Strange Practice
by Vivian Shaw
DETAILS: Series: Dr. Greta Helsing, #1 Publisher: Orbit Publication Date: July 25, 2017 Format: Paperback Length: 353 pg. Read Date: December 8-9. 2025
“But,” Cranswell had said, “what about the killing people thing? In all the books and movies?”
“Well, really,” Ruthven had told him, looking rather tired, “don’t you think it’d sort of attract public attention, all these random individuals dropping dead of sudden blood loss? Any vampire who kills when he or she feeds is a vampire with some rather significant impulse-control problems, plus I’m not even sure it would be comfortably possible to down that many pints of the stuff in one go. Even if you don’t have access to blood from a bank, it’s much easier and wiser to take a small amount from several individuals than drain one person to the point of death, and far less likely to get you noticed by people with the pitchfork-and-torch mentality.”
Cranswell had blinked at him. “That…actually kind of makes sense.”
“Exactly, which is why nobody suspects it.”
What’s Strange Practice About?
Greta Helsing is a doctor with a very particular specialty. Yes, she’s one of those Helsings–somewhere along the line they dropped the “Van.” Like her father before her, Greta treats the supernatural denizens of London from all sorts of ills–colds, chest congestion, infants with ear infections, drinking poisoned blood, keeping mummies’ bodies together, stuff like that. Routine–but strange, too.
Then a serial killer starts terrorizing the city, eventually attacking a vampyre–viciously. And it wasn’t just one, but it was a group dressed in monks’ robes. Greta has to work hard to keep him “undead.” The nature of the attack and the injuries make it clear to Greta and a vampire* that her patient sought help from that this was a deliberate strike at a supernatural being. And an organized group with weapons targeting her patients? Greta has to look into that–and maybe see if she can do something about that.
* Yes, there are apparently differences between the sanguivores spelled with an “i” and with a “y.” Also, I love the term sanguivore.
Tone
Having determined that this is something I want to talk about, I realize that I’m having a hard time explaining it. But here’s what I can come up with.
The voice here isn’t typical of UF—it’s not cozy by any means, but it’s warm. It’s snark-free, but not overly serious. The characters largely treat each other like old friends—functionally family—and that atmosphere permeates the novel.
You could almost make the case for this being cozy—but what the villains of the piece do break every rule of cozy—whether we’re talking cozy fantasy or cozy murder mystery. This coziness doesn’t carry over to the acts of violence perpetrated by the monks, nothing is softened here—but the humanity of the response (whether it be a human, vampire/vampyre, or other doing the responding) comes through.
The subtle use of a Monty Python bit took me by surprise and made me chuckle audibly. Several things in the book struck me similarly (but not that audibly).
Reading List
Something one of the sanguivores says made me curious, so I went to Duck Duck Go, and yup…they were a literary character. As was nearly every named character in the book*—or, like Greta, a descendant of one.
I rather enjoyed this—and were I someone at all interested in Victorian horror, this book would provide a nice little reading list. Now, I am curious to compare Shaw’s depictions of these characters with the originals—but I’m not that curious (yet?). But I can think of a few friends who would be, I’m hoping they do after I get them to read this one so they can save me the time/effort.
* I really should’ve looked up the others—I guess I’ll have to do that while reading Book 2, Dreadful Company.
So, what did I think about Strange Practice?
“You are not human,” she said at last, “but you are people. All of you. The ghouls, the mummies, the sanguivores, the weres, the banshees, the wights, the bogeys, everyone who comes to me for help, everyone who trusts me to provide it. You are all people, and you all deserve medical care, no matter what you do or have done, and you deserve to be able to seek and receive that care without putting yourselves in jeopardy. What I do is necessary, and while it isn’t in the slightest bit easy, it is also the thing I want to do more than anything else in the world.”
I was a little taken aback initially—somewhere between being hand-sold this book (14 months ago) and starting it, I’d gotten the idea that it took place in the late 1800s. When I opened it and was confronted with a very 21st Century setting on the first page, that both threw me (and relieved me, I wasn’t that sure I was up for that setting, really). I was a little disoriented for the first chapter or so, but Shaw got me settled quickly and engaged me in the tale a lot quicker than I anticipated.
That engagement didn’t falter—it only grew. I devoured the book and was very happy about it throughout—okay, I wasn’t at all happy about what happened to a couple of characters, places, etc. at the end. But by that time it was too late, I’d already added Book 2 to my “To Buy” list and was invested in the outcome of Strange Practice, and more invested in a character or two than I’d expect for only having spent less than one novel with them.. The plot is pretty straightforward, but we’re given a couple of good twists to keep the reader on their toes—and one inevitable move proved very not-inevitable.
This is a great world that Shaw has given us, populated with the kind of characters you want to see. The fact that our protagonist—and her allies—are focused on healing, improving, the safety and well-being of everyone they come across* gives this book (and will give future books) a different feel than your typical PI/fighter/instrument of justice Urban Fantasy alone. It’s a nice change, and I look forward to seeing where the series goes.
If you’re looking for a fun and atypical Urban Fantasy with a nice classic horror twist, you’re going to want to give this a shot. You’ll be glad you did.
* If you assume that a vampire/vampyre can feed off a human without impinging on their well-being.
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