The use you encountered in the novel ("the gig is up") is not idiomatic...which doesn't mean it's wrong...it might be a clever pun, or written by a slightly confused author steeped in etymology. According to The Word Detective, the first written use of the phrase was in a Philadelphia paper in 1800:
At The Word Detective, under the heading "I say, chaps..."
The Word Detective also elaborates on the origins of 'gig':
As you will see, the words 'jig', in the sense of 'a lively dance' rather than the later, extended sense of 'a trick or cheat', and 'gig' are closely related, etymologically.
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