4.25*

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital review copy of "A Body At The Séance " in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

This was a great follow up to A Body On The Doorstep and definitely makes this a series I'll be keen to continue with when we get further cases for Mabel to investigate. Book 2 sees Mabel tasked with joining a séance as a companion to Mrs Plomley who is hoping to communicate with her dead husband. The lights go out, chaos ensues and the formerly 'dead' Mr Plomley is found on the carpet, strangled and this time, officially dead.

What follows is a twisting and turning case the reunites some of our favourites from Book 1 as Mabel doggedly pursues the truth.

I felt that this story did have too many characters who I didn't particularly care for in the suspect group and it led to some repetition of scenes however, as a case I didn't guess the ultimate outcome or why it happened and I felt that it definitely had more red herrings and was more complicated than Book 1. I was glad to see Cora and Skeff return, as well as Park and Gladys and I appreciate that it hasn't taken 8 or 9 books for Park and Mabel's relationship to develop. I was also glad to see the return of some of Mabel's side tasks, most notably naughty Augustus who keeps Mabel on her toes but adds a wonderful break from the core proceedings.

If you love historical cosy mysteries (like I do) then this series will tick all the boxes and I eagerly await future installments!

A Body At The Séance is released on January 11th 2024.