Concerning Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw
This was an absolutely lovely book. I may well come back to it in the future, because I've got a whole lot of good to day about it, but I wanted to get something down now, just after finishing it.
As I said at the start, the book is lovely, I think that really is the most appropriate term for it. I'd say it's almost background urban fantasy in a way (if that phrasing makes any sense, I'll probably think up something better later), with the primary setting being something of a gap in most of the genre. The whole idea is who do the monsters go to when they need medical care, and it's nice to see that realised like this.
The characters and their relationships, characterisations, and growth, are all believable and natural in a wonderful way. Nothing they do ever feels fake or insincere (from a writing view that is, not necessarily a character one), and they're all sympathetic in a way, regardless of whether or not they're monsters. One of my favourite things about it is the way that it portrays emotional vulnerability in a casual way, and without it being synonymous with weakness (I could say an awful lot more on this subject, and may well do so, but for now I'll leave it at this).
It makes good use of its public domain characters without them ever feeling forced, and does a really good job of grounding itself in the "real world".
A lovely book, and an absolute joy to read. I masively recommend it, and am already looking forwards to any future book by Ms. Shaw.