This story gives an excellent view of the world of seances in historical Paris and London. The way the two women solved the murder was well written. I liked the Lost Apothecary more as this was a much slower pace. 3.5 stars

I throughly enjoy the historical writings of Sarah Penner. This would be a great read in the fall months and people want to read more spooky reads. This historical mystery bounces between two characters and the different points of view of the occurrences of their meetings and Penner does it seamlessly. The beginning was a bit hard to get into but once I got past a certain point I couldn’t put it down. It was very good. I look forward to more books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for this digital ARC.

I was pleasantly surprised with The London Seance Society! What an interesting premise, unlike anything I had read before.

This is a PERFECT Halloween/fall read. This story takes place in 1873 Paris which is the best atmosphere for spooky gothic vibes. And did I mention trying to talk to ghosts? This is a dual pov novel that follows Lenna who is looking for answers about her sister's death and Mr Morley, the vice president of the London's society department of spiritualism. This book delivered on the creepiness of murder and ghosts while also keeping me intrigued about the characters. The ending was also pretty great! The only thing I would change about this book is more time for the actual séances.

Having already read Sarah Penner's The Lost Apothecary I knew I was in for another delectable story to dive into. Sarah Penner has a great talent for creating a vivid world that you immediately feel immersed in right from the first page. The London Séance Society, though set 150 years in the past, is painted into as a world that is rather dark and yet there is a feeling of hope that runs through the story too. I eagerly await anything and everything that Sarah Penner will be writing in the future!

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

As much as I loved the cover of The Lost Apothecary, I think The London Seance Society might have the prettier cover. Maybe? Too hard to decide!

What I liked:

Well the cover!

The setting. The men’s only club house is housing many secrets and I loved discovering each one.

Lenna. Her desire to find out what happened to her sister really propelled this story forward at times.



Bottom line: I smell another winner for Sarah Penner. Grab a copy and a coffee and find a quiet place to enjoy this book.



*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

Loved the concept and setting! Though it took a little while for me to get fully invested, once I did I was swept up! Always love Sarah Penner and her stories are the perfect balance of thriller and suspense and a bit of romance/relationships

Very slow burn. It dragged for most of the middle of the book and at times it was very repetitive. The last part of the book is better, hence the 3 stars..

Definitely a page-turner that has all the makings of a novel I’d love.

The story took some majorly unexpected twists and turns, and while not unwelcome, I felt some of them majorly diverted from the main plot. A lot of the writing was telling us action rather than showing it, until the middle onward. But even then, the book had a tendency to anti-climatically share its reveals then go over them AGAIN from another character’s perspective which didn’t add much new info but only confirmed everything the other character already told us. When we know more than the character revealing the action does with nothing new added, it’s less fun of a read.

I loved the setting, the characters were interesting, but I wanted to go deeper into everything. It also got way more sexual/a teeny bit more graphic than I anticipated and it felt unnecessary..

While some of it was predictable, I have to admit I didn’t quite see the ending coming, and I did enjoy it.

I did not like this. The characters and plot felt underdeveloped and I didn’t like any one. There were some twists, but nothing unpredictable. The seance aspect was ok and well researched, but I expected it to play a bigger part in the story. I didn’t like Mr. Morley or his perspective. He felt just like the rest of the male characters in the book, stiff and misogynistic. Despite all of it’s faults, I did appreciate the relationships between Lenna and Vaudeline.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing/Park Row, and Sarah Penner for an e-arc of The London Seance Society in exchange for an honest review.

After reading The Lost Apothecary, and loving it, I was so excited to read this book! Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. the beginning of this book really draws you in, but then it just becomes really slow and repetitive. I did enjoy the mystery in the story and the characters, but it just wasn’t what I hoped it would be. If you’re a fan of slow burn mysteries, and secret societies, I recommend checking this out!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lenna Wickes travels to Paris to train with renowned spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire who is able to conjure the spirits of murder victims to find their killers. Lena’s sister was recently murdered and had herself trained with Vaudeline. Lenna must combat her lack of faith in the occult in order to train and to find answers. When Vaudeline is called back to London to conduct a seance to help solve the murder of the head of the London Seance Society, a personal friend, Lenna accompanies her as her assistant. In the course of their interactions with Mr. Morley, vice president of the Society, they learn that Lena’s sister Evie was somehow involved with the male-only establishment. Can they find the killers of both victims and determine the corruption occurring in the Society itself?

When beginning this book I was not sure I was going to continue it as it wasn’t quite what I had been expecting or as enthralling as Sarah Penner’s first book The Lost Apothecary, which I loved. I persevered, however, and the book did then capture my interest. It became an exciting story of twists and turns, unique relationships, suspense, mystery and some female empowerment. Overall it was a great story with a satisfying ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC copy of this book.

This book spent a fair amount of time building the background of the story. It was an enjoyable read, but I was unable to complete the book in the time allotted because of events at my library. Hopefully when we order it I'll be able to finish.

Unfortunately the tone of this book is just not working for me - I can't get invested, I've been trying for over a month and I couldn't tell you what is happening!

Sarah Penner did not hold back in her sophomore novel, THE LONDON SEANCE SOCIETY; you get the feeling that every plot and character choice is deliberate and often unpredictable. The characters are easy to love (and despise!) and I adore how she explores relationships between strong women: sisters, friends, mentors, lovers. Another page turner from Penner, whose star is on the rise!

The Lost Apothecary was such a delightful book, so I was excited to get my hands on Sarah Penner's sophomore novel.

Set in 1873, the story follows 23-year-old Lenna Wilkes in Paris as she learns the art of séance with spiritualist and medium Vaudeline D'Allaire. Vaudeline specializes in conjuring the spirits of murder victims so that their killers can be identified. Lenna plans to use what she learns to find answers about her sister's death, but when the two women team up to solve a high-profile murder in London, they get more than what they bargained for.

This book was a delight to read and had me turning pages in the end. I enjoyed the eccentric characters, who reminded me of the spiritualists that gather in Lily Dale, NY, near where I grew up.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Sarah Penner for an advanced e-copy of this book.

3.5 stars rounded up. I listened to the audiobook version of this book. I found the narration to be nicely done. This book is a slow burn but it held my attention, and I finished the book fairly quickly. I found some of the twists to be unexpected, which was a nice surprise.

Told by two POVs, Lena Wickes a spiritualist’s understudy, and Mr. Morley, VP of the Society’s Department of Spiritualism, set in the late 1800s in London. Throughout the book I kept thinking of all the research that went into this story (as with The Lost Apothecary.) Great insight into this gothic-vibe world, thanks to the author’s research.
I enjoyed the thread of suspense, murder, and magic, the deceit that was so common in this line of work… one of the few professions back then where women were considered more adept than men for this job. Probably my favorite part was the author’s notes at the end which gave insightful info from her research. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this interesting and unique story!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. I really loved The Lost Apothecary, and was excited to read this book. While this is a little different since it is a purely historical novel instead of two timelines, I think I liked this one even more (I am actually not a fan of popular fiction that has a contemporary timeline and a historical one--it is over done).

The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner is Historical Fiction mixed with Mystery-Suspense and touches of Magical Realism! Lenna Wickes does not believe in ghosts but she has a mystery to solve: her little sister Evie’s death. Hoping to learn the art of séance herself, Lenna becomes Vaudeline’s apprentice to discover what actually happened to Evie. Mlle D’Allaire, accompanied by her understudy Lenna, is summoned to London to assist in solving the high-profile murder of the Society’s president and to add a bit of polish to its recently tarnished reputation. I especially appreciated the way she describes everything from the wardrobes and the vocabulary to the cityscape and mannerisms — I can only imagine the amount of research that went into such a detailed depiction of the time. I can not give this book enough praise and recommendations as one to add to your book wish list, your preorder madness, or your race to the bookstore!