Dreadful Company

by Vivian Shaw

Published 24 July 2018
"Contemporary fantasy in the world of Strange Practice, starring Dr. Greta Helsing, whose family has been keeping the supernatural community not-alive and well for generations. Contemporary fantasy in the world of Strange Practice, starring Dr. Greta Helsing, whose family has been keeping the supernatural community not-alive and well for generations. When Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, is unexpectedly called to Paris to present at a medical conference, she expects nothing more exciting than professional discourse on zombie reconstructive surgery and skin disease in bogeymen -- and hopefully at least one uneventful night at the Opera. Unfortunately for Greta, Paris happens to be infested with a coven of vampires -- and not the civilized kind. If she hopes to survive, Greta must navigate the darkest corners of the City of Lights, the maze of ancient catacombs and mine-tunnels underneath the streets, where there is more to find than simply dead men's bones"--

Grave Importance

by Vivian Shaw

Published 24 September 2019
'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

MEET GRETA HELSING, DOCTOR TO THE UNDEAD

In the hills above Marseille, Oasis Natrun is a highly secret health spa for mummies, equipped with the very latest therapeutic innovations both magical and medical. To Dr Greta Helsing, it sounds like paradise. But when she takes the job of interim clinical director, it isn't long before Greta finds herself faced with a medical mystery that will take all her diagnostic skill to solve.

With help from her friends and colleagues - including demons, witches and the inimitable vampyre Sir Francis Varney - Greta must put a stop to this mysterious illness before anybody else crumbles to irreparable dust.

Praise for the series:

'I loved every page of it . . . a spectacularly fun book' Powder and Page

'Balances an agile mystery with a pitch-perfect, droll narrative and a cast of loveable misfit characters' Shelf Awareness

'Shaw's elegant writing makes this series a standout in the genre' Booklist

'Packed with characters who are a pleasure to spend time with' ScifiNow

Strange Practice

by Vivian Shaw

Published 25 July 2017

'This book is a joy to read, unlocking every bit of delicious promise in the premise' B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

Meet Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead.

After inheriting a highly specialised, and highly peculiar, medical practice, Dr Helsing spends her days treating London's undead for a host of ills: vocal strain in banshees, arthritis in barrow-wights and entropy in mummies. Although barely making ends meet, this is just the quiet, supernatural-adjacent life Greta's dreamed of since childhood.

But when a sect of murderous monks emerges, killing human undead and alike, Greta must use all her unusual skills to keep her supernatural clients - and the rest of London - safe.

'Shaw balances an agile mystery with a pitch-perfect, droll narrative and cast of loveable misfit characters'
Shelf Awareness

'An imaginative, delightfully droll debut'
Kirkus


Strange New World

by Vivian Shaw

Published 20 May 2025

Strange New World finds Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, facing the strangest challenge of her career . . . accompanying an anxious angel and a sullen demon on a road trip across America in the clever conclusion to this delightful fantasy series.

After narrowly avoiding the end of the world, the leaders of Heaven and Hell are struggling to collaborate according to the terms of their new treaty - especially because angels and demons are, quite literally, allergic to each other. Seeking a solution, the powers that be decide to see if the allergy persists on Earth by sending an angel and demon on a research trip, first stop: New York City. And what better chaperone than Dr Greta Helsing, who happens to owe Hell a few favours of her own?

But there's unrest in New York's monster underworld and Greta and her team are about to land in the middle of it. Something is off in Heaven and on Earth, and Greta will have to figure out just what that is if she hopes to protect those she loves most.

Praise for the series:

'A playfully witty confection' Publishers Weekly

'There are as few heroines as well written and compelling as Greta Helsing' BookPage

'An exceptional and delightful debut, in the tradition of Good Omens and A Night in the Lonesome October' Elizabeth Bear, Hugo-award winning author

'Shaw balances an agile mystery with a pitch-perfect, droll narrative and cast of lovable misfit characters . . . Strange Practice is a super(natural) read' Shelf Awareness

'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


Bitter Waters

by Vivian Shaw

Published 25 June 2024
A witty, charming standalone novella starring Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, who must get to the bottom of a mystery involving a newly turned child vampire.

When a barrow-wight shows up on Greta and Varney's doorstep one night with an 11-year-old girl who's been newly - and forcefully - bitten and turned, it's up to Greta and her vampiric friends to find out who did this to her, and why.

Praise for the series:

'Balances an agile mystery with a pitch-perfect, droll narrative and a cast of loveable misfit characters' Shelf Awareness

'Shaw's elegant writing makes this series a standout in the genre' Booklist

'Packed with characters who are a pleasure to spend time with' ScifiNow

Dr Greta Helsing Novels:
Strange Practice
Dreadful Company
Grave Importance