I am a fan of Sarah penners work and continue to enjoy her writing immensely.

I did struggle to get into the swing of the story but once you’re used to the language of the time, the character’s suck you into their story and you can’t help but read on!

The plot twists in this book were phenomenal and more than one that I never saw coming!

There were many jaw dropping moments scattered throughout the story along with some scandalous romance for the time the story was set in.

I loved every word of this book and hopefully we’ll get to see more of Lenna and Vaudeline in a new installment!

I was keen to read this book as I enjoyed Sarah Penners The Lost Apothecary so much. This one has a Victorian setting and is focused on the Victorian belief in being able to contact the dead through seances. It kept me on the edge of my seat

A beautiful, evocative historical fiction that ticks all the boxes for me. Loved it. Once you start you’ll want to read on to see what happens next!

Well, the elements seem to be all there - a spiritualist who calls up murder victims so they can name their killer, and young woman seeking the killer of her spiritualist sister, a London society of male spiritualists and, of course, lots of suspicious happenings, and lots of smug, overbearing men. Stir and it should be all very exciting and suspenseful, right? Unfortunately I found it incredibly tedious. Everything was explained to death and nothing ever happened, And though about. And explained some more. And thought about some more. And reexplained. Oh, let's think some more.... The characters were hard to get emotionally invested in. When you find yourself rooting for the bad ghosties, there's probably something wrong. The story finally come to a grand finale of sorts at the end, but by then I no longer cared much.

As soon as I read what this book was about, I knew I just had to read it. It certainly sparked my spiritual interest, and I devoured it.

Paris 1873, Lenna Wickes is spiritual understudy to the renowned French medium Vaudeline D’Allaire. They are about to conduct a séance, in France.
Mr Morley, 1873, in London. Vice president of The London séance society. He knows Vaudeline, their paths have crossed. Will they cross again?

As a reader who enjoys a spiritual based book, I was in my element with this.
The Victorian era was renowned for its fascination with the afterlife, they had a lot of curiosity about the subject.
I enjoyed this late nineteenth century tale, and my eager interest was held throughout.
The authors note at the end of the book was very good too.
This is the first book I have read by the author, Sarah Penner. I will certainly read more.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Legend Press for an advanced e-book copy. Opinions of the book are entirely my own.

I picked this up because I enjoyed [book:The Lost Apothecary|53288434] by Sarah Penner and wanted to give this one a try. I wasn't disappointed as I found it to be a real page turner. The book is set in 1873, late in the Victorian era, when seances had become very popular and people had a general fascination with the occult and with talking to departed loved ones.

Lenna Wickes' sister, Evie, has recently been murdered. Before her death she had been obsessed with everything surrounding seances, and had studied with an internationally known medium, Vaudeline, whose specialty is contacting those who have been murdered. Although Lenna doesn't believe in this nonsense, she goes to Paris and studies under Vaudeline as well in hopes of conducting a seance to reach her sister and find out who killed her. Then there is the murder of the President of the London Seance Society, an exclusive gentlemen's organization with a strong reputation for holding seances and contacting the deceased. However, lately there have been rumors that something is not right in the organization and some customers are dissatisfied.

The story is told in the viewpoints of Lenna and Mr. Morley, a member of the London Seance Society. There are quite a few surprises in the book and I kept finding unexpected outcomes. I liked Lenna's persistance and bravery in pursuing her quest to find out who murdered her sister. Vaudeline was an interesting character. Ther rules for her seances were very elaborate - unlike those of the London Seance Society.

The author's notes at the end of the book gave more details of her research and the basis for the story. I thought it was interesting that Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle were members of a Ghost society.

Thanks to Legend Press through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on March 21, 2023.

While a promising premise, the book didn't catch my interest - the narration was too slow and even though I love books with ghosts and seances I didn't enjoy the writing enough to get sucked in. If people enjoyed her previous book they may still like this one, but I think it's weaker for sure.

I was hoping The London Séance Society would be just as good as The Lost Apothecary. It was better! You can tell immediately the amount of research that went into this novel. It also took me by surprise multiple times. The twists kept coming long after I thought most everything had been revealed.
I don't really care for full-on fantasy or horror; I prefer magical realism. True to the everyday with bits of the otherworldly added here and there. This was just right for that.
Here's hoping that Sarah Penner keeps writing these entertaining books that have me hooked!

Thank you, Legend Press, for an ARC of The London Séance Society By Sarah Penner. I must confess I have not read The last Apothecary but I have heard good things, so I was excited to receive this.
It’s 1873 Lenna Wilkes has come to London to find out about the death of her sister Evie who was fan of Spiritualism and Seances. Lenna Wilkes herself is the understudy for the world renown medium Vaudeline D’Allaire who solves the murders of the dead. She lives in Paris. She has been asked by The London Seance Society to solve the murder of the president of the society and also an old friend of the women. When they both come to London and stage a séance the information, they receive may also solve the case of Lenna’s sisters Evie’s murder too.
I am a big fan of Historical fiction set in Victorian London and with the added bonus of a story about the supernatural and spiritualism. What’s not to love? Although a bit slow at first this is an intriguing and atmospheric tale, of Lenna finding out the truth about her sisters murder, but, what is really going on at The London Séance society. I really enjoyed this tale of suspense and it has a satisfying conclusion at the end. 4 stars from me.

Sara Penner does it again! This gothic, historical book not only was filled with mystery but also a love story. Is it the truth or is it an illusion; you will have to read the book to find out!

1873, Paris. Vaudeline D'Allaire is famous worldwide for her skills in clairvoyance and assisting families of murdered relatives to uncover the identity of the person who killed their beloved. Lenna Wickes is granted a position as Vaudeline's understudy and attends séances with her to learn the craft. Lenna is sceptical of the afterlife and only joins Vaudeline in the hope of discovering how and why her sister Evie was murdered on All Hallows Eve in London.

On receipt of a letter announcing the murder of her friend and director of The London Séance Society, Vaudeline returns to London with Lenna in tow to hold a secret Séance to discover hidden truths.

I was very excited to read this ARC ebook, the setting, subject and characters sounded both original and exciting. Unfortunately this book didn't work for me. I found it was a slow burner, which then fizzled out for me as I guessed early on the twist and connections between the Characters and had hoped that I would be proven wrong with my guesses. I just felt a lot of this book was very drawn out and underwhelming. On a positive note the pace and story definitely picked up in the last few chapters, but for me it was a case of too little, too late.

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.

May mercy be upon the man who finds himself the enemy of a vengeful medium…

There's plot twists and double-crossings aplenty in Sarah Penner's latest novel, set in Victorian London (mainly) and centred around mysterious goings-on in the world of spiritualism and seances. The central character, Lenna Wickes, doesn't know who she can trust, as she investigates the the death of her sister, Evie.

Some aspects stretch incredulity: a key plot device is multiple murders over an extended period, none of which the police seem to be able to solve.

The occasional use of Americanisms in a novel set in Victorian London is jarring: 'gotten' instead of 'got', for example; and an English gentleman definitely wouldn't call someone a 'varmint' ("She was as much a varmint as her sister".)
This is an all-too-common mistake made by American writers of novels set in England/UK, and one which, as a former editor, particularly grates with me.

All in all, though, a fairly enjoyable read.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lenna Wickes is determined to solve the mystery surrounding her sister Evie's murder. We find her very much the sceptic, learning the art of seance from world renound medium Vauderline D'Allaire in the hope to get answers. Lenna's journey takes her to the London Seance Society, where she uncovers disturbing secrets that may threaten her life.
Told from the perspective of Lenna and Mr Morley, the vice president of the society, the mystery of two murders that both took place on all hallows eve become intertwined as the secrets of the society come to light.

From Paris to London, The London Seance Society is dark, atmospheric and delightfully descriptive.

With thanks to Netgalley and Legend press for this advance copy.

I really enjoyed the beginning of the book. The author knows how to set up a scene. That first seance was spooky. The book was well researched but I couldn't connect with the characters. Once the setting moved to London, I just couldn't keep interest up. For me, this book became a murder mystery to be solved by amateur sleuths. If you enjoy murder mysteries set in Victorian London, you will probably love this book. I received a digital ARC from Park Row Publishing and NetGalley. This review is my own thoughts.

This is another great historical narrative from Sarah Penner. The narrative is set during the 1870s and features two narrative voices: Lenna Wickes and Mr Morley. As the mystery unfolds, it becomes evident to the reader that neither of these voices are particularly reliable. But why? And for what reasons?

There are spirits, spiritualists and two murders wrapped up in the narrative. Penner richly evokes the superstition that defined the Victorian era in this novel. This is a highly enjoyable page-turned and perfect for fans of Gothic mysteries.

I loved Lost Apothecary so was thrilled when I saw the author had a new book out with a really eye catching front cover too. It practically screams read me!!!!
The London Seance Society is a historical novel, set in Victorian England, with a dash of spice that examines the enigmatic world of seances, the paranormal, and secret societies. Although this sounded like a book that was right up my street, I didn’t find it as compelling as her earlier book.
That said, it wouldn’t stop me picking up her next one.
Thanks to NetGalley and Legend Press for the opportunity to read and review this advance copy.

Thank you to Legend Press and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review.

Full disclosure, I could not get past 51% of this book. I really enjoyed Sarah Penner's debut novel, The Lost Apothecary, because it was a fun and super atmospheric read. Reading this book, however, I could tell that Penner was trying to do the same kind of thing with this novel (a spooky, feminist, magical realism type story), but this one was just so poorly written and uninspired. The characterization, scene-setting, dialogue, and "mystery" elements all felt incredibly amateur and elementary. As the reader, I could not get the sense of if this novel was supposed to take place in "actual" London or a fantasy, parallel-world tye of London, or what "magical system", if any, was taking place for the characters possessing supernatural abilties. The dialogue between characters and inner monologues was so basic and cliched that I wouldn't have been surprised if it was written by a high schooler for a school assignment. All of these elements were quite bad, but then a forced, surface-level, out of nowhere romance between two characters that have very little depth sprung up, which was just so cringe-worthy and distracting from a plot that had the potential to be interesting that I somehow became even less invested in this story. The overall potential for an interesting plot is what is allowing me to give this book two stars instead of one. Again, I was not able to get through this, so maybe it had a good ending, but I was not willing to subject myself to this terrible writing to find out.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really enjoyable read. We follow Lenna as she navigates the world of spirits and seances in the 1800s as a new apprentice of a famous spiritualist in order to investigate the circumstances around her sister Evie’s recent murder. It is told from Lennas pov as well as from another character Mr Morley who is a senior member of the London Seance Society and appears to be involved in the events leading to Evie’s death.

This is an intriguing and atmospheric read which immerses you in 1800s London. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing as we slowly unravel the story. This book holds just the right amount of suspense and intrigue with interwoven characters and plot with a good balance of ghosts, murder mystery and even some subplot romance! Really enjoyed this one!

absolutely adored Sarah’s debut book The Lost Apothecary in 2021, and promised myself that I’d read whatever she wrote next so I was instantly excited about this. Whereas The Lost Apothecary is set between the past and the present, this book is all in the one time period. I wondered if it would be as interesting or gripping but I needn’t worried. It’s fabulous reading.

It is so absorbing and all encompassing. It might be set in the 1800s, but it feels so familiar and timeless. We’ll always love stories about vengeance about mystery and about love, no matter the setting.

History can be a bit dusty, a bit long and tiring, a bit dull, and it’s not for everyone. But Sarah manages to bring history to life, showing off all its dazzling qualities, and shows just how exciting history can be.

I love the exploration of women in this book. Women, especially in the 1800s, are often ignored, seen as not as important as men, subservient, quiet. But this book shows how powerful they can be, even in the darkest of situations, and prove that you should never underestimate them.

There are many characters but I’d say there were four main ones: Lenna, Evie, Vaudeline and Mr Morley. Lenna is a fabulous main character. She trusts others (sometimes to her detriment), she is passionate and honest and eager to make sure the dead are loved as much as the living. We only know Evie after her death. She seems very different to her sister Lenna, but at the same time, they both have this determination and passion for righting wrongs. Vaudeline is an interesting character. You’re not sure whether to trust her or believe her, but you can’t help but be fascinated by her and what she does. Mr Morley (I had a teacher once called Mr Morley which made me giggle) is a good old fashioned good cop/bad cop wrapped up in one single character. He may not always be the hero we want, but he is deliciously written.

I have always been someone who prefers character development over plot. And whereas this book does have some character development, especially with Lenna, the plot was so addictive I couldn’t put it down, I was so desperate to know what happened next. Sarah sure knows how to grab you and keep you hooked from the first to the last word.

It is so atmospheric and almost claustrophobic. The level of research I’m sure Sarah had to do to ensure everything is accurate to the time and period really pays off. It’s chilling, but friendly at the same time.

The world of spiritualism and ghosts and whatnot is a fascinating one, and one that causes many arguments. I, for one, do believe in ghosts and spirits and I don’t believe there’s a need to be afraid of them. This book was an interesting look into the world, and may even whet your appetite for more on the topic.

The only small criticism I have is that the surprises done really come until the last, say, 15-20%, and whilst that does give you time to get absorbed into the story, part of me would like to have had some of these twists dripped in carefully a little earlier. It doesn’t take anything away from the story though.

Although thematically I’d say I enjoyed The Lost Apothecary better, Sarah has nothing to worry about regarding the second novel syndrome (much like the second album syndrome, when you fear a second offering won’t hit the same heights as a successful debut). It’s as dazzling and absorbing as her debut, and I think she’s only going to get better.