The year is 1873. Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to work alongside of internationally-renowned spiritualist Vaudeline D'Allaire in the hopes of uncovering the truth of her sister's murder. Soon enough, a mysterious invitation arrives, beckoning Vaudeline to the London Seance Society: an institution teeming with powerful men and secrets they'd do anything to keep hidden.
Upon their arrival to London, Lenna and Vaudeline soon realize there's more to the mysterious London Seance Society than meets the eye. Clues are scattered throughout the headquarter buildings; ones that suggest Lenna's sister--a lover of the occult herself--may have had closer ties to the Society than she ever let on, and and that the Society itself harbors a deep and widespread corruption. Before long, Lenna and Vaudeline find themselves enmeshed in a mystery much larger than the one they set out to solve, and to find the truth, they may need the help of those not of this world.
I could hardly wait to get my hands on "The London Seance Society" after the hype Penner's "The Lost Apothecary" had garnered. Hailed as gothic, deeply-atmospheric, and a whodunnit that will transport readers, I found the first chapter of "The London Seance Society" held promise.
As the story wove on, I was immediately tuned into the fact that there was little to no profound character development for anyone in the book. Penner wove emotional scenes into several chapters without anything to tether them to, which left me feeling disconnected from the story almost the entire time. While I'd give it points for sheer atmosphere alone, "The London Seance Society" had a dismal habit of spelling out its own twists and turns so frequently that nothing was ultimately a surprise; I found the alternating POVs between Lenna and Mr. Morley of the Seance Society tedious without much payoff.
Finally, and perhaps my greatest disappointment of the book, is the fact that readers will have to venture about 70% into the book to get a glimpse at a seance. For a book with "seance" in the title, I expected more paranormal elements woven into the plot and more than one actual seance.
Full of promise with an enticing atmosphere, "The London Seance Society" promises a Victorian era whodunnit imbued with the spiritual, but it unfortunately underdeliver on all fronts. It suffered from a lack of character development and overall glacial pacing with moments of whiplash-fast developments that declare themselves without allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions. A fine story if you're a die-hard whodunnit lover, but certainly fine at best.
Rating: 3 Stars
Publication Details: Out 3/7/2023, Harlequin Trade Publishing
*Huge thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing my review copy!*
