Review Whoops...

Strange Practise, Vivian Shaw

I wrote this review back at New Year, but seem to have completely forgotten to post it then. It was only when 

rachelmanija posted her review that I realised mine was AWOL. Whoops, anyway....

With recommendations from
yhlee  and sovay , plus urban-fantasy is David-candy, I had to try this one, and it was well worth it.

 

When Sir Francis Varney (vampyre) turns up on the door of Edmund Ruthven (vampire, and once Lord Ruthven), bleeding and semi-conscious from a stab wound, there’s nothing for a gentleman to do but call in Dr Greta Helsing, specialist in monstrous medicine to London’s lesser known denizens.

Greta’s one of those (Van) Helsings, but monster hunting turned into monster helping a while ago. So now Greta’s practise consists of vampires, ghouls, mummies and other such denizens of the darkness (or in Ruthven’s case a rather nice mansion on the Embankment). Greta’s inherited practise is on Harley Street, home of London’s private medical elite, but it isn’t exactly brimming over with cash. So the roof leaks, her equipment is second hand, and she drives a beat-up old Mini. But for old friends like Ruthven, she does housecalls.

It quickly becomes clear that the attack on Varney was specifically targeted on him as a supernatural, but that there may also be links to the rapidly worsening Rosary Ripper murders of prostitutes. But the supernatural community can’t risk coming to the attention of the authorities, so Ruthven’s mansion rapidly becomes a haven first to Greta’s family friend Fass, aka Fastitocalon, who was once a demon, but is more of an accountant nowadays; August Cranswell, scion of another family of hunters turned helpers and junior curator at the British Museum, plus eventually a whole tribe of ghouls (plus ghoulet).

Greta’s not really cut out to be a detective, but when the suspects keep following you home and trying to kill you, it’s not the detecting that’s the problem. But the cast bring a varied array of talents together in a pleasant way, and it makes for a satisfying read.

Sovay pointed out that significant parts of the story are very heavily based on Christian mythology of the Fall, to the essential exclusion of other religious traditions, so that’s probably something to be aware of. OTOH this is one of only a handful of books I’ve seen try to rehabilitate Hell in the way urban fantasy has rehabilitated other areas of mythology as perfectly nice people once you get past the teeth and claws and howling at the moon.

There are a few problems with the plotting as well as the mythological background. Some essential information falls rather too readily into Greta’s hands at a crucial moment. Ruthven remembering rough details from 70 years ago doesn’t really strain suspension of disbelief, a ghoul knowing exactly which button she needs to press to save the day is rather more of a problem. OTOH it’s fairly quickly past. There’s also something of an anti deus ex machina tidying up of loose ends.

There are also a handful of minor issues that reveal an author who hasn’t lived in the UK since early childhood. Mostly it’s word choice, e.g. internist vs Junior House Officer, and I’ve never come across a prescription that works quite like Fass’s is described as working, but one is rather more jarring and problematical. Greta defends herself from an attack with a can of pepper spray, then debates whether she should report it to the police. In reality, possession of pepper spray is illegal in the UK and would get her charged with ‘Possession of an Offensive Weapon’, while actually using it would be ‘Assault with an Offensive Weapon’, so not something a GP would be readily willing to risk. As my kindle copy is putatively Orbit UK,  I’m surprised that slipped through the editing process. That said the feel for London, and underground London, is really rather good.

So overall, strongly recommended if urban fantasy is your thing, with a couple of caveats.

Read since,need reviewing: Dead Heat, Patricia Briggs, and (re-reads) the first 5 books of C J Cherryh's Foreigner sequence - damn, I'd forgotten how good she is at this.