Clea Simon worked as a journalist and non-fiction author before turning to crime (fiction). Best known for her series of cozy mysteries starring cat-lover Theda Krakow, Clea Simon grew up in New York, before moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts to attend Harvard. She fell in love with the city and lives there still with her husband and their cat, Musetta.
Code Grey
Did a down on his luck former student steal a priceless book? Grad student and cat lover Dulcie Schwartz thinks not – and she sets out to prove it
More info →World Enough
The Boston club scene may be home to a cast of outsiders and misfits, but it’s where Tara Winton belongs. When an old friend is found dead, Tara senses there’s something not right about his supposedly accidental death.
"A haunting exploration of the dark side of nostalgia..." – Read more in Strand Magazine's "Five Reinventions of the Boston Crime Novel"
*World Enough has been named a "must read" by the Massachusetts Book Awards/Massachusetts Center for the Book!*
More info →Stages of Grey
Dulcie never considered herself a player. But when her friends drag her to a new local theatre company that is updating Ovid with a disco version of The Metamorphosis, the grad student finds herself in the front row of a murder.
More info →Cross My Path
"Readers who enjoy the prickly pleasure of stepping into a strange alternate universe will welcome Simon's hypnotic Blackie and Care mystery."
More info →Grey Howl
A prestigious literature conference is convening in Cambridge and Dulcie Schwartz is the university liaison for the event, meeting and greeting some of the finest minds in her field. But events do not run according to plan...
More info →Fear on Four Paws
There's trouble brewing in the woods of Beauville, and the only witness isn't talking.
When she finds a body near a snared bear, Pru has only her strange ability to "hear" what animals are thinking – and her crotchety tabby Wallis – to help her avoid a deadly trap...
More info →Grey Dawn
When Dulcie Schwartz hears a wolf late one night, on her way to pick up some papers from her office, she tries to dismiss it – but it’s too late for her peace of mind. The noises, the dark building and an unnerving sighting of her adviser – looking strangely unhuman in the moonlight – all combine to thoroughly give her the creeps.
More info →An Incantation of Cats
"Simon expertly casts suspicion on one member of her tiny human cast after another ... for readers who want all cats, all the time." – Kirkus Reviews
"Cat lovers, even if not fans of the paranormal, will be enchanted," – Booklist
"A sweet fantasy of magical cats helping to find out whodunnit that’s perfect for a few hours of cozy escapism.” – Criminal Element
When two new clients seek Becca’s professional services, the fledgling witch detective is overjoyed. Finally, she can use her skills to help her magical community. But as the young witch finds the new cases intertwining, things grow more complicated. Becca’s three cats – the ones with the real power – can smell something is wrong with these clients. But not even Clara, the calico, knows what to do when a man ends up dead and a powerful and poisonous root appears – and disappears – in the case. To make matters worse, Clara and her littermates are feuding – and she can’t tell them about an unsettling interaction she’s had with one of the client’s sisters. Is it possible that some humans may have the same powers as the magical felines? What does that mean for Clara’s beloved Becca – and for the potent poison that has already taken one person’s life? In this second Witch Cats of Cambridge mystery, Clara and her sisters must learn to work together if they are to save the person they all love.
More info →True Grey
Things look bleak for cat-loving Dulcie Schwartz when she finds the body of an academic rival she threatened to kill just days before...
More info →Hold Me Down
Now a Mass. Book Award "Must Read"!
"Provocative, moving, and suspenseful. Don't miss it."
―New York Times bestselling author of Last Girl Ghosted Lisa Unger
"In electric prose, Simon conjures the rock-and-roll world, its drink, drugs, and band-dynamics, and the twin seductresses of excess and success, as she makes a penetrating portrait of friendship."
– Nina MacLaughlin, Boston Globe
"Simon perceptively illustrates the sacrifices one makes for art. Simon’s tour of the Boston music scene will make readers wish “Hold Me Down” included a link to iTunes."
―Oline Cogdill, Sun-Sentinel
"A mystery that explores character motivations ... For fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Janet Evanovich."
―Library Journal
Grey Expectations
Could a missing book be haunted?
More info →A Cat on the Case
When a panicked stranger shows up at Charm and Cherish, Becca Colwin feels compelled to help. But when that stranger then disappears, leaving behind her heirloom violin the aspiring witch detective is drawn further into a web of deceit and intrigue complicated by a history that only Becca’s three magical cats truly understand.
"The plotting is tight … he action is nearly constant and the danger is real. ...It all makes for an exciting adventure with enough danger to keep you reading to find out what will happen next.” – Gumshoe Review
More info →