Séance on a Wet Afternoon

This short book is so well written that the suspense literally is almost unendurable. It is written in that strange style that one sometimes finds in the 50's and 60's -- a sort of existential distance is kept from the main characters. The world seems rather bleak and sad for this couple. The man is so asthmatic that he cannot work; the woman is a genuine psychic. They decide to kidnap a wealthy family's child, not for the money, but so that the kind of fame that comes from a psychic finding the child and the career that can be obtained by the main female character. They intend for the money to be found, along with the child, by the woman coming forward and pretending to have seen it all in a vision. Then they will have the opportunity to develop a regular modest income from predictions and the sort. But the woman has always wanted actually to speak to the dead, but only rarely has that talent come. She usually just pretends by using her mind reading capabilities. As you see them take this child, you just dread what may be coming. You almost can't turn the page. I don't want to tell the end; but the book is well served by the perfectly explicated denoument. Read this book if you enjoy a good mystery, full of suspense.

This little book is chock-full of suspense and intrigue. We find in this book what appears to be a quite normal, non-descript couple, but they have worked together to form a diabolical Plan. This Plan is not supposed to bring them riches, but Myra hopes it will bring her what she feels is a well-deserved fame. She would like recognition for what she thinks are her extraordinary gifts. Her husband Bill has vowed to help her in this quest. They have decided to kidnap a small girl (daughter of a rich business man), and Myra hopes to gain the fame she yearns for by supposedly directing them to the finding of this girl. But things go terribly wrong, and instead Myra and Bill are faced with terror as they try to cover their tracks. This is a very well-written little novelette, and it is quite different take on crime and detection.

"Seance on a Wet afternoon" is a pretty short book,.... It is a crime/mystery drama that was written back in 1961 by Mark McShane. The story takes place in England. The two main characters are Myra and Bill Savage. They are married and live off the money Myra makes as a medium. She holds seances at there house, hence the title which I think must have been taken from the climax scene of the story.I don't want to give away to much, basically they want to get more money and quickly. They cook up a scheme, well, mostly Myra does, to kidnap a well to do fellow's daughter. Do they get caught? One must read to find out as I will not give away too much of this very intense book. The two reasons I wanted to read this is.1. The idea, while I do appreciate the crime drama/mystery from time to time. They get so formulatic after a while. It seems as though there hasn't been many that have interested me lately. This book has been around a while, and it seems to be very obscure. I was surprised to see that no one else had reviewed it. It has some excellent twists and turns in the story that keep the reader guessing as to how things will turn out.2. The price. ... This is definitely worth much more than that! McShane writes with great description of everything that goes on, and the dialogue is just divine. He really knows how to bring characters so totally alive and seem as if they are just about to jump off the page. He knows how to keep the reader interested and gripped to the very last page.There were times where I didn't want to go on with it because Myra is just so unlikable, but the plot kept me going. Her husband, is teetering on bad himself due to the influences that Myra has on him. Besides, while she is the brain behind the operation, Bill does all the grunt work. The ending is excellent!!! Very creepy!!This is worth reading!!! Plus, it is only 189 pages so it doesn't take to long to get through it.