Grey Matters

March 15, 2010
Sluggish pacing mars Simon's second feline mystery starring Harvard doctoral candidate and nosy parker Dulcie Schwartz (after 2009's Shades of Grey
). Outside the Cambridge home of her adviser, Professor William Bullock, with whom she just had an uneasy talk about her unfinished thesis on an obscure Gothic novel fragment called The Ravages of Umbria
, Dulcie happens on the bloody corpse of handsome Cameron Dessay, a comp lit whiz who recently switched to English. Dulcie is understandably horrified, as is Professor Bullock's assistant, one of Cameron's many female admirers. Sussing out whodunit leads Dulcie and Mr. Grey, her ghost cat, into dangerous territory, while her romance with fellow grad student Chris Sorenson suffers. Though Simon scores with the spectral Mr. Grey and the likable Dulcie, some cozy fans will find Dulcie's constant fretting over her thesis distracting and wish for fewer details about the world of academia.

February 15, 2010
Harvard grad student Dulcie Schwartz emerges from her academic work long enough to solve another murder.

Hoping to make some progress on her doctoral thesis in gothic literature, Dulcie brings her latest draft to the brilliant but addled Professor Bullock for review. On her way out of his house, she nearly trips over the body of fellow Ph.D. student Cameron Dessay. Even though Dulcie's embroiled in another murder mystery, her new kitten refuses to talk to her the way the spirit of her late cat Mr. Grey once did so helpfully (Shades of Grey, 2009). Not only that, but her main supports are barely there for her: Her roommate Suze has succumbed to her law studies, and her boyfriend Chris is MIA with no explanation. As she investigates, Dulcie starts to find the hidden ties that bind even the most unlikely suspects to the deceased. She fears she may not be able to trust those closest to her, even her officemate Lloyd (an estrangement which, for an academic, is akin to treason) or Bullock's loyal student-turned-housekeeper Polly. Luckily for Dulcie, she soon has enigmatic words of warning, not only from her mother, Lucy, a self-proclaimed psychic, but also from her beloved Mr. Grey. If only she could convince her new kitten to help her figure out what these warnings mean, she could identify the killer before becoming the next target.

Slow-moving even at the climax, Simon's second in the Dulcie Schwartz series is larded with soporific academic jargon and is sure to provide cat fanciers with a relaxing couple of hours.

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March 15, 2010
In the second book of this tame feline series, Harvard doctoral student Dulcie Schwartz tries to adapt to a new kitten while still missing her dead cat. Frisky and uncommunicative, the new kitten is the opposite of her beloved Mr. Grey, whose ghostly visits have been scarce recently. It isn't until Dulcie stumbles over the bloody body of a fellow graduate that Mr. Grey begins to make his presence felt. After being questioned by the police, Dulcie goes back to juggling her teaching and research work but is distracted by the goings-on in her adviser's home office. When another colleague is arrested in connection with the murder, the clueless Dulcieguided by the spirit of Mr. Grey, her psychic mother, and her own strange dreamsis transformed into a heroine. VERDICT The murder mystery in this leisurely paced follow-up to "Shades of Grey" takes a backseat to Dulcie's academic investigations. For fans of feline and paranormal cozies and those who enjoy mysteries set in academia.Suzie Remilien, New York

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2010
Simons second Dulcie Schwartz mystery picks up a few months after the end of Shades of Grey (2009), with Harvard doctoral student Dulcie deep into her fall semester, overloaded with grading papers and concerned about getting her advisors approval on her thesis. Then she finds the body of a fellow graduate student on her advisors front step. The ghost of Mr. Grey, her deceased cat, returns to offer his usual cryptic advice, and her new kitten takes a noncommittal stance toward crime solving, leaving Dulcie on her own to try and find the real murderer before the killer finds her. While the cats are an important part of the book, they are not an overwhelming presence; in fact, the academic setting is a much stronger part of the novels appeal, making this easily recommendable to readers who enjoy Lauren Willigs Pink Carnation series or Jennifer Lee Carrels literary thriller Interred with Their Bones (2007), which also has significant scenes set in Harvards Widener Library. A solid follow-up to an entertaining debut.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)