A historical feminist horror novel, Sister Séance takes place in Concord, Massachusetts, just after the Civil War. Spiritualism is sweeping the nation when Halloween calls for matchmaking in atraditional "dumb supper," a dinner party where guests may not speak but must express their needsand desires through nonverbal communication. Mysterious intruders shock the party guests intoconfronting their pasts through materializations. These materializations unite sisters of séance with abolitionists, freed people, former slaveholders, wounded Civil War veterans, and a photographer pregnant with the child of a former slave.
When the faded Australian 1960 s girly-pop idol Jill St. Brandelis accepts the flirty-eyed advances of a passionate London fan, tabloid dishonor and two fatalities are the shocking upshot of their wretched romantic misadventure. The outrageous particulars behind the appallingly sensationalist tabloid headlines are blushingly recounted in candid detail by Jill s still remarkably beautiful big sister, the fabled 1960 s pop culture icon Pill Strathspey.
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the author of the sensational bestseller The Lost Apothecary comes a spellbinding tale about two daring women who hunt for truth and justice in the perilous art of conjuring the dead. 1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by widows and investigators alike. Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister’s death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. With shared determination, the women find companionship that perhaps borders on something more. And as they team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves… Written with intoxicating suspense and sultry prose, The London Séance Society is an entrancing tale that blurs the lines between truth and illusion, and reveals the grave risks women will take to avenge the ones they love. "Penner brings history to vivid life in this atmospheric and evocative whodunnit." —Nita Prose, author of The Maid Named a Most Anticipated book by Good Housekeeping, Washington Post, Bookpage, CrimeReads, Readers Digest, Popsugar, LitHub, E! News, Goodreads, and more
San Francisco Homicide Inspector Rebecca Mayfield has vowed to have nothing more to do with mystery man Richie Amalfi, but when he tells her about the strange deaths of clients of a local psychic medium, her decision changes. Rebecca has always been intrigued by the paranormal and, despite her logical and practical nature, she can't resist looking into the deaths. A handsome medium, a tormented ghost, and the FBI lurking around because of their interest in Richie and some stolen ancient artifacts, show Rebecca that the dead don't always stay dead and buried. And her emotions can't be buried, no matter how hard she might try. But following both just might lead Rebecca straight to the Great Beyond ... permanently.
An extraordinary debut novel—dark, fast-paced, thrilling—set in contemporary and nineteenth-century Europe, the United States, and Scotland, involving the true inventor of moving pictures; his lost film made in Edinburgh in 1888; and a shocking series of crimes terrorizing the city in present time. The time: 2002. The city: Los Angeles. Alex Whitman, movie memorabilia dealer who can find anything, is hired by an eccentric film collector to locate what could be the first film ever made, Séance Infernale. Its creator, Augustin Sekuler, is considered by those who know about movies to be the true inventor of motion pictures—not the Lumiére brothers; nor Thomas Edison. Sekuler was to present to the world in 1890 his greatest new invention, the first of its kind—a moving picture machine. He had boarded a train headed from Dijon to Paris, but never arrived at Gare de Lyons station. He and his moving picture machine vanished, never to be heard from again, his claim in history as the inventor of the moving image vanishing with him. When Whitman tracks down what could be fragments of Sekuler’s famously lost film, questions are raised—about Sekuler, about what happened to him and to his invention, and about the film itself. In this riveting story of suspense, the search for the answers lead to curious riddles that may (or may not) shed light on Sekuler’s darkest secret locked away for more than a century, riddles that set in motion a frantic hunt taking Whitman from Los Angeles and Paris, to Geneva, and finally to Sekuler’s ancient labyrinthine city of Edinburgh, where the stakes become ratcheted up as the film’s riddles lead to a darker, far more dangerous mystery.
1908: Regina, Saskatchewan, the railroad hub of the prairies, is booming. The foxtrot is the latest craze hitting the dance halls, and silent movies are all the rage. But it’s the newest fad, séances, that intrigues Myrtle Vanhoff. Myrtle is tired of the constraints put on her by her father, Reginald Vanhoff, a lumber baron, and her mother, Amelia. Her mother is determined to make her and her daughter’s mark on Regina’s burgeoning social scene. But Myrtle has other ideas. On a lark, the rebellious young woman convinces her twin brother, Leopold, to attend Madame Scarlatta’s notorious séances. They find more than restless spirits. Someone murders a bereaved patron while everyone at the table is holding hands. Myrtle and Leopold are determined to find out who and how. A Regina police sergeant is appalled at Myrtle’s unladylike interest in the murders. But Jonathan Chapman of the Royal North-West Mounted Police is intrigued. Jonathan joins Myrtle and Leopold in their search for the murderer. When Myrtle gets too close to the truth, the murderer targets her as the next victim.
It was a truth universally ignored that sons abhorred being sent to séances in search of a wife. In this short story (approx. 4,000 words) Jasper Steele has had enough of ghosts to last him a lifetime, so why is he attending a séance? Mostly to appease his mother, who worries about his head and his heart after his summer in the English countryside getting rejected by Mary Trentwood. Eloise Carterprice has never been one to let a good opportunity escape her, so it's only natural that her ghost appears during the latest séance hosted by her mother. Will Jasper find a bit of romance? Will Eloise have her bit of fun? Read on, dear Reader, read on! This is a short story bridge between Haunting Miss Trentwood and A Spirited Engagement. It is a companion to "Miss Preston's Predicament.”
