Strange Practice, by Vivian Shaw

[rachelmanija]

A charming urban fantasy about the unusual practice of London doctor Greta Helsing, who secretly treats the ills of the undead. This is the old-school type of urban fantasy (our world but with supernatural beings), not the later one (supernatural love triangles). There is a romance, but it's extremely understated, the consummation occurs off-page if it occurs at all, and is not what the story is about. The medical details, as far as I could tell, were accurate.

Like many urban fantasies, Strange Practice has a thriller plot--there's some glowy-eyed monks who are murdering the undead--but what makes it notable are the assortment of quirky characters, both human and not, the unusual premise, the generally light tone, and, despite some gory bits, the complete lack of grimdark. Greta is dedicated to her profession and her patients, and is surrounded by people who care very much about her and mean well in general.

A lot of the book consists of her found family and patients--vampires of various species, ghouls and an adorable ghoullet, and my favorite character, a telepath of unknown origin whom she essentially inherited from her doctor father and who has been a reassuring presence in the back of her mind ever since--hanging out together and making each other mugs of tea or blood (virgin's, for vampyres.) It's really sweet.

If you liked Nick O'Donohoe's Crossroads books about a veterinarian in fantasyland but could have done without the genocide and animal harm, this book's for you.

Strange Practice (A Dr. Greta Helsing Novel)

Comments

[jenett]

I really liked this one too! And I agree with what you said about it being completely free of grimdark, and the delight of watching people take care of each other, and care about each other, and do things because other people will like them.

(Also really really looking forward to the next one, because the setting sounds delightful.)

[sholio]

I read this based on yhlee's recommendation and really enjoyed it (despite the "ick" factor with the bad guys; apparently I don't deal well with certain things happening to eyeballs). Also, it introduced me to a very cool, steampunky technological device that I had never heard of.

[slashmarks]

By coincidence I just finished reading this today. I agree, I really appreciated the atmosphere and the lack of grimdark, and the characters. I found the romance a little irritating mostly because I did not believe it at all, but it was sufficiently understated not to be too distracting.

In general the ethos of the universe was... very refreshing, very much a relief. In so many books, what Greta did with that particular monk would have been punished. I also just loved Ruthven. (Latte art!)

If I had one complaint it was the total lack of present female characters other than Greta. I really hope we get to see Nadezhda and Anna in person in the next books.

[vass]

If you liked Nick O'Donohoe's Crossroads books about a veterinarian in fantasyland but could have done without the genocide and animal harm, this book's for you.

Well, now I have to read it!

[wpadmirer]

That actually sounds pretty interesting. I'll have to check it out.

[rushthatspeaks]

I got this out of the library right before Christmas on yhlee's recommendation and then ran out and bought one for sovay and one for myself. There are so many things I love about it:

-- the vampire with an i and the vampyre with a y are differently brooding and at one point are like 'fuck our problems let's go shopping', which I have never seen before as a coping mechanism for the male cast of a book
-- the best person to go fight the scary thing is not the medic and everybody knows it
-- damn that steampunk-y scary device is amazing, I think I watched the literal Youtube video the author cited and it was great
-- ghoullet! SO CUTE
-- the Christian angels and demons show up, as in a lot of urban fantasy, but neither side is omnipotent/omniscient and neither side has claimed to have created the world, giving me hope that the series won't do the usual stupid thing where non-Christian pantheons get treated like ordinary supernatural beings and the Christian stuff gets treated as Obviously Right
-- also the Yezidi Peacock Angel is my favorite version of that particular character, so points for atmosphere

I just really enjoyed this and I'm very much looking forward to the next. I should read her fic.

[scripsi]

I enjoyed it too! I hope the sequel, when it comes, will live up to it. :)

[just_ann_now]

*waves from the Network*

Thanks for this rec! I needed an Urban Fantasy for a challenge, but didn't want a supernatural love triangle *shudders*. This will be perfect!

[oracne]

I loved it, too. I just finished one of her coldhope stories, a Bucky one, and enjoyed it.

[estara]

Yes, this! Although I was really shocked by the descriptions of torture by the bad guys (and could have done without the church aspect, Catholic no less).

I enjoyed it a lot and am looking forward to the follow up. The romance... seemed to be artificially built in? I thought the protagonist had far more chemistry with another character all together, but huh. It did not detract from the meat and emotion of the story, to my mind.

[davidgillon]

Went back to compare it with the review I wrote over New Year, and realised I forgot to post it! Fixed now https://davidgillon.dreamwidth.org/150164.html My conclusions aren't much different - thoroughly enjoyed it, loved the found-family, but I'm a bit more picky on a few things.

[floria_tosca]

I just read this book and really enjoyed it. I wasn't surprised to discover that the author had written Discworld fanfiction, because it has a similar sensibility in some ways, even if the prose style is rather different.