Strange New World

• Author: Vivian Shaw
• Genre: Urban Fantasy
• Publication Date: May 20, 2025
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: Dr. Greta Helsing #4

Thank you to Orbit and Oliver Wehner for providing access to an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

“Vivian Shaw knocks it out of the park yet again. If you aren’t reading Dr. Greta Helsing, you’re missing out.” —T. Kingfisher, New York Times bestselling author of What Moves the Dead

“Deeply compassionate and endlessly surprising, this series will steal your heart.” —Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief

In this witty conclusion to a delightful fantasy series finds Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, facing the latest and strangest challenge of her career…accompanying an anxious angel and a sullen demon on a road trip across America.

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 New York City. And what better chaperone than Dr. Greta Helsing, who happens to owe Hell a few favors 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.

When I was first introduced to this series, I can recall thinking that it read more like historical fantasy/mystery than urban fantasy/mystery. However, I didn’t really mind, and had to keep reminding myself that while Greta is human, the vast majority of those that she interacts with are not, and are beings that count time in centuries or millennia. Once I looked at the book through that lens, it was much easier to keep things straight. But it easily won my heart, and I’ve been a fan of Dr. Greta Helsing as well as the brilliant Vivian Shaw since before I had even finished the first book.

I was so disappointed to learn that this is the conclusion to a series that I was enjoying, but I also know that not every series can go on and maybe the author decided there’s a completely different story inside her needing to be told. Either way, I’ll be checking out anything Vivian Shaw comes out with. Since I listened to the audiobook, I want to discuss that a little bit. It was narrated by Catrin Walker-Booth, who did an absolutely incredible job with all of the voices, accents, intonations, and unique speaking styles of all the characters. It was never difficult to track what was going on because of this much appreciated differentiation. When every character sounds the same, it is much harder to tell them apart. It was a bit of a surprise to discover that the narrator had been changed from the woman who voiced books 1-3, but Walker-Booth did a fantastic job. 

To start with, I was intrigued by the plot: things are going awry in Heaven and Hell, with both angels and demons being shot by darts filled with something that causes an allergic reaction with dangerous consequences; trying to figure out how angels and demons can work together when they are allergic to each other, and the powers that be decide that Greta is the perfect person to accompany and monitor an angel and a demon sent to Earth to work together. If that sounds like a lot, it absolutely is, but everything does tie up quite nicely in the end, which is what I’d expect for the last book in the series. 

Greta is one of the easiest characters that I have ever been drawn to. She’s brilliant, caring, kind, and practical, with that no nonsense type of mindset. Despite being nominated as chaperone for the angel and demon, they discover that things aren’t just out of whack in Heaven, but there are some things going on right in the NYC underworld of vampire mob bosses. I especially liked that the leader, Contini, wasn’t depicted as a typical mobster who acts through force as a first option. Contini uses his brain and shows serious forethought into his decisions. 

I could go on and on about how great this book is, but it’s another one of those genre-bending books, featuring elements of cozy mystery, urban fantasy, yet still somehow reminding me of Patricia Cornwell’s Dr. Kay Scarpetta books. I think it’s because both of the protagonists are brilliant doctors and don’t take disrespect, yet they always seem to find themselves wrapped up in the next mystery. If you are looking for a mystery or cozy mystery, or even just like urban fantasy, this is the book for you. It has a little of everything, although it felt a little slower to get started than previous books. I’ll miss Dr. Greta Helsing and her circle of found family from all walks of the paranormal world, but I will also be eagerly waiting for whatever Shaw writes next.

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