Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.

For my latest Waiting on Wednesday segment, I look at a book that promises to be quite entertaining and features an incredibly eye-catching cover, Grave Importance by Vivan Shaw.

For the last two years I have had the pleasure of enjoying Vivian Shaw’s debut series, the Dr. Greta Helsing series: Strange Practice in 2017 and Dreadful Company in 2018. This has been a fun and intriguing series that combines intriguing mysteries and supernatural adventures with fascinating monster medicine. The titular series protagonist, Dr. Greta Helsing, is a London doctor whose unique practice caters to the city’s hidden creatures who go bump in the night, including vampires, mummies, ghouls and demons. Helsing and her monster companions also find themselves wrapped up in a series of magical or demonic incidences which require their intervention.

I have really enjoyed the first two books in the series and have been keeping an eye out for the third book, Grave Importance, for a few months now. I am quite excited by this third book, as it has an awesome-sounding synopsis and I think that it has a lot of promise.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A charmingly witty fantasy adventure in the world of Strange Practice, starring Dr. Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, who must solve a dangerous medical mystery at a secret French spa for mummies.

…and before the fabric of reality itself can undergo any more structural damage.

There are a number of great plot elements contained within the synopsis above that have me excited for Grave Importance. In particular, the continued use of monster medicine and the inclusion of a great troupe of supporting characters should make for an awesome read.

The focus on monster medicine in the previous books was probably one of my favourite things about the Dr. Greta Helsing series. The plot synopsis seems to strongly indicate that this book will be featuring a lot more monster medicine, as Helsing is investigating a unique medical malady among the mummies she is tending. That sounds perfect to me, and I hope that Shaw spends quite a large part of the book examining this medical mystery.

It also sounds like Shaw will be featuring some cool characters in her latest book. The first two novels have both featured a fun group of supporting characters, most of whom are monstrous or magical in origin. The synopsis above features references to several of these existing characters, and I will be very happy to see them come back. It also looks like Shaw has created a few new characters for this third novel, and several of their descriptions make them sound like fun inclusions. I think that this combination of existing and new characters will add a lot to the story and should make for an entertaining read.

Grave Importance is shaping up to be another great entry in the enjoyable Dr. Greta Helsing series. It sounds like Shaw is stacking the plot with some excellent story elements, and it should prove to be a lot of fun. Grave Importance is coming out in late August 2019, and I look forward to reading and reviewing it.