying us to the small town of Bomarzo in central Italy, to the fantastical Park of Monsters and blended it with a fictional story of a wailing ghost that haunts the park and lost art; it is masterful and compelling and pure delight to read.  Her characters are fleshed out and highly believable, her mixture of historical fact and fiction is superb, and, as in all good mysteries, the further we get into the tale, the more the suspense grows.  As always, Ms. Pandian does not disappoint; she is a writer who knows her craft well and is able to spin a tale that pulls one in immediately and keeps them entertained throughout.

When we reach the end of the tale, everything falls into place, as well it should.  There was indeed a murderer, and not one that would have been suspected under any circumstances, giving us a satisfying end to a highly realistic mystery.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Michelangelos-Ghost-Jones-Treasure-Mystery/dp/1635110696/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1777525317

More on Gigi Pandian's books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/gigi-pandian/

Other People's Baggage: Three Interconnected Mystery Novellas

Author:  Kendel Lynn, Gigi Pandian, Diane Vallere
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback; Ebook
ISBN #:  9781940976860; 9781938383106
Henery Press
244 Pages
$31.95; $15.95; $2.99 Amazon
August 7, 2014

Five Stars

Baggage claim can be terminal when a computer glitch mislabels identical vintage suitcases.  This is what happened after three women with a knack for solving mysteries each grabbed the wrong bag. 

MIDNIGHT ICE by Diane Vallere, A Mad for Mod Mystery Novella (prequel to Pillow Stalk).  When interior decoration Madison Night crosses the country to distance herself from a recent breakup, she learns it's harder to escape her past than she thought, and diamonds are rarely a girl's best friend.

SWITCH BACK by Kendel Lynn, an Elliott Lisbon Mystery Novella (prequel to Board Stiff).  Ballantyne Foundation director Elliott Lisbon travels to Texas after inheriting an entire town, but when she learns the donor was murdered, she has to unlock the small town's big secrets or she'll never get out alive.

 FOOL'S GOLD by Gigi Pandian, a Jaya Jones Treasure Hunting Mystery (prequel to Artifact).  When a world-famous chess set is stolen from a locked room during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, historian Jaya Jones and her magician best friend must outwit actresses and alchemists to solve the baffling crime.

********

What happens when three women who have never met each other discover they own the exact same suitcase?  And that they all have airline stopovers in Dallas, Texas?  Quite a bit as it turns out.  When Madison Night arrives in California she's on vacation recovering from a romantic breakup, which is hard enough.  But then she opens the suitcase and discovers that it's not hers, and it also leaves her with nothing to wear.  Just when she thinks it can't get any worse, she not only realizes the object of her recent breakup is at the same hotel, but she's inadvertently gotten involved in something that could put her in danger...

...meanwhile, when Elliott Lisbon arrives at her Texas destination, she finds that not only is the suitcase the wrong one, she's expected to attend a ball and is hoping that she can "borrow" something temporarily.  But there's no way these clothes will fit her - they're for a much shorter woman - and what she wore on the airplane won't do since the top has been wine-stained.  To add to matters, her friend Zibby, who is traveling with her, has asked her to help Zibby's friend Bea, who has been accused of the murder of her husband.  Sorting it all out while wearing a I 'heart' Texas t-shirt and dealing with hostile relatives of the deceased wasn't what she expected when she signed up for this rodeo...

...which leaves Jaya Jones, who is in Scotland with her friend Sanjay for the Endinburgh Fringe Festival when she finds she's received the wrong suitcase.  She also finds a true locked-room mystery, when her friend Daniella tells her that a valuable chess set has been stolen from her hotel suite, and only one of the four people staying in the suite could be guilty.  But is that true?  Enlisting illusionist Sanjay's help, Jaya knows she needs to find the truth before Daniella or one of her friends is accused of the crime...

As the title states, these are three interconnected mystery novellas.  Three quite lively and fun, and the connection between them is only the transposed suitcases.  But it is the perfect plot to begin with, and one that spawns three delightful stories of intrigue and deceit.  I love the main characters, and have from their books, but even in these short tales we are given quite a nice package in each, and the secondary characters are given enough teeth that they are enjoyable to read.  Since the stories are basically mini-books, I hesitate to give any more information on each, but take the time to read them.  If you don't know these women from their books, this is a good place to begin, as they are all prequels to their series; and if you have already read their books, I am sure you will enjoy visiting with them again.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Other-Peoples-Baggage-Interconnected-Novellas-ebook/dp/B00AF0Y8GC/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1698260865

More on Diane Vallere's books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/v/diane-vallere/

  Kendel Lynn's books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/l/kendel-lynn/

  Gigi Pandian's books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/gigi-pandian/

The Masquerading Magician (An Accidental Alchemist Mystery)

Author:  Gigi Pandian
Genre:  Mystery/Fantasy

Paperback; Ebook
ISBN #:  9780738742359
Midnight Ink Publishing
336 Pages
$14.99; $9.59 Kindle
January 8, 2015

Five Stars

Deciphering an ancient alchemy book is more difficult than Zoe Faust bargained for.  She'd much rather be gardening and exploring her new home of Portland, Oregon - but time is running out for living gargoyle Dorian Robert-Houdin.  If Zoe isn't able to unlock the alchemy book's secrets soon, the French gargoyle will remain awake but trapped in stone forever.

When Zoe gives herself a rare night out to attend a classic magic show that reminds her of her youth, she realizes the stage magicians are much more than they seem.  A murder at the theater leads back to a string of unsolved robberies and murders in Portland's past, and a mystery far more personal than Zoe and Dorian ever imagined.

********

Zoe Faust is an alchemist.  It's a little hard to explain, but in a nutshell (and I am not saying this is all they do) they have the ability to prolong life, heal, and - yes, in some cases - change base metals into precious ones.  I am not saying they exist, nor am I saying they do not.  I am merely explaining what an alchemist is.

At any rate, Zoe Faust is one of of those people.  She has spent the last several hundred years wandering the earth, never staying in any one place for very long, lest anyone should notice she hasn't aged.  At the present, she is residing in Portland, Oregon, and has bought her very first house, a fixer-upper that definitely needs work but she, at present, doesn't have the funds to repair.

Her first order of business is to help her housemate from dying.  You see, Dorian Robert-Houdin is a gargoyle.  Yes, gargoyle.  He was brought to life by a very famous French Magician, Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin.  And he is presently reverting to his stone state.  Which, if it occurs, will permanently trap him in a stone body forever, but he will be awake.  Thus Zoe has undertaken the dangerous task of trying to help him.  It is dangerous for her, because in making his Tea of Ashes, which helps him temporarily, it is slowly killing her.  So at night Dorian bakes wonderful treats for a local bakery - he has been trained as a gourmet chef by a blind chef - that everyone thinks Zoe makes.

One night Zoe gives herself a rare night out to see a pair of magicians, and notices her young friend Brixton at the performance - the only other living person who knows about Dorian - and looks up and also sees Dorian, which throws her, because she knows it is dangerous for him to be there.

It is a long story, and one I will not go into with detail, because I do not want to give too much away - which, in this case, is difficult because it is a key part of the story; but I will attempt to write the gist of it.  The magicians, Peter and Penelope, remind Zoe of a performance she saw many, many years ago.  Peter Silverman reminds Brixton of someone he has seen recently, and this leads him and Zoe to another dilemma in which they may need his help, but do not know how to approach him.  It seems Peter resembles a man who committed a robbery in Portland over fifty years ago, and was killed by the police; so much so that Brixton is convinced he is the same man and, being a magician, could also be an alchemist.  If so, Zoe could need his help in keeping Dorian alive.

And one night, a man is found dead in the theater, clutching one of Dorian's stone toes, which somehow got tangled in wires the night he visited the performance and broke off.  Due to this, Zoe's semi-boyfriend Max Liu, a police detective, thinks Dorian (the statue) may have been used in the crime, but does not know how.

From there we have an extremely interesting story.  Ms. Pandian has a way of mingling fact with fiction in her writing, and does it very well.  In this story she uses factual people, (the magician Robert-Houdin, for example) and weaves it into the novel in ways which not only seem plausible, but are compelling as well.  It makes the book appear as if one were reading a history book, not a fictional novel, which is interesting enough in itself, but quite ingenuous in its own way.

I enjoyed this book very much, but I must disavow Dorian of the notion that Hercule Poirot was not un flic.  He was, indeed, at one time.  Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Masquerading-Magician-Accidental-Alchemist-Mystery/dp/073874235X/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1496912064

More on Gigi Pandian's books:  http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/p/gigi-pandian/