Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris Review

In this fresh-yet-familiar gothic tale—part historical fantasy, part puzzle-box mystery—the worlds of Dracula and Sherlock Holmes collide in a thrilling exploration of feminine power.
 

At the dawn of the twentieth century in Paris, Samantha Harker, daughter of Dracula’s killer, works as a researcher for the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena. But no one realizes how abnormal she is. Sam is a channel into the minds of a power that could help her solve the gruesome deaths plaguing turn-of-the-century Paris—or have her thrown into an asylum.
 

Sam finds herself assigned to a case with Dr. Helena Moriarty, daughter of the criminal mastermind and famed nemesis of Sherlock Holmes and a notorious detective whom no one wants to work with on account of her previous partners’ mysterious murders. Ranging from the elite clubs of Paris to the dark underbelly of the catacombs, their investigation sweeps them into a race to stop a beast from its killing rampage, as Hel and Sam are pitted against men, monsters, and even each other. But beneath their tenuous trust, an unmistakable attraction brews. Is trusting Hel the key to solving the murder, or is Sam yet another pawn in Hel’s game?

A love child between the Disney Channel’s Descendants franchise and Universal’s Dark Universe, Susan J. Morris’s paranormal urban fantasy novel revolving around a serial murder mystery. Featuring great atmosphere, a twisty investigation and all the aesthetics of the Gaslamp fantasy sub-genre, this book has a lot of compelling concepts matched with feminist themes given women’s restricted roles of the period. Though I found the book’s story to notably lag from its middle section onward and its ending leaving much to be desired, Strange Beasts is still a fun read, popcorn entertainment read.

Whether it be a coincidence of the books I’ve been finding or a burgeoning trend, fantasy and science fiction flavored murder mystery investigations have become one of my favorite sub-genres lately and Strange Beasts more than fits the bill. The book serves as the start of Morris’s Harker & Moriarty series with long-running plotlines in addition to having its own self-contained murder mystery case set in early 20th century Paris. The book juggles two different storylines, one being the mysterious beastly murders of wealthy and powerful Parisian men and the other being Sam’s volatile channeling powers adjacent to Hel’s dysfunctional relationship with her father James Moriarty. The second storyline involving the daughters of Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes and Jonathan/Mina Harker from Dracula (plus Van Helsing’s son as a supporting character) is an attention-grabbing concept that originally drew me to this book, in addition to it being a past Goldsboro SFF book pick. The daughters of two unrelated iconic literary classics partnering up to solve supernatural crime is a wild premise before you even throw in the series far reaching folklore beings and fantasy elements. Fortunately, the creative premise works quite well, adding a lot of fun easter eggs references and Moriarty-related narrative material that feels fitting and interesting with the main mystery case.

In general, Strange Beasts’ strongest element is its great setting courtesy of the Parisian atmosphere and early 20th century period meshed with its murder mystery case. Channeling the Gaslamp fantasy aesthetic well, the story is at its best when Sam and Hel are exploring and investigating the city and its underbelly, almost like a female and French equivalent of Jack the Ripper sleuthing. The book provides a variety of different areas ranging from high-end urban centers, to the impoverished countryside, to the underground tunnels and urban scene. The main murder mystery investigation is full of surprises, twists, and some very clever thematic connections to the novel’s recurring discussion of women’s subservient roles in society and misogynistic impressions. The mechanism of the crimes and the complex investigation are well-crafted and the biggest highlight for me, in addition to Morris’s enjoyable and well-balanced writing style.

While I enjoyed the paranormal murder mystery investigation storyline, I found the character-focused plot to be less interesting and effectively handled. While the idea behind Sam’s channeling power is a great concept inspired by Mina Harker’s ability in Dracula, its utilization and mechanics felt vague and confusing. Part of that is by design as Sam is portrayed to have no control or understanding of how her powers work, but as a whole, I found Strange Beasts’s world-building to be lacking. Even with the book’s concluding understanding and limitations of her powers, I’m still not entirely sure how her visions functionally work that sometimes feel like a catch-all plot device for clue sleuthing. The same could be said about the world’s various fantasy elements of alchemy, transformations, folklore creatures, and supernatural mythos. The vast expanse of paranormal elements incorporated is exciting at the surface level, but the story develops a trend of throwing out a new mechanic or creature with little to no setup that feel progressively more random out of left field rather than surprisingly unexpected. Despite being part of an established and structured entity, there’s quite limited information about Sam and Hel’s organization, and what little is shown is provided by Sam via recollected info-dumping. Additionally, although the story has a strong start and compelling first half, I found my interest in the story slipping around the mid-way point when Sam and Hel venture outside of Paris, and I found the pacing starting to drag despite new developments still occurring. I think the issue is that the middle of the book spends so much time and effort on what is revealed to be red herrings, and though they are ultimately related to the full reveal, perhaps they feel like mismanaged use of time and pages. By the time the ending arc started, it was almost too much for the ending to try and make up for.

In addition to Sam’s channeling storyline, I likewise found Hel’s connection and history with her father Moriarty to be lacking as well. Although I understand that this book is the start of a series which purposely leaves a lot of information for subsequent entries, I was disappointed by the book’s ending which doesn’t resolve any of the long-running questions apart from the Parisian murder culprit. The handling of Moriarty and his “tests” for Hel feel clunky and the character motivation doesn’t quite make sense (hopefully the sequel will elaborate on that). The connection to Sam’s grandfather’s disappearance also was a bit underwhelming to me, it being a storyline that I forgot existed due to how little development or clues that angle was given until the end of the book (more references to Sam’s grandfather or her memories of him could’ve helped this area tremendously). The story also has a romantic element to it that was okay but sits in an unfortunate spot of being either too little to be notable or too much to be a supporting bonus point element. I hate to be one parroting the meme “they were roommates or good friends”, but I personally felt like there was better platonic chemistry than romantic chemistry. Unusual to come from me who typically prefers fantasy-heavy stories more than fantasy romance ones, but the romantic development felt like it jumps out of nowhere. The queer representation is nice and very on-brand for the feel and direction the book was going for, but the setup and execution felt lacking to me especially given how dramatic Sam cares and relies on Hel without enough narrative build-up for it to feel believable.

Featuring great narrative flavor and a solidly crafted murder mystery, despite its great ingredients, Strange Beasts was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The fantasy/paranormal investigation was good, its connections to Dracula and Sherlock Holmes’ material interesting and unique, and the setting’s flavor is almost enough to carry the story on its own. Unfortunately, the character writing and storylines outside of the murder mystery left something to be desired and the book’s commitment to balancing its investigation and character focused arcs led to one dragging down the other. Overall though, Strange Beasts is still an enjoyable and interesting read especially for those looking for a fantasy book with strong feminist themes; this is a book where basically every man is at fault and contributes to the story’s problems. That said, its sequel Wayward Souls is due to be published in a few months and I’m cautiously optimistic that it’ll be able to address and improve on many Strange Beasts’s vague and underdeveloped elements.