Bitter Waters is the fourth story in Vivian Shaw's Dr. Greta Hellsing series - her series following Dr. Greta Hellsing, doctor to the Monsters of London (and further in Europe). I'd loved the series, which I thought was a finished trilogy (Strange Practice being book 1, Dreadful Company book 2, Grave Importance book 3), but it turns out to my pleasure that there are two additional stories: this novella and a forthcoming fifth and final book (for now?). For those new to the series, the series follows Greta and a few famous monsters from old time pulp fiction (although less famous than the ones most Americans know) as they deal with supernatural happenings and try to ensure peace and happiness and health for the supernatural world. There are vampires, werewolves, demons, angels, ghouls, mummies and more and well, it's just a really fun and often sweet series.
Bitter Waters is a pretty good example of that, with the story being a simple one at its heart as the cast wrestles about how to handle and treat a not-even 11 year old girl who was turned into a vampire and then abandoned. It winds up being incredibly cute, both for a surprise guest appearance and for how the main cast comes to further their character developments from the prior 3 books and is another reason to recommend this series.
Quick Plot Summary:
Dr. Greta Hellsing and her now husband, the Vampyre Sir Frances Varney, were relaxing in Varney's estate when they are shocked by a surprise guest: a barrow wight holding the body of a small girl, just short of 11 years of age. And to their horror, this isn't a living girl: no, the girl (named Lucy) has clearly been turned into a vampire, the earliest they've ever seen such a thing.
For them and their friends, the situation is an offense like no other, and Varney takes it upon himself to desperately track down the vampire responsible for this heinous act. But more importantly, Greta, Varney, and their friends Ruthven and Grisaille have to figure out how to help this poor child with her new nature...and where she can stay and learn full time. It's a task as difficult as any they've managed before, and it might require some help from another legend of the night.....
Quick Thoughts: Much of what I enjoy about this series is how the perspective of our main protagonist is one of healing and making things better rather than going out and slaying and harming monsters. Bitter Waters is a perfect example of that: in another series, the major plotline here would be the hunt to track down the asshole vampire who would do such a thing as to turn a 10 year old girl and then leave her abandoned there and to punish him for his crimes. While Varney is indeed focused upon that objective here, for the most part this hunt is pushed to the side and resolved off page....it's just not as important to the story being told.
Instead, the story focused upon here is how to deal with a nearly 11 year old girl turned into a vampire and abandoned - a foster girl no less, with nowhere to go. The cast is enormously well meaning, but none of them have ever been parents before or know how to deal with that concept, or how to deal with a girl who is having sudden vampire onset symptoms and may never grow any larger. It's a story made better by how precocious and cute the little girl Lucy is, and Shaw brings in a surprise big name character (who really should've shown up in a prior book) to react to her in ways that are just oh so goddamn cute and adorable and will make you smile.
There's some sideplots here too about Ruthven realizing that he is actually good at being Guardian of London's supernatural beings and coming to deal with his own anxieties, Varney dealing with the satisfaction of being the master of his own land (something he'd not felt in ages), and an older Barrow Wight who needs persuasion to allow Greta to treat him for illness....and they all really work well with this tone to make you smile at the book's happy ending. If you haven't started this series yet, I highly recommend you do so now, as this is another very enjoyable installment.
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