In truth, I didn't care for this offering as much as the author's last one, "The Lost Apothecary," but it was still a decent read. The premise of the story is an interesting one: two women, one a master medium, the other, her skeptic apprentice, travel from where the former has been in exile in Paris to London, where several mysterious deaths have occurred which appear to be somehow related. Vaudeline, the French medium, it seems, has a history with at least one of the men at the London Seance Society, a mysterious organization comprised solely of men - or so it seems - who conduct paranormal research and related activities, although it appears that some of them are using it more for financial gain than to prove the existence of the afterlife. They are also some of the most powerful and wealthy men in the city, which proves a formidable challenge when investigating some of the for murder.
Vaudeline, it seems, has been summoned especially because she uses her enviable talent to conjure the dead primarily to solve murders, which is why her Society friend (and perhaps more) has requested that she return to London from from her voluntary exile in Paris, with skeptic Lenna in tow. The founder of the Society himself has been found murdered, Vaudeline's friend needs her expertise and talent, outside the organization's, to try to solve the crime. It seems that her apprentice Lenna harbors some secrets of her own: her sister, Vaudeline's former apprentice, was also murdered, as were some other prominent figures with some connection to the mysterious society.
This capable gothic mystery novel, set in 1873, draws from the real-life Spiritualism movement, which was all the rage in the mid- and late-nineteenth century. It was more a social than religious movement, making it more accessible to the general public than more traditional established religions, which were monopolized by formally trained clergy. Therein lay the problem, however, as there was no real check on practitioners - as described in the novel, unscrupulous charlatans often took advantage of grieving family and friends, thrilling or terrifying them with cheap parlor tricks to fleece them of funds and to keep them coming back for more.
The novel also draws from the idea that anyone could be a "medium," whom practitioners believed could acquire and develop their skills through study and practice. The primary tool of the medium at the time was the seance, a formal communication session which took many forms, and which has been extensively portrayed in popular fiction. It was not really until the 1920s when these practitioners and their methods were thoroughly debunked, primarily by none other than Harry Houdini, himself a professional magician who even made a show of debunking the magic tricks employed by these self-described spirit mediums and seance conductors.
As the novel notes, however, a century and a half later people are still fascinated with the notion of conjuring the dead. It's a fun and easy evening's read, which is generally enjoyable, even if it starts out rather slow. It picks up in the second half, and has enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. The characters weren't as well-developed as I would have liked - they seemed much more genuine in the author's previous novel - but that's a forgivable sin. Just don't expect too much, and you won't be much disappointed. Generally recommended for fans of both the author and gothic thriller novels.
