
Clea is the author of the suspense novel
World Enough, five mystery series, and three nonfiction books.
Clea’s latest series is the
Witch Cats of Cambridge. These cozy paranormal mysteries kicked off with
A Spell of Murder and continues in 2020 with
An Incantation of Cats (Polis Books).
Her darker, dystopian
Blackie and Care mystery series starts with
The Ninth Life and continues with
As Dark As My Fur and
Cross My Path (Severn House).
The
Theda Krakow cats & crime & rock & roll mystery series was launched in 2005 with
Mew is for Murder and continued with
Cattery Row and
Cries and Whiskers, and
Probable Claws (Poisoned Pen Press).
Her
Dulcie Schwartz series launched in 2009 with
Shades of Grey and continues with
Grey Matters, Grey Zone, Grey Expectations, True Grey, Grey Dawn, Grey Howl, Stages of Grey, Code Grey, and
Into the Grey (Severn House).
The Pru Marlowe pet noir series started with Dogs Don’t Lie and continues with Cats Can’t Shoot,
Parrots Prove Deadly, Panthers Play for Keeps, Kittens Can Kill, When Bunnies Go Bad and
Fear on Four Paws (Poisoned Pen Press).
Clea’s
nonfiction books are
Mad House: Growing Up in the Shadow of Mentally Ill Siblings (Doubleday, 1997),
Fatherless Women: How We Change After We Lose Our Dads (Wiley, 2001), and
The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats (St. Martin’s Press, 2002).
Her essays are included in several anthologies, including
Cat Women: Female Writers on Their Feline Friends, For Keeps: Women Tell the Truth About Their Bodies, Growing Older, and Acceptance, and
He Said What? Women Write About Moments When Everything Changed (Seal Press). Her short mysteries are included in
Down to the River (Down & Out Books),
Christmas Cats: A Literary Companion (Chamberlain Bros.),
Deadfall: Crime Stories by New England Authors (Level Best),
Cambridge Voices (Friends of the CPL), and
Tales from the House Band, Volumes 1 and
2 (Plus One Press). She has also written new introductions for two Agatha Christie classics,
The Mysterious Affair at Styles and
The Secret Adversary, published by the Barnes and Noble Library of Essential Reading.
A regular contributor to the
Boston Globe, her
writing pops up occasionally in such publications as
American Prospect, Ms., San Francisco Chronicle, and Salon.com. (See a range of her criticism, opinion articles, and journalism
here.)
Clea frequently gives readings and hosts events, such as “
Making a Mystery” (see a video
here), as well as attending
events such as Bouchercon, Malice Domestic, and Boskone.