Customer Reviews

Grey Matters (Dulcie Schwartz)

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Grey Matters is the second in Clea Simon's Dulcie Schwartz series and picks up a few months after the end of Shades of Grey. Dulcie is a doctoral student at Harvard university who is fascinated with 18th century Gothic novels. She is deeply immersed in the fall semester, hard at work on her thesis, and frustrated with her thesis advisor, who seems distracted and uninterested in her work. When she finds the body of a fellow graduate student on her advisor's doorstep, her life gets even more complicated.

Her best friend is busy with her own studies and a new man in her life, Dulcie's boyfriend is working long hours and seems to be withdrawn and distracted, she hits a significant snag in her thesis, and finds herself on her own as she gets caught up in investigating the murder. The ghost of Mr. Grey, her beloved deceased cat, returns to offer his wise and comforting, but often veiled and cryptic advice. Dulcie's new kitten is trying her best to make her way into Dulcie's heart, but since she doesn't "speak" to Dulcie in the same way as Mr. Grey's ghost, it's slow going on that front.

Immensely likeable and multi-dimensional characters, exceptional plotting, and a fascinating academic setting make this a highly entertaining and enjoyable read. The cats are an important part of the book. Unlike other cat-themed mysteries, they do not help with solving the crime, but rather, are an integral part of the story. I absolutely loved the ending of this book.

A real treat for cat lovers and mystery lovers alike!

Dulcie is back and Clea Simon doesn't disappoint in the second in the series. When she isn't discovering a dead body, dealing with office break-ins, and escaping a house fire, Dulcie is troubling over her thesis, her advisor, and her relationship with Chris. She feels a bit abandoned, even by Mr. Grey. There are a lot of suspects and inter-twined motives to keep Dulcie busy. Great characters. Great story. Another winner for Simon.

Since it's well known that I am owned by multiple cats, it's no surprise that I'd seek out this series about a woman who receives messages from a ghost cat. It's also no surprise that I enjoyed it. The surprise is that this mystery is firmly rooted in reality, no "Ghost Whisperer" nor "Medium" otherworldly intervention in discovering whodunit.
Dulcie Schwartz is a grad student who is struggling to finish her doctorial thesis in English Lit, working on a new reading of a somewhat obscure gothic novel. She's up against deadlines, she still misses her one true friend, the late Mr. Grey who was her beloved cat, her boyfriend isn't showing up very often and her friends seem to be otherwise preoccupied. At least she's decided that she really IS getting some otherworldly communications from Mr. Grey and isn't simply losing her mind. That's something, after all. The trouble is that Mr. Grey's pronouncements come at odd times and tend to be more than a little cryptic.

Right now, she needs to prove to her advisor that she has made "significant progress" on her thesis, otherwise she'll lose her grant money and have to leave school. The problem is that Dulcie feels she HAS made progress--more than enough progress-- but Professor Bullock doesn't seem to think so. Actually, Dulcie has serious doubts that he's even read her notes. Also, he doesn't seem to remember from time to time what they've discussed. Armed with new copies of her notes, Dulcie makes the trek to the professor's house in hopes of convincing him. She's prepared to defend her work; she isn't prepared to find the corpse of a fellow grad student littering the path to Professor Bullock's house. Cameron Dessay had been handsome, charming, and apparently well-heeled, on the fast track to a degree. He had a fancy car, fancy clothes and a playboy reputation, but could any of these things have resulted in murder?

Not that this is any of Dulcie's business, not really. She just has a cat's curiosity. Besides, Dessay's death is affecting her department and there seems to be something going on with Professor Bullock, upon whom Dulcie's future largely depends. As she tries to unravel this mystery, Dulcie becomes aware that a lot of people around her seem to be keeping secrets. The question is, which of these are dangerous?

I enjoyed this second entry in the "Mr. Grey" series. Several mysteries I've read recently seem to be "just the facts," leaving me feeling shortchanged. I enjoy characterization and supplemental information in addition to clues. I want a well-rounded experience. Dulcie, for example, is a likeable heroine who has her head in a literary cloud and sometimes forgets to pay attention to life around her, and Simon lets Dulcie draw comparisons between herself and the heroine of the gothic novel to enrich the experience. After all, isn't one of the joys of reading finding bits of ourselves in fiction, identifying with this character or that one?

There's a bit of a twist at the end, nothing earth-shattering, but it certainly has me anxious for more.

Dulcie Schwartz is a doctoral candidate at Harvard. Getting her advisor, Professor Bullock, to approve her thesis concept on the gothic novel The Ravages of Umbria and its author is overwhelming this third year grad student. After meeting with her advisor at his home, Dulcie finds fellow grad student Cameron Dessay lying on the front steps of her advisor's home. Although she didn't like him, she never wished him dead. Dulcie plans to stay out of this murder investigation. Her best friend is busy and Dulcie's boyfriend is working lots of late hours. She hits a snag in her thesis and ends up caught up and alone in investigating the murder. The ghost of her dead cat, Mr. Grey, offers wisdom and direction. Can Dulcie find the murderer and figure out her thesis? I liked Dulcie and the setting a lot. The mystery was well plotted and the writing kept my interest throughout. This is a quick reading cozy mystery for cat lovers. I recommend it!

Harvard doctoral candidate Dulcie Schwartz feels a bit overwhelmed as a third year grad student trying to get her adviser Professor Bullock to approve her thesis concept on the gothic novel The Ravages of Umbria and its author. After meeting with distracted Dr. Bullock at his home, Dulcie leaves only to find the corpse of fellow graduate student Cameron Dessay lying on the front step. She especially did not like the pompous comp lit transfer who the females dubbed "de sigh", but would not wish him dead.

Although she has solved a mystery recently (see Shades of Grey) Dulcie would prefer to stay out of this one so she can focus on her treatise and advise undergrad Raleigh Hall. However, Cambridge PD Detective Carioli invites her to the station in Red Square for questioning and upon meeting the self assured Raleigh while watching her friend Lloyd Pruitt react with fear, Dulcie wonders if she can avoid sleuthing especially when her late cat Mr. Grey appears telling her to have faith in her own abilities while her new kitty purrs.

This is a terrific academic amateur sleuth with a bit of the paranormal enhancing the entertaining story line. Fast-paced, readers obtain a deep look at academia at Harvard, which wraps around the murder mystery. Dulcie is a superb lead protagonist who holds the plot together while encouraged by the ghost of Mr. Grey to rust herself as he does. Grey Matters is a wonderful investigative thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Grey Matters (Dulcie Schwartz Mystery)


I've read Clea Simon's Theda Krakow Mysteries and enjoyed them. Which is why I bought the Dulcie Schwartz Mystery series. But I won't be buying anymore of this book series. Ms. Simon's descriptive and informative life at Harvard for a grad student involved in Postdoctoral research was very interesting. I savored reading about the Harvard Square restaurants. Her characterization of Mr. Grey and little Esme were delightful. Her human characters were portrayed very well and were believable.

All except for one...Dulcie Schwartz. This character was extremely irritating. I liked the first book, Grey Matters. The second book, Shades of Grey, is where the Dulcie character became annoying. This character is needy requiring constant attention; a co-dependent looking for a "co". This character is emotionally and psychologically messed up! In Grey Zone, this character acts without thinking, jumps at false assumptions, becomes dizzy and pukes at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately, for me, Ms Simon's depiction is all too real.

This book is for Mystery lovers and Cat lovers. It keeps you moving the entire book. The characters are great you feel like your right there with them. I'd recommend this to anyone who loves a good mystery.