Yeah for finding a new fun series! It’s fairly light, not perfect but quite promising. The basic premise is that Dr. Greta Helsing (daughter of that Helsing; yes, the one you’re probably thinking of) is a doctor for things that go bump in the night, like ghouls, vampires, vampyres, mummies, etc. She’s friends with Edmund Ruthven (yes, that Lord Ruthven), and as a result of a bad thing going on in the monster community, gets together a group including Ruthven, Francis Varney (a vampyr which is different than a vampire), Fastitocalon an accountant who is also some kind of demon (exactly what is strongly insinuated towards the end), and Cranswell, a human librarian who works at the British Library (and has access to cool occult stuff). The bad thing is that something that looks like monks with glowing blue eyes is going around London killing or attacking humans and monsters.
The characters are fun, and the world has great promise. I love how the supernatural creatures come to Greta with some very human medical issues, or at least things that make sense. Mummies for example need bone replacements because theirs have a tendency to decay after a while, she prescribes an anti-depressant to a ghoul leader, and so on. Varney who spends much of the novel recovering from a monk attack has some interesting emotional issues, and I’ve got to wonder about Ruthven. We don’t get into his head as much, but I rather hope future novels do a little.
One of the best and worst parts of the whole novel is the conclusion. First, the bad: the big nasty villain ends up being something incredibly stupid. Also, the attacks on humans are never fully explained upon discovery of said villain; only those on the monster community get much explanation. Yet there’s clearly some sort of connection. On the positive though: the reveals about Fass, what he actually is, and who he’s been friends with (still apparently is too). The other problem is the question of a romantic interest and potential triangle for Greta. There are two options but there’s little to signal that she thinks of either one that way, although she definitely notices one of her possible men more than another in that way. It also has virtually nothing to do with the story, and contributes nothing to Greta’s character, although it might add a little to one of the men’s. If this ever becomes the focus on the series, I promise that I will quit. That sort of thing almost always ruins a good adventure-mystery-supernatural in the mundane world entertaining story. I’m also unsure of why Greta keeps having “I don’t deserve my friends” thoughts. There’s no reason given for that in the novel, although several side characters are not very well developed.
There is plenty of room for the series to grow, and I’m really hoping it does. I’m glad there’s a few more novels that I can get my hands on before I have to start waiting for a next one.