Goodreads Blurb

A spellbinding tale about two daring women who hunt for truth and justice in the perilous art of conjuring the dead.

1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by widows and investigators alike.

Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister’s death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. But as the women team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves…

My Review: Rated 3 out of 5 stars

The London Séance Society was composed solely of men who would stop at nothing to exploit poor widows. Many people long to see the supernatural world firsthand and hope for a chance to reconnect with their loved ones. This story invites you to London to experience a séance. Readers will be just as captivated by Vaudeline as Evie and Lenna were. She is the spiritualist who promises an authentic experience of meeting your loved one, free from deceit. Will you take a seat and join the séance?

The story centers around Lenna, who has lost her sister Evie, and her friend Eloise. The author leads readers on a wild goose chase as Lenna searches for the real reasons behind her sister’s and friend’s deaths. What she uncovers is troubling: Evie knew the schemes within their society and was even complicit in them. It turns out that Evie was trying to learn everything she could about the horrific secrets the society was hiding. In a surprising twist, it becomes apparent that Evie was actively participating in the scheme to expose the terrible things the society was doing for profit.

Maintaining a high social status was especially important to Mr. Volckman, the president of the society. This meant he kept a “kill list” of wealthy families to arrange marriages between society members and their widows. Not only did they plot through deceptive séances, but they also resorted to underhanded tactics, taking advantage of women during their mourning. What you experience during a séance might not be real after all. People are vulnerable after the death of a loved one. The book mentioned the steps needed to conduct a séance and we learned what the Victorian’s mourning customs were.

The story started off slowly, which took me a long time to continue going through the story. There were some great twists to the story and provided a good context on conducting a séance for someone who had never been to one.

Author Biography

Sarah Penner is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary and The London Séance Society. Her books have been translated into more than forty languages and her debut, The Lost Apothecary, has sold over one million copies worldwide.

A graduate of the University of Kansas, Sarah spent thirteen years in corporate finance and now writes full-time. In her free time, Sarah enjoys hiking, yoga, and cooking. She also sits on the Board of Directors at her local animal shelter, Friends of Strays. Sarah and her husband, Marc, live in Florida.