The London Séance Society: A Mystery Novel

Product Information

Written with intoxicating suspense and sultry prose, The London Séance Society is an entrancing tale that blurs the lines between truth and illusion, and reveals the grave risks women will take to avenge the ones they love. Sarah Penner brings history to vivid life in this atmospheric and evocative whodunnit steeped in suspense, mystery, and illusion." Set in Victorian London and Paris, the book's title The London Séance Society comes from an exclusive men’s club. Members only, thank you. We also get the perspective of Mr. Morley, the Vice President of the London Seance Society, a secretive men's club.

When this one was donated to my Little Free Library Shed, I had an interesting choice, right? Should I or shouldn't I? The first half of the book creeps along, introducing the three main characters with painful slowness. The "set up" shouldn't take so long. The chapters alternate between using a female main character's point of view (told in third person) and the male main character's (told in first person). There is a dramatic change at the halfway mark in the male's narration that is disturbing. It might have been better to forego his POV completely and let the two female main characters make all the revelations through their sleuthing. In spite of that, at that point, I was still finding the story itself quite intriguing. Around the middle it did begin to drag for me a bit and I felt myself thinking about other things while reading. In other words, it was a mixed bag. The Victorian vibe is captured accurately, as is the misogynistic attitude of the “gentlemen” of that era. Penner has conjured up another winner. Bristling with tension and gothic mystery, it is both smart and seductive."Fiona Davis, author of The Magnolia Palace

Member Reviews

How ironic, she thought, the mention of seance etched into the fossil-studded stone. Two sides of the dead, the illusory and the tangible.” The ending got twisty and I did enjoy some of the things that were revealed. I would say my interest started hella strong and slowly went down as the story continued. Penner brings history to vivid life in this atmospheric and evocative whodunnit." --Nita Prose, author of The Maid My thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “The London Séance Society”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sara Penner has crafted an eerie, suspenseful mystery that is steeped in a world dripping with illusion, bringing the Victorian era to life and once again proving her novels are not one’s to miss.

Penner brings history to vivid life in this atmospheric and evocative whodunnit." —Nita Prose, author of The Maid While not without a refreshing twist and vivid descriptions of gothic Victorian-era characters, readers’ enjoyment of The London Seance Society will depend on their reading mood; specifically their appetite for escapism and entertaining crime mystery tropes. For me, Sarah Penner’s second novel was a very enjoyable read.

I enjoyed this atmospheric, Victorian story about spiritualism and murder! I’ve always heard that the Victorians enjoyed this spiritualism and séances so it was fun to read a story set in this time. This book was supposed to have taken place in 1873, but I just couldn’t connect within anything because it felt so modernized. I was waiting any moment for one of the characters to pull out a cell phone 🤪 Mesmerizing, seductive and absolutely irresistible... The London Séance Society is completely spellbinding." —Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of The House Guest Mlle. D'Allaire is a world-renown spiritualist and medium known for her success in summoning the spirits of murder victims to discover the identity of their killers.