Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Seance Society: A Mystery
The Seance Society: A Mystery
The Seance Society: A Mystery
Ebook312 pages5 hours

The Seance Society: A Mystery

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

3/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

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.

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. When murder intrudes on a group of ghost seekers, Lee is asked to solve the case by a cop on the verge of retirement. At the urging of his perpetual fiancée Audrey, Lee enlists the help of Mr. O'Nelligan, a scholarly Irishman with a keen eye for solving mysteries.

The duo is drawn into a murder investigation involving the "Spectricator," a machine designed to communicate with the dead. 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.

"Nethercott's debut sparkles with a mix of W.B. Yeats and Elvis quotations, well-placed red herrings, and an endearing trio of protagonists."—Library Journal

"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

"A classically styled Holmesian whodunit."—Publishers Weekly

LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 1, 2013
ISBN9781250028358
The Seance Society: A Mystery
Author

Michael Nethercott

MICHAEL NETHERCOTT is the author of The Seance Society and The Haunting Ballad. His work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies including Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. He is a past winner of The Black Orchid Novella Award and was nominated for the Shamus Award for a short story introducing O'Nelligan and Plunkett. He lives with his family in Vermont.

Related authors

Related to The Seance Society

Titles in the series (2)

View More

Related ebooks

Mystery For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for The Seance Society

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars
3/5

4 ratings4 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Awful. Mannered, cross between Sherlock Holmes and Dashiell Hammett.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Lee's father left him a private detective agency. When Lee's eternal fiancée, Audrey, takes him to the Otherworld's Fair along with her quirky neighbor, Mr. O'Nelligan. When one of the main speakers subsequently dies, the 2 men finds themselves investigating multiple plots of faked deaths, murder, ghosts, and con artists. The mystery definitely takes back seat to the interactions between the unlikely partners, including their verbal sparring, as well as the larger cast of flamboyant and interesting characters.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Michael Nethercott brings his characters, Mr. O’Nelligan and Lee Plunkett, from the pages of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and gives them a proper debut novel. It’s 1956 and professional (“professional” in the sense that he has a license) detective Plunkett is asked to look into the death of a psychic medium. He engages the assistance of his new/old friend Mr. O’Nelligan. O’Nelligan holds no license and will accept no payment but he does have a bit of the Irish twinkle and turn of phrase. With suspects o’plenty (mostly under the same roof) the duo works in the grand tradition of Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen, complete with the gathering of all the suspects in a room to reveal the killer. O’Nelligan and Plunkett promise to be a comfortable “go-to” duo when nothing else seems to hit the mark.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It’s 1956 and millionaire inventor and spiritualist, Trexler Lloyd has invented a machine which will supposedly allow him to communicate with the dead. However, on its first run, he is electrocuted. Perhaps by coincidence (or maybe not), the local coroner is present and pronounces the death an accident. However, at least one of the guests at the séance suspects foul play and hires detective Lee Plunkett and his assistant, Mr O’Nelligan to investigate.Despite being set in the US, The Séance Society has all the earmarks of a British cosy mystery including an English butler. The setting is somewhat circumscribed, more village than city and, although Plunkett and especially Mr O’Nelligan are very likable, there is not much depth to most of the characters. And, in the tradition of a good cosy, at the denouement the suspects are all gathered in the parlor of the mansion and the clues are laid out one by one until the perpetrator is revealed.The pace is rather slow - these are the '50s as portrayed by Norman Rockwell with soda fountains and Elvis and without HUAC, the Cold War, or fear of the bomb or the military industrial complex. Even the dialogue tends to reflect a simpler time when words like ‘golly’ and ‘shenanigans’ were bandied about and not in an ironic way. But this is not to say that The Séance Society isn’t a fun read. It’s kind of like that old sweater you keep because, although it may be out of style, it’s familiar and warm, perfect for a nice quiet evening at home, curled up with a glass of wine and vinyl on the stereo.

Book preview

The Seance Society - Michael Nethercott

2abook_preview_excerpt.html|KHU\̢#kzd:+%)e1\sU\`Ds:ɨ{=-2LF;`ѧO~8߿y}U0Cl~|?b}]??-o]m2cX83mS?/xCQPm7垿:"E"~at|XͣvcûA+PNÀa&xv7E8ڇ82+BL}1w) .i<<ٯbFr7Z|ks=~S!Oq8r\CksPE/xe1=T[.֭N-*W_ wN9>E| u=U\1k4OfbcIN+s Tl.=vc4|.`KV#7JZbPeigB_zꍻ;[ְ`3XF)MUmawq0] mV c}dusp8b扮O!q܊1x,~b.܌>Ol Ƙ[l4-=O57.V>XS1m T8/ ^ئ^s5[2`rU&KƩF{rTW8l2 [q-~I`OgDA7n!1; :}_ !m=m\ACӽ?M(4t<.M!3oimuSSaaf4mO߻yԈט.(mbo `j*n>2X`O0֍"׉y+e,jj5sKv[|S /EmzXq.>4Gd*- !uKdIb|W~-h.ו [S%yP{^ PK6@σ"EdΞ;0"8CG`Wf,Z#mq71&ʑM%eXJG\)͋O柚p" OBX"=^5|D0hw; FPS&A4b*- -X̑8!(72ڂ=Б@7 ~86~ȫ2úoдG"E}@~?W pw!\4Hl!iP+8Gski񅀋+ |@GY MFv1;{亳ǎa&FwL?1sb#D{#ICQ0R|!&Xyw% '%r+8^ž?8#П!--rCt́p1bB*|CNJP,)k zf-[TJGa<1i<俲TԆUCaL欘}$ g"Xl0/'1,vg6'؄EwdwD4,yxX`+X)?Ki+u2[ L7Ĝlͷ)Lxd8TfFնrCJ8Vdxcچ (%㹑D{4P,1ýL̰28t͝8kt.E£M^fTn^0Dk!PFo$P_mXŘw÷9oث*]{LjYNwvOCB,D<}P.5Am l#weP-#z]v7cUixTZ /Qq>dɪEtjRj8m"%TfxHz蜌6b? 7ZN+uѺ]hPIAseuzy:oT(mP2 m֍q  p,č!y //.F>$jP;UA/3"*$|כ4`* vtwa=duU ?}4S#$Vug'I}҂/_fxE>ydyFvNc2sVjH=Sd'i?^-- nc7mƵgB8K9˧~x<G qKoY@|€}:MOՓlb9mswQ{lPE W\4<6 fbh!SBE:Ar/aqV[D#`acA ,֡j.7eγip@`ZwQ8d),/笾-)̅!U9Kl< l %+w, z*̵lǜUj?pP!z )i5w/E U4zM1UmM ǙP7bBpi{1RYB|ۋy/ ^NG| _g`:~-,*[$cWX_eEۂH~|fMԱ<׿X* ZEmX'ʺ&TO 5n'MRTGZ ؠdon'u4߾L'sYu. vjU#!9<0Vte<ز8i۔Q't(F$[31TߞTi[/j,XH(SR- BW| .j7 p+V9 .@X  ,g$X3|FʲX7H7wE*0t?"<4{C'l Y[+YqqN AaUBimqx'g,pسXY ZZRXnb^[{6kӵn_o[sgM † '6-X0fRO@-`E0;JY;Wx.F#5)ٳSg{O՜dAiApz[v4>nBJ`F:nPY:W>DBJuw:$4Tsýw[Z٤ &MA:jK6umj8vFHw7jxYX,i"ŗTcȷ^$KCfFs,ݲRR7"i`8C /E?n3-WGEc"j~ƛ&9[XT3͝@33aKħeu/Wy\j Ĵ헖6CEO5Sġ9af|(E(55Ֆ,\Kij{t8(oiA,f6j„z.L|%[GW_KBZz3몺Œ| "iŻ`$[4Eg[{VkT|n%&f`a6f f,b0uX֑Ft*7{({hbHG+FDpٮ(1>⻷Lʤ`o$ dVUƸXiQ4 ;͡U"FJ(@uӠMq?FDQHLId`Z(0<7,.ʋDG{osg ~~RH>=_63a]7TѷL#dqBhtQ:T/6PdTEhe_PU儵mV`3@b΁1<fϴƔ:pV?m=_E%cNBn׉cE `ab)_dz/R,)+iWbd1(qMyq[|-%2_6Wh(`XC3*|sA2;ʊe޳..=C$U JD~Y]Z\NRȮcj|1@tiGnpVo,)kLD?o'R@+MW&P.i G ) 3")DNfnwPT[3Dxe\Բ+n} 97͉{o#6GKϽ .Y e$jml˜YguKFm:.ρ&;ݮcYI+΅j+{`L]qbm\"Ro2RbG.4Xc?_:vK '.3֢vf{Ġƀh C4̝e~4 <ƽYf"!W} A0MRshXT7n">xC}[gZ]TE9X[)NW0j:1U4d}V}SjO <*~iPm5Hc;8B(w֓ʧꬖ^7 'A0 nRE>xi|Ŀr:_C냙z4{ʢZ,6pS#LP .ZUj Zߐ\MI-/aYYU*Uj`УY>L{ Nb$7 L ޒ%9;#^4XMJp#R{bLeTrT'ؤ!EJ1'@HzMNv)?J#m40BnHc'v4/*O&2V(bbMYM˙Aiށfcu=b1?]ZP ZQ=\x_?2ͷ:J(ޚD(g:,zABF0R.<"1а +^~݊ z-{M¹d:@$pj;oO7'I _ڌ Ҁls>Y6 {:nNKXv 6i30$7lu-st6DFH@˂Æv1"*4j,oi.Ȭ&HF@KqK?ƥ %&)PPBp5]D K"Xޟ{VtI$ݞZO}ɒzdb"$+RErDXKMKJ<>#[K.WJ-E C+v}EF|uxoRO?xW3BdL1baw ;?yĕ[7OD5"/. B j`]"s=_L\'"6I3N:teA0hElOc]`llfP.>r9_Ҭ! 8jr!]Kڲ jbGȅ5(_6 xN-aCbM/.L8O[ dG(4_(#e=7u$ 3öSx>?K}>UX[w%Ң\GTo& 5Ā8ui&g:9U:|CIO^P"LebAݍ !BRҧX͹HG2EcjixqT_ 42 k6'(*I5Jw:!-,ԩ#Oυ&e[XH_XZ6OLY50(@j34uGpJC oeEpYqeg:o&5$o0lz<%R|yx/<Ι\\>KM~xq.? w}&88.O]>r6\'?50Pr4sAglO7#wX&h%d 6>S;Nv<Hю;θTkNآ(BL#3Tنg<g<]+p`|sEuaYGا.be\:WIT^p=N}zLE;W:c) L◦̌zXmjԟ<1@ud6g|7@QNR⭿95áT"cTy>2AIgi#2,H\-RՏdԃ뼝r4BLpR3d0 [5ÁXS+%.JF9YeJ{vzz>2qrמo]fH^ ."}7_G⼏KnP'ꤼ3 w ·i7~P4I[[|&a[q,8,J8Xl1gGıJI*`jdCpOa`mTյ 8NHiһs9 Oj{$eHuh>|vC=Q>YO~E(1frjZPcє[uw{UEt2r=ϏMfan 뤣5Τ^ǩ ~2Mnޏhb;0,W^(+~}^CjSc5Bh{ojgg?߽x wT_|%$2="RWk\~o珯ͫś7~Y{{Wճ)xqջ-#p:#G Guθ%1+VuDž䢃9c'5H i9ͮ ̀d0n1'P]*R;H|4'zKWTW6F.˩Mh0FX|}{_XW٧unȀFL_Or-9 Yc>[nq QoDWAp2]mXёߐH]l0ҥ$˩k׭P쒳uaصSG>HidW)8SkQפ e\ `35E =QfITﰹrP[w<"S'#[͞K`SFˈy2%gMa6 d.@4Cx~ayٺvϖ:[\yյC4!Ֆ5]5~Vd\|N}o, ހT{C.u d.r[(bv09FW )jpžCvoҗx4"[uW`'T!hVv~FvB Ź"yvP8y>/A;j:3э^Krl_n""c**߲lp(2\f>uG%gfhEUaތGNJ)*eZf>wJYҍ~\R]Zc7?f;̱ݬ~_4Z;2 4DܸQѺF9L \AyoYm+eSGcή>+L=KWXlUfn.|+r2lx %7?"{̫[,w܆w} .Q aH8SYhd 6yVDkV-+s#ut+=.Z#rniJ([*#lFbӳ3UÁ$NYO:5Hڜg[LJ21!K:<rrr?&n|3cSWYuJ`XK?T4g0Mn$m#0gK}cM)䅋s.TO;\[UV9"T4~%~sd%tAhHL}ӰeV~LC34?ı:.Sf -n*\ۍLM+< ]R|`o_/P7Z
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1