A gorgeously haunting and Gothic book that immerses you in the story and mystery immediately. The aura that surrounds this world is very discernable and distinct. I hope to reread this again soon.

What a refreshing book this is! Granted that I have been a long time fan of Sherlock Holmes and anything to do with the fandom that it was with a bias that I picked the Strange Beasts from Netgalley without any hesitation. Of course, world of Sherlock Holmes + Fantasy with magical beasts involved= COUNT ME IN PLEASE! And here, take my money!

Sherlock Holmes, was of course, not present in this book but rather it’s a story of two determined and goal-oriented ladies who are working for the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomenon (RSSAP) in London, Researcher Samantha Harker and Field Agent Dr. Helena Moriarty (Yes, she is the daughter of the ). While the blurb can make one doubt about this novel being a rehashed version of the Sherlock Holmes stories, worry not because the Strange Beasts is totally a different beast (pun intended!) Here, we are thrown into the 1900s wherein supernatural threats are widely accepted as a normal every day happening. And thus, organizations such as the RSSAP came to existence to address, regulate, and terminate concerns and threats related to anything paranormal.

Samantha a.k.a Sam Harker, one of our heroines, is employed in the organization is a researcher who spends most of her time poring over books, reading and filing reports and who is likely to be tagged as bookishly boring. What a lot of people doesn’t know is that there’s more to her than being the uninteresting researcher. While she’s thoroughly happy and contented being drowned in books on a daily, she suddenly gained an appetite to be deployed in the field where mademoiselles like her have no business as she’s just so incompetent in terms of physical survival. And so, this is where our story started.

After manipulating the head of the RSSAP, Sam finally got her wish and got partnered with the overly mysterious but renowned Field Agent Dr. Helena a.k.a Hel Moriarty. This partnership has somewhat burst Sam’s bubble of happiness because while Hel is an outstanding Field Agent, all her previous partners died due to peculiar circumstances. So the question is, is Sam going to be the next casualty?

While I was busy figuring out whether Sam would die or not or, other equally suspenseful things are happening as our duo must solve a horrendous case of serial killings involving some sort of lycanthrope attacks. But that’s only scratching the surface for our duo because on the background, Sherlock’s archenemy and Hel’s father, Professor Moriarty, is also running a game of his own to trap Hel into his own clutches once again.

Written with sophistication, this book did not leave any room for breathing. There’s just a lot of action, a lot of brow raising scenarios happening that it’s just so hard to put this book down even for the occasional toilet and snack breaks. The atmosphere that Susan J. Morris wrought made me feel like I was also accompanying our characters in their search for the truth. The 1900 version of France, the setting of the Strange Beasts, became alive with Morris’ beautiful writing.

When I read the author’s bio, I was pleasantly surprised to know that Strange Beasts is her debut novel because this book was so perfectly written that I had a hard time believing such fact. So yes, I love this book. I love how it was written, I love how the characters were developed and their dynamics (hehehe), I love how the author made the plot so intricate and yet, not irritating me with infodumps and dragging the story with verbosity. Whether you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes or not, give this book a try.

PS. AND WHY IS THIS NOT A SERIES? THERE’S NO WAY THAT IT JUST ENDED LIKE THAT!

This was quite the ride! As a mom of two littles, I love books I can adventure in, and this book was perfect. It mixes historical fiction, fantasy, and mystery in a way that kept me hooked.

The story is set in a gothic world and follows Sam Harkins and Dr. Helena Moriarty, who are the daughters of characters from Dracula and Sherlock Holmes. Sam can channel monsters, and Hel wants to be nothing like her evil father. They team up to solve some brutal murders in Paris. Their relationship is really interesting and fun to read about. Their conversations and growing trust are well written.

I liked how the author explored gender roles and identity in the story. Sam is both a serious researcher and a stylish blonde, which breaks away from common stereotypes. Hel, with her mysterious past, adds depth to their partnership.

The pacing of the story is good, though it slows down a bit in the middle. But the rich setting and engaging plot make up for it. The mix of gothic atmosphere, paranormal elements, and historical references kept me interested.

If you’re looking for a book with mystery, fantasy, and a bit of romance, this is a great choice. It’s a wonderful escape that explores themes of identity, strength, and friendship.

What a terrific and magical debut novel! I loved the gothic setting and the characters were fascinating. A riviting book and a wonderful story!

4 stars.
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets classic murder mystery.
Our story starts with Sam Harker (Dracula) and Hel Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes) who are co-workers in a supernatural society; they are sent to Paris where there are murders afoot. This duo team up, becoming their own Sherlock and Watson, to solve the case. Featuring psychic powers and alchemy this blends murder mystery with fantasy in an urban setting.
I love the elements of gothic horror; Paris catacombs setting with a little Lovecraftian twist tied in with a vague Jack the Ripper feel to the crime scenes.
I read from cover to cover, only setting this aside for sleep. I'm hoping to see what Sam and Hel do next!
Thank you to BinderyBooks and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this.

For the most part, this was a very compelling read. The mystery was solid, the writing style was great (not too flowery, but not too bare, and very descriptive and atmospheric), and the female rage the author managed to capture in writing was amazing. I can’t say too much about that without spoiling, but that was definitely my favorite element of this book - how angry these women were, and how they relentlessly worked to prove the men around them wrong. It was all quite satisfying. The plot was also action heavy and tense, especially the scenes in the catacombs, and I thought the big reveals were all well done and made sense but still managed to be surprising.
However, I thought the characters and the world building were lacking. We are thrown into the heavy plot almost immediately, with no time to acclimate to the world around us. I don’t know enough about the Society Sam and Hel work for, and I don’t know enough about all of the interesting monsters that are apparently integrated into society. And because of the plot heavy focus, the characters also take a hit. Sam and Hel were both completely one dimensional, and I felt disconnected from them. The romance also came out of nowhere and felt forced. I was interested in this book in part because of the romance, but since they were both so flat I ended up not caring about if they ended up together, especially since Sam spent a large amount of the book flirting with men and seemingly not being interested in Hel. This book had a massive amount of potential, and while I did enjoy the plot, I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
If you like plot heavy books with elements of gothic horror, and/or you are a Sherlock or Dracula fan, I think you’d probably like this book.

I loved this so much, as soon as I got into it I had to stay up all night reading it!

Each character had such a strong personality, and I loved the plot. The atmosphere was amazing too. I'll definitely be recommending this :)

Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris is an enthralling read, a wonderful blend of historical fiction, fantasy, and mystery that will have you eagerly turning pages. The main characters, Samantha Harkins and Dr. Helena Moriarty are unique characters, inspired from Dracula and Sherlock Holmes stories, with Sam being the daughter of a vampire hunter who had ties to Dracula and Hel being the daughter of Sherlock Holmes's nemesis, James Moriarty.

Sam works as a researcher for The Royal Society for the Study or Abnormal Phenomena, however, when brutal murders start happening in Paris, she feels compelled to work in the field, believing she can solve this case and find who is summoning these beasts. She trusts her extensive knowledge along with her unique gifts of channeling and her strong sense of smell can help her crack the case. She teams up with Hel and together they set out to solve this mystery.

This book has a very creative and unique premise, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I love historical fiction, but also love fantasy just as much, so this book was the ideal book for me and kept me engaged the entire read! It has light romance, fantasy creatures, monsters, paranormal beast hunters, mentions of Dracula, Holmes, and Van Helsing, and has an overall gothic feel to it which was all executed perfectly. The pacing does drag on at times though, with the middle being the slowest part. Overall, I would recommend! 4 stars!

Thank you NetGalley, Bindery Books, and Susan J. Morris for this ARC!

I really enjoyed this book! Taking the children of well known gothic literature characters, with names like Van Helsing and Moriarty, and putting them in a world where they work for a fantastical association that hunts down inhuman monsters, its a tale both familiar and brand new. 1903 Paris, and the now adult children of these characters are trying to work together and find out if they can trust each other as they attempt to solve the vicious and animalistic murder of rich society men.
The book was a great length and very enjoyable. The story walked a great line between being based in the real world and the existence of creatures that share the earth alongside humans.

This debut novel was an exciting mysterious read. I loved the way that this played off of Sherlock Holmes novels, and gave us a new cast of dynamic characters to follow. The addition of magic and the magical beasts was also really well done- I appreciated how set-in-stone they were. It all felt more analytical and science-y, which I thought fit with the rest of the universe really well. I’m not usually into mysteries, but I loved the dynamic between Sam and Hel. It was very fresh, and I liked how it focused mostly on the mystery with some other AMAZING elements sprinkled in. I’m really excited for the next installment in this series, and really excited to see what Susan J. Morris does with these characters next! Thank you to Netgalley and Bindery Books for this ARC!

What a refreshing and unique take on both the words of Dracula and Sherlock Holmes! Here we have the daughters of Jonathan and Mina Harker and Professor Moriarty working together as part of an Association that Studies Abnormal Phenomena (think part X-Files and part Harry Potter). What ensues is a delightful, and sometimes gory, gothic journey to investigate a series of gruesome deaths in Paris, possibly attributable to a werewolf, even though werewolves are considered extinct. The author builds an amazing world where paranormal creatures do exist and both Samantha Harker and Hel Moriarty are fully developed, interesting characters. There were a few points in the story where the investigation logic lost me on how they were getting from point A to point B, but that in no part took away from the story. This is the first book I've read this year where I thoroughly enjoyed every page and cannot wait for the next book in what I hope will be a lengthy new series.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this ahead of time!

"All you need is one", Sam persisted. A friend believes in you when you don't believe in yourself. Who challenges you when you're being unfair, and doesn't require you to be anything other than exactly who you are."

This vivid historical fantasy retelling kept me absolutely enthralled the entire time. Firstly I love the idea of our storybook characters being real and interacting with each other. Sam is the daughter of Johnathan and Mina Parker who defeated Dracula and Hel is the daughter of Professor Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes universe. They both work for the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena, Sam is a researcher and Hel is a field agent with a mysterious background. Thrust into the field together, each with their own agenda we travel with them to the vibrant 1900s Paris.

The world building in this is really detailed and brilliant, as there are monsters we get a lot of important descriptions of them which helps to visualise but what I loved most was the clothing descriptions. It’s something I love and with historical books it really helps to build a sense of the time period.

The plot was a rollercoaster and I honestly couldn’t guess what was going to happen which I loved!! I was hanging on to every word and flew through this trying to put the pieces together and that definitely means you have a good mystery on your hands.

The romance between the two main characters was so much fun to read too, its a reluctant working together situation with a grumpy sunshine trope but each character has so much depth and little by little we see the ways they come to trust each other and that slow burn relationship building is a favourite type of romance for me.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I hope so much there is a sequel!! This is just such a fantastic idea for a world with the children of traditional classic horror or mystery it makes me excited for what could come next. I also need to see what happens with Sam and Hel! I highly recommend picking this up if you like mystery, historical fantasy, retellings, slowburn romance or sapphic books!

A mix of Dracula and Sherlock Holmes in Paris? Sign me up! Elements of suspense, fantasy, horror, mystery -- what a great story this was.

Thank you to Netgalley for this eARC gift in exchange for my honest review.

Gothic historical fantasy/mystery novel. Set in the 1900s with aspects of romance and disturbing themes.

Samantha Harker (daughter of Dracula's killer) and Helena Moriarty (daughter of Sherlock Homles' nemesis) are both assigned to a series of murders in Paris seemingly committed by a non-human being. Their investigation bring them closer to one another but also life threatening danger.

I loved the dynamic of Sam and Hel, their banter and slow burn was written so well - I truly enjoyed it. But my favorite part was the slow unraveling of mystery and intrigue as the two figure out who the murderer is.

This book was so good! It has adventure, mystery, gothic vibes, paranormal aspects and tension. This story was very unique and very interesting to me! The atmosphere was very inviting and rich in history.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise seemed fun, a mix of horror, mystery and romance has so much potential. While I enjoyed my time reading, overall the book just didn't hit for me.

The good stuff:
-Great world building, well written imagery and a fun mythos.
-The setting of Paris was awesome, well described and was the perfect place for monster hunting.
-The Lovecraftian feel of the monsters and the vintage sapphic slow burn created a fantastic atmosphere.
-Blending lore from Stoker and Conan Doyle was a fun premise and we do love a historical AU mashup.

The not as good stuff:
-The mystery was solvable almost immediately and for two women who are the smartest ever, there was A LOT of plot required to get them to the obvious conclusion.
-Not much of the backstory played into the main storyline. Mostly references to mysterious family dynamics and shadowy figures. This felt less "Moriarty villains with clever moving parts" and more "well, lets hold up character development because of *waves hands* complicated/tragic pasts."
-It felt more YA than adult lit in terms of the characters behaviors and interactions. Not a criticism, I love YA lit, just a reflection of how the characters developed.

All together, it was an interesting read, just not what I had hoped for given the premise and synopsis. That said, I would love to see more in this series since there is so much potential for great monster mythos and action/adventure from this world.

this was such an intriguing story filled with monsters and secrets stored in the world of paris!

sam and gel’s foray into paris to uncover the truth about murders taking place was so fun, their dynamic and intensity kept me so hooked, especially with the sherlock holmes x dracula vibes. sam grows as a person so much, learning more about her channeling as well as coming to understand the power that women can have (and starting to unravel her own misogyny due to the way society has functioned - cue hel wearing suits 24/7, how sexy). the world of monsters and beasts is so intriguing, a monster that kills men, devious men and the secret networks of women made for such a great time!

i was absolutely rooting for sam and hel, and whilst it is a subplot and we barely see them together in the romantic sense, the pining and working together just ramped up the tension and desire to see them get together!!!!

i did love the exploration of paris in this, the different worlds that exists within it and how everyone interacts together (there are quite a few phrases in french that could do with having a translation next to them, as a french person i understood them but can see people having an even better understanding should a translation be there)

A gaslamp fantasy and a murder mystery set amidst 1900s Paris with a supernatural twist? I couldn't have asked for more.
Things I loved:
the writing. so immersive when it comes to worldbuilding, realistic when it comes to characters, yet never too flowery or too simplistic.
the character development. we were along for the ride and saw hel and sam's journeys of trusting each other, of sam's expectations of her employers changing and of her resilience growing.
the slow burn sapphic romance that does not impede the plot.
the sherlock-and-watson-esque feel.
the perfume and chemistry based fantasy - this might be my favourite thing! I learned a little about perfume, and the way the mysteries were solved was just immensely satisfying.
the plot twists - not so outlandish that you never saw them coming, but just far enough ahead of you that they make you happy to read.
I would read the sequel of this without question if it came out. [I just want to see these two Talk to each other ugh]
thank you to netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Some hits, some misses for me. I thought the worldbuilding and pacing were very well done. Also, Sam was a delightful main character with a believable arc. I do wish more had been left to the imagination at times. I like to read between the lines, but the narration filled in all the blanks for me. Also, the mystery wasn’t terribly complicated or surprising. I would have liked the book to lean more towards Sherlock Holmes and less towards Dracula in how it applied its inspirations. That being said, I still found it an enjoyable read.

A enjoyable murder mystery with Sherlock Holmes vibes and Dracula! What more could you ask for!?

This book gave me whiplash in the best way! I kept thinking I knew what was going to happen and then BAM something happens that flips that thought out of my head. Also if that wasn't good enough the SLOW BURN was delicious!!
Im giving this read three starts because while it was enjoyable it didnt give me an emotional response.
If you enjoy the obvious sherlock holmes or dracula as well as crimson peak I would recommend this read.