My second book is of the year and my 2nd 4 star. Great way to start 2023.
I admit I was not a big fan of Lost Apothecary because I really enjoyed the historical parts, but not the contemporary sections, so I was very pleased that this book is a straight historical fiction. Victorian England was very enamored of spiritualist, most of whom I believe were women. However, the London seance society is a men's only group, no surprise historically.
Our story starts in Paris with Vaudeline D'Allaire and her apprentice Lenna Wickes beginning a seance. The story is told from 2 points of view, Lenna, who is looking into the murder of her sister, and Mr. Morley, the vice president of the seance society. Penner keeps us guessing throughout who is telling the truth.
Spirituality, murder and a very understated romance come together for a very exciting story and a quite gripping climax. Whether you believe in a connection to the other side or not, you will be taken along for a ride in this story of murder and ghosts.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for ARC. I could not put this book down, and I don't think you will be able to either.

This book kept me on my toes! Every twist and turn that you think you’ve figured out, you haven’t. I really enjoyed this murder mystery. Using mediums and seances to solve murders — what more could you ask for? Lenna is trying to learn the art of seances to talk to her deceased sister in order to figure out who killed her. What Lenna doesn’t realize is that her sister had secrets that have Lenna questioning if she knew her sister at all. While Lenna maneuvers the complicated case of her sisters murder, she is also figuring out who she is and what she believes in. What a quick and intriguing read. 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is the second book that I have read by this author and I enjoy her writing. I appreciate the setting and the uniqueness of her books. While this book could be seen as a murder mystery, I was hooked until the very end.

Overall: 3.5/5 ⭐️ (rounded up to four)

I loved the premise of this book! Ghosts and mediums and scandal and murder all on the backdrop of Victorian London. The concept is brilliant! The execution is just good.

I quite enjoyed the characters in this one, save for the villain, who was almost cartoonish at times. But the protagonists and their developing relationship is intriguing and there’s a depth there that was lacking in Penner’s previous novel The Lost Apothecary

In terms of genre, there’s some great blending of the gothic and mystery, though the reveals are a little clunky and predictable at times.

I enjoyed this one as my first read of 2023. It’s entertaining, fun, and pretty quick to get through!

ｔｈｅ ｌｏｎｄｏｎ
ｓｅａｎｃｅ ｓｏｃｉｅｔｙ
-sᴀʀᴀʜ ᴘᴇɴɴᴇʀ-

4.25 / 5

Description:
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…


Review:
This book was a great way to end 2022. I enjoyed the Lost Apothecary by Penner, so was very excited I received this ARC to review via NetGalley.
The writing was phenomenal and the story took a twist that I did not see coming. The characters were not overly fleshed out, but in the best way possible, they are also very real and relatable. We know just enough about them to make us care/feel involved, the rest is unraveled as the story is.
So much was wrapped up in the last 20-25% of the book that I worried it was going to feel very rushed or incomplete, this was not the case at all.
If you enjoy hist-fic, thrillers or hist-fan, especially if they take place in Victorian Era, London, you will be a fan of this book.

Overall I think this is Sarah's best book yet! Loved the original premise and the dual points of view. I will say that it was really drawn out and the back and forth between view points sometimes didn't add much besides confirmation. I will say the book really picked up in the end and made me not want to put the book down until it was done.

I wish I had better things to say about this book, but alas. Quite frankly, the pace of this book was torturous to say the least. It seems to just drag on endlessly, and the twist (if you want to call it that) was lackluster at best. After how much I LOVED The Lost Apothecary, I had big hopes and dreams for Penner's next book, but they weren't to be.

3.5? A solid, atmospheric mystery set in 1870s London. An enjoyable, quick read with queer representation, and a nice little history bonus at the back. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. (As posted on Goodreads)

This is another elegant historical from Sarah Penner, who does such a great job of transporting the reader. As other reviewers have noted, the pace is on the slow side. However, I enjoyed the mystery aspect and trying to figure out how the murders were connected across time. Penner also shares about the occult and spiritualism in a super interesting way, with intriguing and evocative details about the time period.

Sarah Penner lives in St. Petersburg so we are highly likely to purchase considering she is a local author.

I loved the Lost Apothecary, but this one didn’t land for me. The pace felt too slow and the opening felt too tell-not-show for me to get into it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC.

I was lured in by the Victorian Era setting and the mystic/spiritualism backdrop. The characters were well developed and I was invested in their stories and relationships. My only real negative critique and what took me longer than normal to finish this book was the pacing. There would be moments that would be bustling with information and world building and would just grab my attention and then it would immediately stop almost dead in its tracks and the story would move along at a snails pace. I tried several times to power through but I couldn’t do it. I kept having to incorporate other reads in the middle of it, which is unfortunate because the potential is absolutely there….it just falls a little short.

I can definitely see the similarities in the writing style between this and the lost apothecary. However, this book was just much too far-fetched for me. Furthermore, it was rather slow. There was an interesting plot as far as the murders went but otherwise...I was bored. It could have been summed up/shorter for sure.

I loved The Lost Apothecary so I was really excited to get to read this! Penner has done it again with this gothic Victorian mystery. Lenna Wickes isn’t sure she actually believes in ghosts, but after her sister is murdered she seeks help from famous spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire to try to find out what happened to her sister. When Vaudeline is called upon to help solve a high profile murder, Lenna accompanies her. This leads to their involvement with the gentlemen’s only London Seance Society, where instead of answers, they find lies, trickery and more danger.
Nothing is as it seems in this take of murder, danger and spirits. Dark, twisty and suspenseful - it kept me guessing until the very end. Loved it!

I will be withholding my review until Harper gives their Harper Collins union workers a fair contract. Thank you again for the copy.

This was just a good as I anticipated. The overall mystery and detective work of the two women, the uncovering of secrets... it was a thrilling read..

It was slightly predictable, but not in a way that ruined the storyline. Overall, I'd recommend this read!

Set in the Victorian era, Lenna is desperate to find her sister’s killer and turns to Vaudeline, a Medium, under whom her sister apprenticed.

I loved the Lost Apothecary, but this book just didn’t really do it for me. Unfortunately, I found it long, very slow paced and full of characters and a subject matter that I just couldn’t connect to. I also thought there was too much focus on Vaudeline and Lenna’s relationship and not enough on the mystery at hand.

On a positive note, I could tell that this was a well researched story. I hadn’t realized that the Victorians were so into the occult and spiritualism.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Couldn't finish this one--characters and plot did not engage me to keep reading. Premise had possiblities but author needed to show, not tell.

London in the 1800s… ghosts, seances, spookiness… all my favorite things! The scams and misleading ways… the characters were like able and well developed. A definite page turner. The book was well researched. I definitely recommend.

I knew this would be right up my alley- ghosts, seances, murder and the Victoria Era? Yes, please. I enjoyed the character development, and the attention to detail of the Victorian era. Her writing allows me to see the scene unfolding as I read. I also appreciate Ms. Penner’s use of strong female characters in her books- she has created a fan in me, to be sure. Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC.

The London Seance Society checked lots of my favorite boxes: female empowerment, queer representation, Victorian England, ghosts, secret societies, and well-researched historical touches. This book follows Lenna, a woman searching for answers regarding her sister’s death. She uncovers a deeply rooted conspiracy among a misogynist secret club intent on being the go-to society for spiritualism in London. Not content to let that stand, she then embarks on a mission to publicly reveal their wrongdoing. The author’s previous book, The Lost Apothecary, included similar themes of Victorian-era women using their intelligence and sisterhood to upend the misogynist power structures. I rooted for Lenna even though I found her feelings too easily swayed by circumstantial evidence. Vaudeline was charming. I enjoyed learning about some of the techniques that spiritualists would use in that era to fool clients into thinking they were truly making contact with the deceased. I also appreciated the educational extras at the end on Victorian mourning customs as well as recipes for the biscuits/cookies they would give to funeral attendees/wake visitors as “favors.” I definitely recommend this book!