Strange Practice
A Dr. Greta Helsing novel, Book 1
Vivian Shaw
Orbit
Fiction, Fantasy
Themes: Angels and Demons, Girl Power, Hidden Wonders, Occult Tales, Religious Themes, Twists and Updated Classics, Urban Tales, Vampires and the Undead
****
Description
Doctor Greta Helsing is the latest in a long line of Helsings (formerly Van Helsings) to deal with the world's supernatural beings... not to hunt them, but to heal them. Her medical practice is dedicated to serving London residents that most people don't realize exist, mummies and ghouls and vampires and more. It's an arduous job, but a necessary one, and every day brings some new surprise - and sometimes a new danger. When an undead associate of her vampire friend Ruthven is attacked by an unknown assailant, struck by a weapon coated in supernatural-specific poison, Greta finds disturbing parallels to a serial killer terrorizing London with religious-themed slayings... and disturbing signs that, unlike most cultists, this one not only know hows to kill supernatural beings, but has inhuman abilities themselves.
Review
I'd heard some intriguing things about this one before finding it on Libby, though for some reason I was expecting a period piece, not a modern urban fantasy. In any event, the story draws on various supernatural lore and famous classic stories such as Varney the Vampyre (plus more than a little Biblical and Biblical-adjacent traditions of angels and demons), creating a hidden London population of various inhuman beings who often aren't nearly as monstrous as popularly described, but which all have great potential to do harm if cornered or angered (or simply of unkind disposition). Greta, however, sees them as more than worthy of the same medical treatment and discretion as any fully human patient, having been brought up by her father with vampire and demon family friends, and always manages to honor her oath to serve her clients to the best of her ability, even if it risks her own life. As she investigates the attack on Sir Francis Varney, who becomes far more than a simple plot device as he finds himself drawn out of his broody, self-imposed isolation during his recovery in the home of the far-more-gregarious vampire Ruthven (Varney is a vampyre, a slightly different strain than the "draculine" vampires), she must rely on the assistance of a network of associates human and otherwise, such as the museum worker Cranswell and old (ex-)demon friend Fastitocalon, plus her clinic assistants and a ghoul chieftain. Meanwhile, murders (and murder attempts) stack up as the force behind the cult escalates its campaign against London's magical and mundane populace. For the most part, people aren't unduly stupid or bumbling, and while there's an air of plot convenience around a few events and motives (and some elements of the resolution), it generally delivers on the story it promises. While the cult arc wraps in this volume, the ending promises more adventures to come for Dr. Greta and her companions. I'm not sure I feel compelled to read on, but I was decently entertained by this installment.