Dulcie-E!

It has taken a little longer than expected, but the Dulcie Schwartz mysteries are going to be e-books! Look for Shades of Grey, Grey Matters, and Grey Zone to be available in your favorite e-format on March 1, 2012 (that's only three months, folks) - check your favorite venue or go right to the source, my publisher Severn House. Grey Expectations will debut as an ebook when that book comes out in April. And yes, True Grey, is already in the works! Grey Expectations will also be an audiobook in April, thanks to Dreamscape Audio Books... if that does well, the others might be as well. We already knew that Mr Grey could transcend his earthly form. Now it seems he's taking his friends along into the ether!

Mass market Mr Grey!

Coming next month from Worldwide – a mass-market paperback edition of "Shades of Grey." (This first Dulcie Schwartz feline mystery is now available as a trade paperback from Severn House.) I'll post a link when it becomes available, but in the meantime, here's the new cover!

Grey Zone sighting!

From my lovely agent: "GREY ZONE" on the front desk at the Winchester Public Library. And... great news, folks, GREY EXPECTATIONS is a go! My editor loves it, I'm working on some tiny revisions, and we're talking cover ideas. WHEE!

I am...

I am thrilled. I am exhausted. I am a little melancholy. I am ... done.

The hesitation is because I have finished the first draft of the fourth Dulcie Schwartz and Mr Grey mystery, tentatively titled GREY EXPECTATIONS, for my lovely publishers Severn House. But as you and I know, that really means I have a ton more work to do. First, the revisions: Do I have clues that make no sense? Does any character change his name (or eye color) in the middle? Is there enough of both my feline characters to be true to this kitty-centric series? That's what I will find out (I hope) when I start to re-read and revise. Then, of course, the ms. goes off to my agent, and I get her input. Then the whole editing process starts.

But right now, I want to relax and enjoy what I've achieved: an entire story, from the first disappearance to the final resolution. Another visit with old friends. I'm a little sad, actually. Now I know what happens, and so to some extent the adventure is over for me. I get to spend more time with these characters, toning up their voices and observations. But... but... but...

Well, that's what long holiday weekends are for, right? I'll rest up and attack GREY EXPECTATIONS again on Monday.

Booklist calls "Grey Zone" a "MUST READ"!

"The fast-paced story is propelled by Dulcie’s frenetic investigations and harried personal life, but unlike in many cozies—in which the mystery plot is lost amid the personal detail—here the many scenes from Dulcie’s life actually support the main story. ... a must read."

Full review:

Publication: BOOKLIST

Issue: 1ST MAY 2011


Simon, Clea. Grey Zone: A Dulcie Schwartz Mystery. Severn House. May 2011. c.216p. ISBN 9780727869920. $28.95.

Graduate student Dulcie Schwartz and her ghostly feline, Mr. Grey, return in a third academia-set cozy. Dulcie, stressed with midterms and a new thesis adviser, is also having dreams about the author of Ravages of Umbria (her thesis subject) that have her convinced that the author was in someway silenced in 1794. And then she not only witnesses a suicide but thinks one of her undergraduate students may be involved. The fast-paced story is propelled by Dulcie’s frenetic investigations and harried personal life, but unlike in many cozies—in which the mystery plot is lost amid the personal detail—here the many scenes from Dulcie’s life actually support the main story, whether they are Dulcie’s phone calls with her commune-dwelling mother, Dulcie’s kitten troubles, or her worries about long-time boyfriend and fellow grad-student, Chris. A must read for series fans, the novel should also be suggested to Lauren Willig and Jennifer Lee Carrell readers.

It's official!

Dulcie and Mr. Grey will continue! Just got the contract for a fourth Dulcie Schwartz mystery! Yay! In the meantime, some of the just-out British editions of Grey Zone, the third Dulcie feline mystery, seem to be making their way to these shores. US release date is April, but if you can't wait...

Looking ahead....

OK, I admit I am psyched that Dogs Don't Lie, my first Pru Marlowe pet noir mystery, is already listed as available for preorder on Amazon (and I promise, indie bookstores, as soon as you list it, too, I'll post links!) That book won't be published until April, 2011, but it was edited and accepted in June. But I just saw that Grey Zone, my third Dulcie Schwartz mystery, is also now listed on Amazon. It's not yet available for pre-order, just there so you can be notified when it becomes available. But still... I just sent the manuscript in last Monday and my editor hasn't even read it yet! I guess it's nice that they have such faith in me and Dulcie, huh? Maybe that's Mr. Grey's influence?