The London Seance Society

 The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner 352 pages

When I teach fiction writing, one of my classes is devoted to the first sentence. If the author doesn't grab the reader's attention right away, there is a slim chance the reader will continue.  I love the first sentence in this book: "At an abandoned chateau on the outskirts of Paris, a dark seance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D'Allaire."  That a beaut, isn't it? However, that was the best part of the book.

D'Allaire is the toast of Paris and London when spiritualism is at its height. Her specialty is conjuring murder victims to tell her who killed them. 

Lenna Wickes is mourning the death of her younger sister, Evie. She has come to Paris to enlist Vaudeline's aide. Lenna becomes Vaudeline's understudy.

Meanwhile, back in London, a powerful men's organization is also trying to uncover the murder of their president.  Oddly enough, the two murders happened on the same night, October 31.

The novel is interestingly told by two voices, but it's odd.  Lenna's story is told in third person, while their contact at the Society, Mr. Morley, is told in first person. I found it jarring. It takes a while for the reader to figure out exactly what the connection between the two dead people are, but the story does finally come around to a smooth conclusion.

Vaudeline and Lenna go back to London and try to solve the cases. Sometimes the plot was intricate, sometimes simple. There were times the story was a page-turner and times the story plodded along. Many times, I was able to figure out what was going to happen well before t did.

I was disappointed in this second outing by novelist Sarah Penner of The Lost Apothecary. Here's hoping that her third book returns to the skillfulness she displayed in Apothecary.  The London Seance Society receives 3 out of 5 starts in Julie's world.