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.

"It's Harriet's fault. It's always her fault, not that she'll ever admit it." So begins A Spell of Murder: A Witch Cats of Cambridge mystery, the first in a new cozy series that mixes feline fiction with a touch of the paranormal, and a little romance as well. Becca, newly single and newly unemployed, wants to believe she has psychic powers. With nothing but time – and a desire for empowerment – she's studying to become a witch. What she doesn't know is that her three cats – Harriet, Laurel, and Clara – are the ones with the real power. And when Harriet – "a cream-colored longhair with more fur than commonsense" – conjures a pillow for her own comfort, Becca believes her spells are finally working. Could that be why Trent, the coven's devilishly handsome leader, has been showing her special attention? Or why Suzanne, a longtime coven member, draws her aside to share a secret – a confidence that may lead to murder?

The new novel in Clea Simon's spellbinding Witch Cats of Cambridge series! 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...

The new ‘Dulcie Schwartz’ cat mystery - Could a missing book be haunted? Dulcie Schwartz doesn’t want to think so, but ever since it disappeared from the university, things have gone from bad to worse – one of her colleagues accused of homicide, and another revealed as an impostor. To top it all off, both the ghost cat Mr Grey and the kitten Esmé seem to have switched their allegiance to her boyfriend. Deprived of feline assistance, Dulcie must uncover the truth by herself, or else find herself on the hook for the theft – and murder.Review"Enchanting ... Fans of academic paranormal cat cozies will be in heaven." - Publishers Weekly, March 12, 2012"The fourth in Simon's Mr. Grey and Dulcie series, following Grey Zone (2011), continues successfully to marry the apparently very different subgenres of the cat mystery and the academic mystery. ...This is definitely more than just another cat mystery." - BooklistAbout the AuthorBefore turning to a life of crime (fiction), Clea Simon was a journalist. Starting as a rock critic, she ended up writing about books and other arts. A native of New York, she came to Massachusetts to attend Harvard University, from which she graduated with high honors, and never left. The author of three nonfiction books and seven mysteries, she lives with her husband, the writer Jon S. Garelick, and their cat, Musetta.READER BIOProducer Tavia Gilbert is an AudioFile Earphones Award winner, an Audie Award nominee, and a Parent’s Choice Award winner. She makes her home in Portland, Maine, where she works as a writer and a stage and voice actor. Tavia produces, directs, and narrates unique audiobooks, full-cast recordings, and documentaries, and she is currently pursuing an MFA in creative nonfiction at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Graduate student Dulcie Schwartz finds herself in the front row of a murder in the latest instalment of the Dulcie Schwartz feline mystery seriesDulcie 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.This could be the end of the struggling company, which is also plagued by money woes and romantic rivalries. But was jealousy the reason the performer was stabbed? Or are there darker secrets behind the scenes? And what role does Gus, the troupe's feline mascot, play? As the classics get mangled, Dulcie must untangle the truth before she also gets caught up in deadly illusion.

In Simon's satisfying second kitty cozy (after 2005's Mew Is for Murder), spunky Boston journalist Theda Krakow and her feline friend, Musetta, are plunged into a crazy quilt of cat-related crime. In recent months, eight catteries near Beantown have been broken into, and expensive show cats stolen. Theda is puzzled over these thefts without documents of their lineage, the cats are practically worthless, so why would anyone steal them? Then, one of Theda's friends, eccentric cat-breeder Rose Keller, lets on that she's received some threatening phone calls. A few days later, Rose turns up dead. Meanwhile, a blues singer called Cool tells Theda that she's being blackmailed. Someone has evidence that Cool has been drinking and using prescription drugs. (This is the weakest strand in the plot would a celebrity musician shell out big bucks to keep a little pill-popping secret?) With its well-developed cast of characters and a multilayered plot, this feline mystery is the cat's meow.

Theda Krakow is in a funk. Her sometime boyfriend's gone for good. The death of her beloved cat opened a bigger void. And the career leap she's made from copy editor to freelance writer has left her financesand her spiritflat. She desperately needs a headline to get her life back on track. One day, out for a stroll in her Cambridge neighborhood, Theda spies an adorable stray kitten. This charmer leads Theda to an old woman holed up in a decrepit house full of cats. Is this one of those "crazy cat ladies," a classic hoarder, or is the old woman a neighborhood do-gooder More important, is this the story to catapult Theda out of the dumps But when she returns to interview Lillian Helmhold, Theda finds her fascinating subject dead of an apparent accident. The neighbors are celebrating, the police aren't interested, and the cats are removed to a shelter. End of story Not for Theda--one or two things don't compute. So Theda marshals her investigative journalism skills to turn gumshoe.

A Dulcie Schwartz feline mystery - Caught between a distracted supervisor and university politics, Dulcie's doctoral thesis looks doomed. When she stumbles across the bloodied body of a fellow student, things couldn't get any worse. Unless her mother's dreams turn out to be premonitions and Dulcie's work has all been in vain . . . With the ghost of Mr Grey – her wise and loyal late, great cat – strangely silent, and her new kitten refusing to speak, this time Dulcie might just be on her own.

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 itIt's spring break, and Dulcie Schwartz has stayed behind in almost-deserted Cambridge, Massachusetts to concentrate on her thesis. But when a former student turned vagrant, Jeremy Mumbles, is found injured, with a valuable missing book clutched in his arms, Dulcie can't seem to let it go. What was he doing with the book? And why has it turned up after all these years?With Jeremy now the prime suspect for a series of break-ins in the area, Dulcie is determined to clear the unfortunate former scholar's name. But when she finds a connection between the book he was carrying and her own research into an anonymous Gothic author, the search for clues takes on a new intensity – and a new menace.

A Dulcie Schwartz feline mystery - When a student goes missing and a professor ends up dead, Dulcie Schwartz realizes that midterms are going to be worse than ever. She's hard at work on her thesis, but present day concerns – including the destructive mischief of her growing kitten – keep dragging her back into a tangle of motive, misbehavior, and maybe even murder. If only Mr Grey, her beloved feline ghost, would lend a hand, at least with that rambunctious kitten . . .

SUMMARY: When cats start getting sick, feline-loving freelance writer Theda Krakow suspects an accident is to blame. But her shelter-owning rocker buddy Violet claims the contaminated kibble was poisoned. When Theda starts looking at shelter politics she finds a number of people who could have happily committed this heinous crime. The city shelter may be backing down from a healthy pet initiative, a series of threatening letters suggests a darker motive, and old-fashioned jealousy may factor in as well. The pressure mounts as Thedas editor grabs onto the idea of a hot storyand dangles a prime job as bait. But how can Theda investigate when feelings run so high? As the music scene rallies to raise funds to save the cats, Theda finds herself on the outs with both her buddies and her longtime boyfriend Bill. And when shes caught at a murder scene, bloody scalpel in hand and only her beloved cat Musetta as a witness to what really happened, Theda must scramble to find the real killer before she, and Musetta, become the next victims.

A Dulcie Schwartz feline mystery series - Dulcie's having an awful summer. Her beloved cat Mr Grey's been put to sleep, and her new room-mate, Tim, is a jerk. Walking home, she sees a cat the spitting image of Mr Grey, and hears a voice say "I wouldn't go in just now." She enters to find Tim dead stabbed with her own knife. Dulcie's in the frame for murder and she hasn't seen the last of Mr Grey, either . . .

"Clea Simon writes with authority and affection about a lost world. Highly recommended"Catriona McPhersonThis intriguing, hardhitting, intricately-plotted mystery set in Boston's clubland marks an exciting new departure for cozy author Clea Simon. The Boston club scene may be home to a cast of outsiders and misfits, but it's where Tara Winton belongs; the world she's been part of for the past twenty years. Now, one of the old gang is dead, having fallen down the basement stairs at his home. With her journalist's instincts, Tara senses there's something not quite right about Frank's supposedly accidental death. When she asks questions, she begins to uncover some disturbing truths about the club scene in its heyday. Beneath the heady, sexually charged atmosphere lurked something darker. Twenty years ago, there was another death. Could there be a connection? Is there a killer still at large ... and could Tara herself be at risk?