Hey everybody, it's Angel Truffles! Surprise!!!
Isn't Mudpie doing a great job? I'm so happy knowing that I left Mommy and our blog in such capable paws.
Mudpie invited me back today to conduct a very special interview with Mr. Grey, the kitty spirit in Clea Simon's Dulcie Schwartz feline mystery series. We figured that I would be the best cat for the job since Mr. Grey and I have so much in common: we both had to leave our humans behind in the physical sense, but will remain by their sides forever.
I hope you enjoy the interview.
Angel Truffles: Welcome Mr. Grey, thank you so much for chatting with me today. Could you start by telling us a little about your time on earth and how you came to live with Dulcie?
Mr. Grey: First, let me start by telling you that Truffles is settling in nicely here. We’ve made room on a sunny windowsill for her, where she can nap and also look out for you!
I came into Dulcie’s life by design, although she didn’t see it that way. She thinks she and her old roommate Suze adopted me, but I arranged for her to find me, wet and hungry. The wet part was the most difficult, but I needed to make sure she took me in - despite the dorm rules against having a cat! I was quite happy to be a housecat after that. Strangely, I didn’t find the need to talk while I was in that life. Dulce understood me well enough, the way I’d brush against her or purr and knead the pillow beside her.
Now that you're a ghost kitty, you are still able to communicate with Dulcie. How does that work?
I’m not entirely sure, Truffles. I suspect it is because I am no longer constrained by my physical body. That was a great body – with my long grey fur and even longer whiskers, I not only felt very aware of my surroundings, I knew I could make Dulcie happy just by curling up next to her. But now that I’m not confined into a corporeal form, the thoughts that I always had just … come out. And she’s a smart girl, so she has learned to listen to me!
Have you found that this has helped you both to cope with your physical separation?
Most definitely! I know Dulcie misses me a lot, but I want her to know I’m always looking after her. We all are, you know, though I don’t think I can tell you any more of our secrets.
Did you play any part in kitten Esme's arrival into Dulcie's life, and did a new kitty help her grieving process?
I did! Esmé is such a strong-willed young creature that I knew she needed a good home with someone who would respect her, and I knew that Dulcie needed a good feline companion. While Esmé is not my actual offspring, I like to think she’s my spiritual child … though I think of Dulcie as my real kitten.
Please tell us about the latest mystery that you, Dulcie and Esme get involved in.
In “Code Grey,” the new Dulcie Schwartz feline mystery, Dulcie is all alone on campus over the spring vacation, trying desperately to finish her thesis. But when a poor former scholar is found injured and then accused of stealing a rare book – a horrible crime for a scholar! – she knows she has to put her own work aside and help out. Clea calls this mystery her “love letter to books,” and there’s lots in there about rare books, their repair and care. But of course there’s also room for us felines … including a grey shadow who always seems to be around...
Anything you can tell us about your upcoming adventures?
Why, yes! I know Clea is hard at work at my next adventure. It doesn’t have a name yet, but you can be sure “Grey” – for me, Mr Grey – will be in the title. And I am pleased to let you know that one of my colleagues, Blackie – a black as midnight street cat – has his own line launching soon. His first adventure, “The Ninth Life,” will be out in March 2016 (a bit earlier in the UK), and we’re all very excited about it. “The Ninth Life” is a bit darker and maybe scarier than my books. But you can rest assured that if there’s a cat in it, he’ll be okay - and he’ll do what he has to take care of his people, too!
From the publisher: 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
It’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.
Cats and books are the driving force of the latest entry in Clea Simon's Dulcie Schwartz series, although I have to admit that at times it became glaringly apparent that I've never spent time on a college campus, as I found this to be very much an "academic mystery", as it's rightfully billed.
Dulcie has stayed in Cambridge during spring break to work on her thesis about an anonymous Gothic author. A former student who has fallen on hard times ends up being accused in a series of break-ins during a time of upheaval on campus: a major excavation is taking place to fix a water main break. While trying to prove his innocence she ends up uncovering a link between her research and the book he was found in possession of.
I particularly enjoyed the Gothic excerpts, the story behind the silver cat printer's mark, and especially Dulcie's relationships with her beloved Mr. Grey and current feline Esme. This is the first book I've read in the series but feel that it works well as a stand-alone...just make sure to put on your thinking cap before you start reading!
About the author: Clea Simon is the author of 18 mysteries in the Theda Krakow, DulcieSchwartz, and Pru Marlowe pet noir series. The latter two are ongoingand include her most recent books,
Code Grey (Severn House) and
Kittens Can Kill (Poisoned Pen Press). A former journalist and nonfiction author, she lives in Somerville, Mass., with her husband, the writer Jon Garelick, and their cat Musetta. She can be reached at
http://www.cleasimon.com
Author Links:
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clea.simon.author
My blog: http://cleasimon.blogspot.com
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/Clea_Simon or @Clea_Simon
On Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/49559.Clea_Simon
Publisher: http://severnhouse.com/author/Clea+Simon/9497
Purchase Links:
Amazon
B&N Book Depository
