The Adventuress of Henrietta Street

Lawrence Miles

2001

The eponymous mistress of the House of Scarlette was no simple bordello owner and most of her women no simple courtesans, for Scarlette and her women practised Magic. The secret Tantric Magic of the sub-continent and the more down-to-earth magic of Tarot. Her aim was to create a coven that would be able to provide a defence against the strange creatures that were appearing in the streets of London.

Their first Great Working called a youngish looking man who was fated to become Scarlette's bridegroom and Champion of Earth.

As preparations are made for the wedding, evidence of the growing Darkness engulfing London and it's environs continues to grow and become more overt. Scarlette's groom, known only as the Doctor, prevailed on Scarlette and her coven to call up his colleagues. Due to a slight miscalculation, neither the younger man nor his female companion appeared with their clothes. The duo, Fitz and Anji, were suitably attired and they began making purely physical investigations into the behaviours of the competing Magical covens and a new stranger on the block, Sabbath, who seems to already be known to Scarlette and who showed an unhealthy interest in the Doctor.

The Doctor is not well, though, and grows increasing less so as time goes on. Something is poisoning his system and it's looking increasingly unlikely that he would make the wedding ceremony.

Is everything going to come together? Will the Beasts overrun this Reality, or can they be beaten back once more? What are Sabbath's motives in all this?

This is a quite unusual book in that it is presented in the fashion of a report into the events being chronicled. This could have been a clever conceit but the sceptical nature of the reporting along with the partial view of the Doctor and his companions leaves those who have come to know them feel unsatisfied. Mind you, given the state of the Doctor, he isn't operating at his best and that certainly comes through in full force!

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