Title: The Library Game
Author: Gigi Pandian
Series: Secret Staircase Mystery #4
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: March 18, 2025

I received complimentary eARC and ALCs from Minotaur Books (a division of St. Martin's Press) and Macmillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted

T H R E E • W O R D S

Amusing • Lighthearted • Unsurprising

📖 S Y N O P S I S

There's a body in the library—and everyone is a suspect.

Tempest Raj couldn’t be happier that the family business, Secret Staircase Construction, is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Known for enchanting architectural features like sliding bookshelves and secret passageways, the company is now taking on a dream project: transforming a home into a public library that celebrates history's greatest fictional detectives.

Though the work is far from done, Gray House Library’s new owner is eager to host a murder mystery dinner and literary themed escape room. But when a rehearsal ends with an actor murdered and the body vanishes, Tempest is witness to a seemingly impossible crime. Fueled by her grandfather’s Scottish and Indian meals, Tempest and the rest of the crew must figure out who is making beloved classic mystery plots come to life in a deadly game.

💭 T H O U G H T S

A library renovation combined with a murder mystery dinner and a literary themed escape room - these are the elements that made me immediately added The Library Game to my list of 2025 anticipated releases. What I failed to realize until I had started reading was it is the fourth installment in the Secret Staircase Mystery series. Oops.

Like so many of the cozy mysteries I pick up, I absolutely adored the small town community and the old house turned library setting. Tempest's character is certainly interesting and entertaining, yet at times it feels like the author has made her too eccentric. I did, however, appreciate the diverseness of the cast. The heart of this book really is the relationships between the characters, and I may have missed out of some of that relationship building not having read the previous books in the series.

When it comes to the mystery element, it was pretty simple to figure out whodunit. In my opinion, there were too many clue and rather than subtly inserting throughout the narrative, they were so in your face that it disrupted the overall flow. My interest level also shifted erratically while reading, as opposed to remaining consistently invested.

I tandem read the audiobook, narrated by Soneela Nankani, along with the digital copy. While the audiobook helped speed up the reading process, there is nothing about it that really stood out. The narration is fine and did the job. I know cozy mysteries don't always have a lot of emotion, yet I felt that was lacking in the voicing of the story.

The Library Game is meant to be a locked room mystery, however, much of the action takes place outside of the locked-room. It has so many elements I adore, yet how they come together just didn't work for me. Maybe if I'd have had more context from the previous books, it'd have been a better experience. Cozy mysteries are not my go-to genre, so it's quite possible people who love cozies will enjoy this a lot more.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• escape rooms
• books about books
• cozy mysteries

⚠️ CW: death, murder