Thankyou to Netgalley for gifting me this arc copy of the London Seance Society.
I started reading this on my kindle and then the publisher kindly sent it to me in physical form too.
Lovers of historical fiction will really enjoy this and I did too. The mystery and suspense was present throughout but fell kind of flat towards the end. A good cast of characters making it a 3 star read.

The London Seance Society
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Genre: Fantasy
Author: Sarah Penner
GR: 3.51

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Legend Press and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: This story has a little of everything, creepiness, spiritual, suspense, romance, and told in a historical background. Lenna, while an apprentice, is really interested in solving her sister’s murder. Lenna does not believe in the spiritual world and believes in science and actual evidence, but will do anything to find out who murdered her sister. Wolckman’s death occurs around the same time as Evie’s death. Wolckman was very close to undermining the deceptive practices of The London Seance Society when he was mysteriously murdered.

The story is dual narrated by Lenna, Evie’s sister and apprentice of D’Allaire and Morley, the VP of London’s Seance Society. The story starts off as a slow burn, building the storyline. The last part of the book really unfolds dramatically. The characters were well developed with depth, mystery, eccentric, and creative. The author’s writing style was complex, multifaceted, twisty, and kept you intrigued, especially the latter half of the story. The author does an amazing job with the background of The London Seance Society with the culture, history, and norms. The plot was intriguing but at times, I found the storyline a bit repetitive and dragged a little in the first half of the story.

Overall, a good read. However, I think it would have been better if the twists and excitement were earlier in the novel. The ending was not predictable, which I loved. I had a hard time staying on track for the first half of the book. However, I would recommend this story for other readers to pick up, especially if you enjoyed her prior novel, The Lost Apothecary.

Sarah Penner - The London Seance Society.

THE BLURB…

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER March 2023
'Gloriously gothic, delightfully atmospheric slice of Victoriana' Daily Mail
From the author of the intoxicating bestseller The Lost Apothecary comes an entrancing exploration of the blurred lines between truth and illusion and the grave risks women take to avenge the ones they love.
'A great choice for fans of historical European settings, the power of women, and the fringes of the paranormal' Booklist Starred Review

May mercy be upon the man who finds himself the enemy of a vengeful medium…
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…
A Most Anticipated title by: Good Housekeeping, Washington Post, E! News, Bookpage, CrimeReads, Readers Digest, Popsugar, The EveryGirl, Sunset Magazine and more.
'Steeped in suspense, mystery, and illusion' Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestseller of The Maid
'Breathtaking' Pam Jenoff
'Smart and seductive' Fiona Davis
'An explosive, immersive, time-bomb of a novel' Laurie Lico Albanese
'Mesmerizing, seductive and absolutely irresistible' Hank Phillippi Ryan

MY REVIEW…
This book is a pretty slow burner, but after the build up comes a gripping read, about two feisty women on a mission to solve a mystery.
It’s full of historical detail that will intrigue the reader.
Sarah Penner is a bold writer who creates an atmospheric story and really brings to life Victorian London in all it’s eerie spiritual glory.

This is a delicious read. Plough through the slow start and you won’t be disappointed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

With thanks to Netgalley and Legend Press for a digital arc of this title.

I haven’t read this author’s first book, so unfortunately I can’t give a comparison on writing style. However, I didn’t thoroughly enjoy this title. The solving of a murder mystery was intriguing, but overall, it fell flat for me. I would probably give other titles by this author a try.

Look I am dissapointed ..
the hardback is beautiful
the narrator is lovely
gthe concept is perfect
the actual story has great characters, the correct historical victorian society and time frame aspects are correct.

then what happened?
Lenna is so boring
There is no need for the romance angle because its bland and doesn't feel real.
the book starts and ends great but the middle is too drawn out.

if the good wasnt there this would have been a DNF

This has a really good premise, and the characters were well-rounded. It was a slow start for me, which unfortunately meant in my case I lost momentum with it, but lovers of historical fiction will enjoy this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Legend Press for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. 4.25 stars rounding down to 4 for GoodReads. After having read Penner's first novel and enjoying it, I was quite excited to receive an arc of their latest book despite having no idea what it was about. I was immediately enraptured by the title specifically and am pleased to say that this book was a great reading experience. Both the plot and characters of this one were very solid and I liked that it was set only in the 1870s. For the most part, the setting felt like it was back in time although a bit more description would've really boosted this one for me. The plot isn't necessarily very twisty in that there were no gasps as I was reading but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think the plot progressed in a natural way and I really enjoyed the story overall. I do wish the writing was a bit cleaner and then this would've been closer to a five-star read for me. Penner put all of the characters' thoughts and reasons for each and every action onto the page and I don't think it was super necessary. I found myself already understanding the characters' motivations and they were a bit too spelled out on the page at times. I am excited to see what Penner does next as I think they have the ability to really grow in their career as a writer.

I quite enjoy historical fiction especially with a gothic twist so thought this one would be right up my street.

Overall I enjoyed it but for me it was a bit slow.

Thank you to #NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this.

The London Seance Society is a bit of an odd collection of men, working across London seemingly conducting seances, but there's trickery and fraud afoot and that's not all.

True spiritualist Vaudeline D'Allaire travels to London to hold a seance to aid the investigation of a murder, and her protegee Lenna Wickes accompanies her. Together they unfold the real goings on of the society, aided by Lenna's murdered sister Evie.

This is a really mysterious and intriguing read, the characters are interesting and colourful, and the action is fast paced throughout. A really fun read and quite unique.

A historical murder mystery set against the seance scene. What fun! I am always intrigued by these particular stories, I find it quite fascinating, so knew I had to pick this one up.
We follow Lenna, who travels to Paris to get answers about her sisters death. She soon teams up with acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire, who then takes Lenna to London to help her solve a murder.
While I did enjoy this one, it took me a quick second to get used to the two narrators, third person POV, Lenna and first person POV, Mr. Morley. I also found the middle a bit lacking. But I really enjoyed the start and the end of this one. I also enjoyed the character development, the twists and turns and Victorian setting. So moody.

I just had to get my hands on another Penner’s book!
The writing is so good as well as the plot and the creation of the characters.
Would recommend

A gothic tale of corruption dappled with romance. I enjoyed the mix of human and spirit characters, especially the highlight of how men ran the society to how women. The atmosphere was wonderful and fully immersed the reader into the time period. Unfortunately the plot fell a bit flat at times but overall it was an enjoyable read.

A slow start, exploring the Victorian fascination with seances and spiritualism, but we eventually build up to quite a different story that roots itself in this trend but which examines a common thread…greed, and the extent to which people will go to in order to cover up their wrongdoing.
Our main character Lenna Wickes has been taken on as apprentice to the esteemed spiritualist Vaudaline d’Allaire. They are experimenting with the ways to conduct forays into the other realm, but Lenna is sceptical. Her motivation for taking on this role lies closer to home. She is determined to find out what caused the death of her sister, Evie.
This plan finds her, along with Vaudaline, travelling to London to look into the death of a well-regarded gentleman, the founder of The London Seance Society. What they find quickly makes them realise that many are hiding things, and that some of these secrets are deemed to be worth killing for.
Whatever your view of seances, this is an entertaining murder mystery with a sharp eye for detail to bring this period of history to life.

Sarah Penner's follow-up to her 2021 debut The Lost Apothecary once again immerses the reader in the past, this time taking us to 1873 Paris and London. The story follows Lenna, new understudy to renowned medium Vaudeline D’Allaire. Lenna generally prefers science to spiritualism, but since she found her medium sister Evie murdered, she's on a quest to get to the truth any way she can.

A second narrative perspective is told by Mr Morley, vice-president of the elite Gentleman's Club, the London Seance Society. Lenna and Vaudeline are working in Paris, until a letter from Mr Morley informing of the murder of the society's president, brings them back to London to suss out the case.

So we have two murders, a mysterious society and spooky seances a-plenty. Once again, Penner has come up with a fascinating premise, but something in the execution was slightly lacking for me. The beginning of the novel has a lot of backstory, and the final reveal's shock-factor is hindered by over-explaining. The characters in general are interesting, but they tend to be a little slow on the uptake - often I found myself putting together the clues to come to the obvious conclusion a while before the characters did the same.

Having said that, I do love the world this book is set in. The Victorian setting is atmospheric and well-drawn, and there's more scandal, twists and turns than the author's debut. In my opinion, this sophomore release is a cut above her debut.

Penner's historical fiction is always well-researched, and the book manages to educate the reader about Victorian traditions, superstitions and seances without it ever feeling like a history lesson - something which can be difficult to achieve. She explores the conflict between science and spiritualism and offers a different perspective women's place in society at the time, effortlessly depicting the inequality, but also the strength of women, through the characters.

All in all, this is an fun, quick Victorian whodunnit with a dabble of supernatural which I'm sure plenty will enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Legend Press for an e-galley of The London Séance Society.

I loved Sarah Penner's novel The Lost Apothecary and The London Séance Society did not disappoint. The intrigue, the murders, and the hope that a séance will uncover who killed Lenna's sister. After months of training with Vaudeline, one of the continent's most acclaimed spiritualist (and rampant skepticism), Lenna and Vaudeline journey back to London at the request of the LSS. They need to help to uncover who killed the president of the organization. However, upon arrival Lenna and Vaudeline realize that nothing is as it seems when it comes to the Society. And not everyone is there with the best intentions.

Ugh god damn this book was good.


It follows Leena Wickes, who is desperately trying to search for answers about the death of her younger sister, Evie. She decided to travel to Paris, to work with the popular spiritualist and medium, Vaudeline D’Allaire. Soon after her arrival in Paris, Vaudeline is commissioned to assist in solving the high profile murder of Mr. Volckman, president of the London Seance Society.

It is primarily a historical fiction, with added elements of suspense and mystery. It is set in 1873, with the author successfully creating a dark, threatening and mysterious atmosphere. It is evidently well-researched too!

I adored our main female characters, and felt that they were very well developed. I also loved the girl power aspect of the story!

The twists in this book were incredible, and intertwined very well. Such a good read!

Whilst I absolutely adored the lost apothecary, this book fell slightly flat for me. I found that the main focus of the book was the relationships between the characters rather than the mystery. This meant that I was unable to truly immerse myself in the world. However I did have fun reading it, so my star rating reflects this!

Sarah Penner has done it again and blown me away with her exquisite writing! Ghost? Murder? Lies? Secrets? Betrayal? Talking to the dead? SIGN ME UP! Despite this book taking me longer than a week to read, it had me hooked from the beginning and I couldn’t stop thinking about it! I can’t wait to dive into anything Sarah Penner writes now as she truly amazes me with her words and how much research she puts into her novels.

This is the first book I've read by Sarah Penner although I do have her other book on my kindle. Set in 1873 and the world of spiritualism this story is right up my street.

Lenna Wickes is understudy to a famous medium Vaudeline D’Allaire, who uses her skills to find out how a person has died. They both go to London to the Séance society to perform a Séance to find out who how the founder Mr Volkman died. Lenna also wants to know how her sister was killed and finds that she was involved with the society.

What I liked was the setting and the spiritualism. I feel that the author did this quite well. I also enjoyed the parts about death and how the Victorians dealt with it and the superstitions.

The plotline I felt was ok. There was a few twists along the way as we find out what happened. As the story is told in turn by two characters I did find at times the story became a little repetitive.

I enjoyed this story although it didn't wow me, but will read the authors other book.

Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc.

I enjoyed this book but not as much as The Lost Apothecary. Sarah Penner does a great job pulling you into her stories, but it’s hard to beat The Lost Apothecary!

4:5 stars