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

I’m sad to say I did not enjoy this book nearly as much as Penner’s first book, The Lost Apothecary. I was really excited about it given that it is set in one of my favorite time periods. And while I understand this time period was pretty revolutionary for people becoming freer in their thinking on relationships., I think there was too much of a focus on physical relationships in this book. I had a really hard time getting into the mystery of the book because so much of the side plots revolved around people exploring unconventional relationships. I actually put it down for awhile about a third of the way through. I just felt like it wasn’t going anywhere at that point.

An enjoyable read that kept me interested the whole way through. A different kind of book for me but one I enjoyed nonetheless. I particularly liked Sarah Penners depiction of Victorian London!

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

My thanks to Legend Press for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The London Séance Society’ by Sarah Penner.

This historical mystery draws upon the popularity of Spiritualism during the late nineteenth century.

In 1873 Paris acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire is known worldwide for her talent in communicating with the spirits of murder victims and ascertain the identities of their killers. Her talents are highly sought after by widows and investigators alike.

Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister’s death. Yet to do so she must overcome her own scepticism against all things occult. When Vaudeline is asked travel to England to assist in a high-profile murder case, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. The women team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery. No further details to avoid spoilers.

This novel had a number of elements that appealed to me from its portrayal of Spiritualism, Victorian London, and its Gothic ambiance. I enjoyed Lenna’s personal journeys of discovery. However, I did at times find that the swapping between points of view interfered a bit with the pacing.

I appreciated Sarah Penner’s informative Author’s Note and the details about Victorian mourning customs and the various gentlemen clubs found in Victorian London.

Overall, this book was just fine but not memorable at all for me. I was initially intrigued by the setting and concept and I had very high hopes after The Lost Apothecary. I found the book on the slower side and despite the mystery, I wasn't compelled to pick it up frequently and was easily distracted. Unfortunately, this was a miss for me but I'm still looking forward to other books by this author.

A promising plotline with an underwhelming execution, though overall still enjoyable.

When first coming across The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner, many of my interests were immediately piqued. Historical fiction, mystery, ghosts and LGBTQ? There was much to look forward to in the book, but unfortunately it just didn't quite live up to my hopes and expectations.

The London Seance Society is set in the Victorian period in London, right at the height of spiritualism's popularity. Victorians were superstitious when it came to death, and so spiritualism, mediumship and anything to do with the afterlife were potentially profitable areas of work if you were able to pull it off.

The story centres around three main characters, Vaudeline D’Allaire, a famed medium, Lenna Wickes, a skeptic whose sister has been murdered, and Mr.Morley, who is the vice president of The London Seance Society. Vaudeline is a medium who specialises in cases where the deceased has been murdered, and it is through this that Lenna Wickes comes to know her. Vaudeline previously worked in London, but moved to Paris under mysterious circumstances, and so Lenna goes to her to learn her methods as an apprentice so she can host a seance and find her sister's murderer. Meanwhile, Mr.Morley contacts Vaudeline asking her back to London to solve the murder of the Society's president, Mr.Volckman, and so the pair return to London where threads become unraveled and truths revealed.

The story is written in a shifting two point of view perspective, between a third person POV from Lenna, and a first person POV from Mr.Morley. This switching POV I felt made the story very enjoyable, as it allowed us to witness the scenes unfolding in different ways, and tell us more about the past and the lead up of events to the present.

Though the book was overall a fine read, in the end it just felt a bit thin, and I found myself dragging through certain parts. The plot twists were not particularly exciting nor shocking. The characters also felt as though they weren't quite fully formed - sometimes heavy handed and sometimes not much at all. Lenna especially felt quite wishy-washy here and there. The LGBTQ side plot was also underwhelming and at time felt shoehorned into the story to create a grab at diversity without actually addressing it much.

The story does do a very good job at conveying the role of spiritualism and mediumship in the Victorian period, and her descriptions of customs and beliefs is the part of the book I enjoyed the most.

Therefor my review has ended up at 3 stars. A decent book, I am sure some will find it enjoyable, especially if they are interested in spiritualism in the Victorian period.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Legend Press for providing me with an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring spirits of murder victims and solving crimes, Vaudeline is highly sought after. And Lenna is determined for her help to discover who murdered her own sister, despite her own reservations about the occult. When Vaudeline is called to London to deal with a high profile murder, Lenna goes with her as an understudy at the behest of the London Seance Society. But there's more to this case than they originally believe…

I absolutely loved this one! Dark, Victorian, Gothic and with LGBTQIA+ rep, it was the perfect mystery mixed with the paranormal and I can't say I've seen this story done before. It felt very original and kept my attention right to the end as I had no idea what to expect and where the book was going to go.

2.5 stars // This book took me awhile to get into. I’m glad I finished it, but it ended up being just okay. It follows a Victorian-era medium, her apprentice, and a man who helps run a gentleman’s organization called the London Seance Society. People are being killed, there are rumors that the Society is all a ruse, and the two women are trying to solve the mystery.

Lots of things were a little too convenient. Lots of people ended up not being who they said they were. Like I said — it was okay. I did like learning more about mediums and spiritualists in that time period!

Promising storyline, underwhelming execution.

When I heard that Sarah Penner was releasing a new book, I immediately knew I would be interested in reading it. After all, I did find The Lost Apothecary a fun and smooth read. The synopsis of The London Séance Society also seemed promising.

The start is immediately on point, dropping you in the middle of the story but at the same time giving you enough information to understand everything properly. The chapters are alternately told from 2 POVs, which also makes you get more insights into the story. Soon after, however, the pacing falls flat, the story is rather repetitive and fails to progress. Only at the very end does the pacing pick up again.

As for the characters, this book was a huge let-down for me. I could not empathise with any of the main characters properly because I was extremely annoyed with their personalities and mannerisms. Certain actions really raised a lot of question marks and red flags in my mind. Apparently, this was not the case with the characters, making them completely unbelievable. Besides, any trace of chemistry is missing from the romantic interactions in this book.

Content-wise then, there are several plot twists, but even these are really oddly worked out. Either they are super obvious, or 2 chapters before you suddenly notice that something is not right and it is already much too thick (no subtle build-up). The turnaround from trust to distrust, from good to bad, always happens far too abruptly. This book actually feels more like a debut than The Lost Apothecary, when you would just expect The London Séance Society to be much better developed.

So this book is based on a lot of great ideas and story elements, which have a lot of potential. You can also tell that the author really did do her research work on Victorian London and séances. However, the execution was rather disappointing for me.

I love the concept of The London Séance Society, but some of the magic was lost in the execution.

I mean, a murder mystery with sapphic séances? Sounds right up my alley. I’m not sure if The London Séance Society needed more editing or if I just struggled to focus, but the narrative seems to ramble in a way that was hard to focus on the details.

Something Penner does well is placing you in the spiritualism movement of Victorian England. The popularity of the movement and the controversy between ‘real’ séances and illusionists all come to life in this gothic story. I love the structure Penner adds into the process of holding a séance and the tug-of-war between belief and scientific fact.

I wanted to like Lenna and Vaudeline more than I did. While Vaudeline did have a little range, Lenna was very stuck in her role of logical science believer. And for someone whose profession is mired in skepticism, Vaudeline is awfully sensitive to criticism. Sure, some of her sensitivity comes from wanting Lenna to hold her in higher esteem, but she should have a much thicker skin than she displayed here.

There are some good twists and turns, the atmosphere is wonderfully gothic, and there are definitely good parts in The London Séance Society. It picks up steam as you go along and feels like an outright sprint in the end. Unfortunately, it just takes too long to get there, and parts of the narrative feel unnecessary or unexplored.

This book captured my attention from the very beginning and kept it until I turned the last page! I loved the themes of love, strong woman, romance, suspense and intrigue! I loved the setting in 1800's London and the imaginative writing and scene descriptions! It had so many twists and turns and made me feel like I was right there with the characters. I loved Sarah Penner's first book and love this one as well!