★ 07/08/2019
Shaw’s delightful third novel featuring Dr. Greta Helsing (after Dreadful Company) is a quirky medical mystery that takes the reader to the streets of New York and Rome; a secret, exclusive French spa for mummies; and Dr. Faust’s hospital in Hell. Greta is invited to become the interim medical director for the spa, Oasis Natrun, but her enjoyment in working with its high-tech setup is overshadowed by the dangerous fainting fits suddenly plaguing several of her physically fragile undead patients. Romance abounds as relationships begun in earlier books—between Greta and the vampyre Sir Francis Varney and between the vampires Edmund Ruthven and Grisaille—and a tender new connection flourishes between two Earthbound angels, grounding Shaw’s community of outcasts. The creative worldbuilding around magically enhanced mummy medicine and mystical Egyptology hits just the right note, and her bold story engages the powers of Heaven, Hell, and everything in between while maintaining a character-centered, intimate approach that keeps the reader deeply involved. Readers will hope they haven’t seen the last of Greta and her crew. Agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management. (Oct.)
"Shaw's characters, both human and supernatural (ghouls, witches, screaming skulls, oh my!), are genuinely fascinating, and her prose is just as droll and witty as ever, but it's Greta, with her big heart and determination to do the right thing, that makes this series sparkle. Readers will be happy to be pulled along in Greta's bustling wake.... A delightfully gothic contemporary urban fantasy series. "—Kirkus
"Intelligent prose and an intriguing cast of characters enhance the range of story lines, culminating in a breathtaking climax. Shaw's third "Dr. Greta Helsing" novel (after Dreadful Company) blends medical mystery and fantasy adventure to wrap up a delightfully modern undead trilogy."—Library Journal
"In Vivian Shaw's Strange Practice, a charmingly unusual doctor and her charges keep the city of London from grave danger. In the process, they peel back the covers of familiar (and according to them, somewhat "libelous") stories to find that reality - especially with the undead - is more poignant and complex than it seems at first glance. An excellent adventure."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}Fran Wilde, award-winning author of Updraft, Cloudbound, and Horizon, on Strange Practice
"Strange Practice is written with elegance, wit, and compassion. The prose is gorgeous, the wit is mordant, and the ideas are provocative. Also, there are ghouls."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}Laura Amy Schlitz, Newbery Medal winner, on Strange Practice
"A satisfying and surprising read, with rich imagery, nuance, and real compassion for its characters—give Strange Practice a shot!"—Elliott James, author of Charming, on Strange Practice
"A darkly delicious adventure featuring a quirky new heroine. Strange Practice breathes new life into the undead."—James Bennett, author of Chasing Embers, on Strange Practice
"An exceptional and delightful debut, in the tradition of Good Omens and A Night in the Lonesome October."—Elizabeth Bear, Hugo-award winning author, on Strange Practice
"Shaw balances an agile mystery with a pitch-perfect, droll narrative and cast of lovable misfit characters. These are not your mother's Dracula or demons ... Strange Practice is a super(natural) read."—Shelf Awareness on Strange Practice
"An appropriately dark breath of fresh air."—Booklist on Strange Practice
"Readers will look forward to more of Greta's adventures. An imaginative, delightfully droll debut."—Kirkus on Strange Practice
"A book to settle into. A warm quilt of a thing that's made for curling up with ... I miss this newest Helsing already."—NPR on Strange Practice
"This book is a joy to read, unlocking every bit of delicious promise in the premise."—B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on Strange Practice
2019-07-01
In the conclusion to Shaw's Greta Helsing trilogy (Dreadful Company, 2018, etc.), Greta must puzzle out the cause of a strange illness running rampant throughout the mummy community.
Mummy specialist Dr. Greta Helsing is thrilled to be asked to temporarily take the reins at Oasis Natrun, Marseille's private and exclusive mummy spa and resort, and jumps at the chance to escape rainy London for sunny France. Greta is dazzled by the beauty of the hillside resort, not to mention its state-of-the-art medical equipment and uber competent nursing staff (including a mummy who used to be an Egyptian priest). Greta barely settles in before one of her patients suffers a mysterious fainting spell that drains his energy. The episodes are spreading, and the only thing that might be able to help is an ancient and rare Egyptian artifact ensconced very securely in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Meanwhile, during a trip to Italy with Grisaille, his new boyfriend and a master thief, the fashionable vampire Edmund Ruthven, Greta's old friend, experiences a vicious bout of sickness and is whisked off to Oasis Natrun for treatment tout de suite, and Greta's boyfriend, vampire Sir Frances Varney, joins her at the resort for moral support. Then there are those slightly creepy angelic creatures/fashion models that seem to be up to no good on the earthly plane. Greta has a lot on her plate, but her calm, take-charge attitude and compassionate bedside manner are a balm for her patients, and passages detailing her clever treatment practices add weight to her strange profession. Shaw's characters, both human and supernatural (ghouls, witches, screaming skulls, oh my!), are genuinely fascinating, and her prose is just as droll and witty as ever, but it's Greta, with her big heart and determination to do the right thing, that makes this series sparkle. Readers will be happy to be pulled along in Greta's bustling wake—which includes an enlightening trip to hell—for as long as it takes to solve the mummy conundrum and finally spend some quality alone time with Varney.
A satisfying wrap-up to a delightfully gothic contemporary urban fantasy series.
08/02/2019
Dr. Greta Helsing is London's mummy specialist, and she's thrilled to have the chance to work above Marseille at Oasis Natrun, the premier, private luxury health spa for mummies. Invited to be the interim medical director for four months, she leaves behind her own clinic to treat clients in the state-of-the-art French facility. However, she soon realizes that some of her patients have peculiar symptoms, and discovering their cause leads Greta, her vampyre love Sir Francis Varney, and her friends down a trail of Egyptian artifacts, magical spells, museum thievery, angels and demons, and trips to (literal) hell. It's not only the mummies who are crumbling to dust, but the entire fabric of reality is being damaged. VERDICT Intelligent prose and an intriguing cast of characters enhance the range of story lines, culminating in a breathtaking climax. Shaw's third "Dr. Greta Helsing" novel (after Dreadful Company) blends medical mystery and fantasy adventure to wrap up a delightfully modern undead trilogy.—Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton
