Armchair Adventures: Traveling to France from a Cozy Living Room in California by Gigi Pandian

Here’s a teaser for Gigi’s new Accidental Alchemist novella: THE LOST GARGOYLE OF PARIS

Alchemy and an art heist in Paris are on the menu in the new Accidental Alchemist novella from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award winning author Gigi Pandian.

Alchemist Zoe Faust and her impish gargoyle sidekick Dorian Robert-Houdin travel to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to investigate a mysterious discovery found in the wreckage of the tragic fire: a long-lost gargoyle illustration drawn by Victor Hugo himself.

When the work of art is stolen under impossible circumstances, Dorian must use his “little gray cells”—not to mention his culinary skills—to solve the crime and discover the true origins of where he came from.

Includes delicious vegan recipes!

Gigi: I’ve always been an armchair traveler. I grew up devouring books by Elizabeth Peters, Aaron Elkins, Agatha Christie, and many more authors with mysteries set abroad, and was lucky to begin traveling abroad with my parents on their academic research trips from a young age. Both forms of travel stayed with me into my adult life. However, I didn’t anticipate just how important armchair travel would become this spring!

As a book-lover, a silver lining of sheltering in place is that I can still travel through books. I can happily spend the evening curled up on my cozy couch, in the shadow of my overflowing bookshelves. I’m finding so much comfort in books—and I hope you are as well.

Travel features in both cozy mystery series I write, and France is the country that’s been featured in both series. I first visited France in person when I was a teenager. I fell in love with Paris, especially the old-world mysteries it held.

The gargoyles of Notre Dame captured my imagination, so it was no surprise that when I became a novelist decades later, I created paranormal cozy series featuring a living gargoyle who was once carved in stone for Notre Dame Cathedral—before being accidentally brought to life through alchemy.

In the spring of 2019, I watched in horror from afar as the cathedral burned. Paris and Notre Dame are central to the personal histories of both centuries-old alchemist Zoe Faust and her impish gargoyle sidekick Dorian Robert-Houdin. Because I wanted to visit again at least in spirit, I began writing a locked-room mystery short story set in Paris after the fire.

A funny thing happened. The cathedral’s rich history demanded more space on the page (as did Dorian the gargoyle!), so my short story grew into a novella. Yes, one thing I’ve learned over the years is that I need to listen to my characters!

I’d hoped to return to Paris this spring, but it wasn’t in the cards. Luckily I’ve got bookshelves filled with amazing books. So this spring, I’m not leaving home or going much farther than this cozy corner of my living room, but I’m traveling all around the world.

Readers: Where are you going on your armchair travels this spring? Please share in the comments!

p.s. I’ve just learned that through April 30, 2020, the eBook of my debut novel Artifact is on sale for only 99¢! In the adventure cozy, you can travel with historian Jaya Jones to the highlands of Scotland. https://www.gigipandian.com/books/artifact

Bio: Gigi Pandian is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award winning mystery author, breast cancer survivor, and accidental almost-vegan. The child of anthropologists from New Mexico and the southern tip of India, she spent her childhood traveling around the world on their research trips, and now lives in California with her husband and a gargoyle who watches over the garden. Gigi writes the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries, Accidental Alchemist mysteries, and locked-room mystery short stories.

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THE LOST GARGOYLE OF PARIS

https://www.gigipandian.com/the-lost-gargoyle-of-paris