Strange Beasts is a cracking debut novel, one that has so many layers which fantasy (and slow-burn romance fans) will love, coupled with a contemporary twist on the classical crime and horror stories of Sherlock Holmes and Dracula. Throw in a delicious drizzling of feminist flavouring and we have a winner for one of our top books of 2024!
Strange Beasts is a clever and captivating historical fantasy novel, with utterly beautiful and seamless penmanship in terms of the characters and storyline.
One of our main characters, Samantha Harker, (daughter of Mina Harker, aka Dracula’s killer) works at the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena. She’s a librarian who longs to get her teeth into a case beyond the walls of her research library. When, on Belle Epoque Paris a monster begins murdering powerful men, Samantha feels convinced that this is the case she NEEDS to be on. While her boss agrees, she has to jump over some hurdles... One hurdle being the society’s most brilliant (and partner reluctant) professor, who also happens to be the daughter of the notorious Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes). Dr Helena Moriarty is first known for being her father’s daughter, and second for being the prof whose partners have continuously been killed on duty.
I adored Strange Beasts from the very first page, and as the pages flew by, I became more and more invested, not only in the brilliant, dark and eerie crimes occurring within the catacombs of Paris, but in the characters and their lives. We have Samantha, who hides a secret that she feels would portray her as a monster, closing herself off whilst craving closeness. Then we have Helena, who appears stone cold but underneath is a woman who desires connection and, like Sam, has the need to prove that she’s anything but a monster. This coupling of main characters worked so well with the storyline, the ying and yang pairing brought light to a dark storyline. Sarah clear shows that women can do it just as well, if not better, than men cough Van Helsing’s son..! I am absolutely hoping that this will not be the last that we see of this dynamic duo, and if not, I can’t wait for what Susan comes up with next!
Review by Danielle.
Strange Beasts was published on 17/10/24 by Hodderscape
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