The London Séance Society: A Novel

THE LONDON SEANCE SOCIETY by Sarah Penner In the late 1800s interest in the occult, divination and spiritualism is gaining popularity. More and more people are eager to communicate with the dead. Famed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire, is doing more than just communicating with spirits, she’s solving crimes by channeling the murder victims to gain information about their last moments. Skeptic Lenna Wickes is apprenticing under Vaudeline, learning all she can about spiritualism and mediumship in order to perform her own seance and find out who brutally murdered her younger sister Evie. In London, the Vice President of the exclusive (gentlemen only) Seance Society, Mr. Morley, has requested the help of Vaudeline to find out who murdered society founder and President Mr. Volcksman. The concept of this story is intriguing. However, I found the execution to be lacking. The two alternating (first person and third person) POVs became redundant towards the end. There was no real sense of mystery or suspense. Everything was explained as if the reader is too dumb to figure it out for themselves. While I liked this slightly more than the author’s first novel, overall it was just eh OK. Rating: 2.5/5 ⭐️