The Case of the 2nd Seance: A John Darnell Mystery (John Darnell Mystery Number 3)

Rating:
Summary: Interesting historical perspective in this fascinating work
Review: As 1916 draws towards an end, the war between Great Britain and Germany appears to have no end in sight. Prime Minister Lloyd George has been in office for a week when his friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle persuades him to host a séance in order to contact his daughter, dead for nine years. Because he feels guilt, Lloyd agrees. Just as the medium goes into a trance, the lights go out. When they come back on, the Prime Minister's youngest teenage daughter is missing.

Doyle visits his friend John Darnell, a psychic debunker, to attend the next night's séance. As happened previously, the lights go out just as the medium enters a trance. When the lights come back on, someone stabbed to death an aid to the prime minister. Someone has used the cloak of the séances to kidnap a teenager and kill a person who unluckily chanced upon information. Lloyd receives a ransom note threatening the life of his child if he fails to agree to Germany's peace offering. John Darnell races the clock to save a life of an innocent caught up in world politics.

Sam McCarver writes a fascinating work that gives the audience a strong sense of the times. The mood of the British people before America's entry into World War I is fascinating yet understandable. Nonetheless, the magic to THE CASE OF THE 2ND SÉANCE lies in the hero whose actions insure readers get more than their money's worth.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Doesnt ring true
Review: In his introduction McCarver thanks about five people for editing and feedback. It would have been a good idea if one of them had been English. Time and time again he shows his lack of knowledge about basic things in England. Police had truncheons not nightsticks, a car is full of petrol not gas. Really irritating is when he must have heard a word in a movie but doesnt know how its spelt.Eg when somebody is going crazy they are Barmy not Balmy.
The actual story isnt up to much but it is reasonably entertaining. If McCarver sticks to writing mysteries set in the USA he'll do a lot better