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Seance
189 page hard cover book in the Crime Club Selection.
189 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1962
1 person want to read
About the author
Mark McShane
49 books13 followersMark McShane [b.1930 - 2013] was an Australian author of satire, suspense novels, and crime fiction. Born in Sydney to a family with Gypsy roots, he traveled the world for the first three decades of his life. In 1960, he settled on the island of Mallorca, in the Mediterranean, and decided to write fiction.
His first novel, The Straight and the Crooked, appeared that year but it was his third effort, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, for which he is best known. The story of a strange pair of kidnappers it was made into a well regarded film in 1964 and has been adapted as an opera. His most well known characters are the eccentric Detective Sergeant Norman Pink, and Appleton Porter, an unlikely spy whose often comic adventures McShane chronicled under the pseudonym Marc Lovell.
His first novel, The Straight and the Crooked, appeared that year but it was his third effort, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, for which he is best known. The story of a strange pair of kidnappers it was made into a well regarded film in 1964 and has been adapted as an opera. His most well known characters are the eccentric Detective Sergeant Norman Pink, and Appleton Porter, an unlikely spy whose often comic adventures McShane chronicled under the pseudonym Marc Lovell.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 6, 2025
So last week I read McShane's original 1961 novel, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, (which was originally released under the simpler title 'Seance' - but once the 1964 film came out, the book title reverted to that) - and it was such a fun read, I decided I wanted to tackle this sequel, which the author delivered 11 years later, to find out what happened next. I couldn't figure out WHERE this book would go, since it was fairly obvs. (spoiler alert!) that the two protagonists were headed for long prison sentences at the end of book one.
It turns out Bill, given a 5-year sentence, dies fairly quickly from his asthma, while Myra, given a lighter 1-year sentence as his accomplice, is let out in 9 months - which is where this book begins. She comes under the care of a younger, peculiar young man named William Wilson, a librarian whose elderly mother he cared for during her last years. Willliam is obsessed with Myra, and gives her free room and board, while not really being convinced of her clairvoyant talents.
From there, the book veers into a more complex variation of what happens in the first - Myra trying to prove her powers, and William becoming a somewhat reluctant accomplice to make sure her visions come true. It is rare that a sequel can equal, let alone surpass the original, but I think this one is actually even more suspenseful and enjoyable than the OG, with an equally dynamite ending. Since a new film adaptation is in the works for book one, one can hope that it will be a roaring success, and they will then turn to this worthy sequel.
It turns out Bill, given a 5-year sentence, dies fairly quickly from his asthma, while Myra, given a lighter 1-year sentence as his accomplice, is let out in 9 months - which is where this book begins. She comes under the care of a younger, peculiar young man named William Wilson, a librarian whose elderly mother he cared for during her last years. Willliam is obsessed with Myra, and gives her free room and board, while not really being convinced of her clairvoyant talents.
From there, the book veers into a more complex variation of what happens in the first - Myra trying to prove her powers, and William becoming a somewhat reluctant accomplice to make sure her visions come true. It is rare that a sequel can equal, let alone surpass the original, but I think this one is actually even more suspenseful and enjoyable than the OG, with an equally dynamite ending. Since a new film adaptation is in the works for book one, one can hope that it will be a roaring success, and they will then turn to this worthy sequel.
Displaying 1 of 1 review