At an abandoned chateau on the outskirts of Paris, a dark seance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D'Allaire. The household's collection of psychics, servants, and ghosts are a colorful lot, but in the end are merely quirky where they could have been hilariously bold.Amid the shrouded parlors of Victorian London, two daring women hunt for truth and justice in the perilous art of conjuring the dead. The plot manages to be twisty while proceeding logically, though the unanalyzed clues are often obvious enough that the reader must assume that Plunkett is none too clever and the smarter O'Nelligan is holding his cards close before the grand gathering and reveal. Together they investigate the death of Trexler Lloyd, a rich eccentric, egomaniac, and patron of the arts of spirit communication, who appears to have been electrocuted at a private demonstration of "the Spectricator," a device for speaking with the dead, at his home in Braywick, Conn.
O'Nelligan, a charmingly low-key and literary-minded Irishman. Nethercott's first full-length novel, a classically styled Holmesian whodunit set in 1956, introduces Lee Plunkett, an underemployed PI following reluctantly in his late father's detective footsteps, and Mr. "A classically styled Holmesian whodunit."- Publishers Weekly "This clever series opener offers a mid-century take on the traditional drawing-room mystery… There is a sweet charm to this mystery, ensuring that readers will want to see more from O'Nelligan and Plunkett."- Booklist Yeats and Elvis quotations, well-placed red herrings, and an endearing trio of protagonists."- Library Journal "Nethercott's debut sparkles with a mix of W.B. Soon, Plunkett and O'Nelligan are knee-deep in a suspect pool that includes a surly medium, a former speakeasy queen, a mysterious Spanish widow, and a whole slew of eccentric servants. The duo is drawn into a murder investigation involving the "Spectricator," a machine designed to communicate with the dead. O'Nelligan, a scholarly Irishman with a keen eye for solving mysteries. At the urging of his perpetual fiancée Audrey, Lee enlists the help of Mr. When murder intrudes on a group of ghost seekers, Lee is asked to solve the case by a cop on the verge of retirement.
It's 1956, and Lee Plunkett has taken over the family business as a private investigator despite his reluctance to follow in his father's footsteps. Engaging, charming, and smart, The Séance Society by Michael Nethercott is a fresh take on the traditional mystery genre for readers who love original characters, witty dialogue, and a great whodunit.
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