Customer Reviews

Shades of Grey (Dulcie Schwartz)

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Take one part Ghost Cat, add one part Murder Mystery, sift in high-tech shenanigans and mix thoroughly with a group of grad students at Harvard, a lousy temp job at an insurance agency, an obsession with Gothic novels, trouble getting started on her thesis, and a far from fulfilling love life and you've got Dulcie Schwartz's Very Bad Summer.

"Shades of Grey" is author Clea Simon's first entry into her new series of "Dulcie Schwartz Feline-Filled Mysteries" and it certainly gets the series off on the right paw.

Dulcie is a character who those of us self-proclaimed bookaholics can relate to. She is most comfortable with her books, yet she misses her late lamented cat, Mr. Grey. One particular sentence in the novel really spoke to me- "What she really wanted to do is crawl into a book..... and pull the cover closed behind her."

As Dulcie deals with finding her temporary room-mate murdered in their own apartment, the rest of her life seems to be falling apart as well and she soon fears for her sanity as she keeps seeing and hearing (with an English speaking voice, no less) her beloved Mr. Grey. Dulcie's Mom, Lucy, who is back home in Oregon while Dulcie attends Harvard in Cambridge, has visions. Some of these are as clear as mud, but others start to make sense and this leads Dulcie to believe the ghost of Mr Grey is indeed real.

I really enjoyed this book because the plot is unique and current, the characters are very well presented and as a reader you find yourself rooting for the protagonist, Dulcie, and as a cat loving reader, I found myself waiting for more scenes with Mr. Grey and I was not disappointed.

I am an avid mystery reader and can usually tell if I'm going to enjoy a book within the first three or four chapters. "Shades of Grey" had me hooked from the start and I highly recommend that you get in on the ground floor with this new series and read this book as soon as you can- because I just know Clea Simon is hard at work on the sequel! Enjoy the read-- I sure did!Are You Gonna Eat That Banana?: An Improbable Tale

The first book in the brand new series by Clea Simon, Shades of Grey features Harvard grad student Dulcie Schwartz, who is fascinated by 18th century Gothic novels. Dulcie is not having a good summer. She recently lost her beloved pet cat Mr. Grey, her best friend and room-mate has gone away for the summer, and she has sublet her apartment to an unpleasant business school student. One day, Dulcie comes home from her boring temp job at an insurance agency and is about to enter her apartment when she sees a cat that looks just like her beloved Mr. Grey, and she clearly hears a voice in her head warning her "I wouldn't go in just now, if I were you." Is it he spirit of her pet? Dulcie ignores the warning, and finds her room-mate murdered with her own kitchen knife.

This sets up a multi-layered plot in which our heroine deals with murder, someone hacking into computers at the insurance agency she temps at and at Harvard, and research for her thesis on Gothic novels. Throughout all of this, the ghost of her cat continues to appear, offering his cryptic advice. Is it a ghost, or a spirit guide? You'll have to read this extremely well-crafted and enjoyable mystery to find out for yourself. This book has everything a mystery (and cat) lover could want: a great story, a likeable heroine, a spirit cat, a little bit of romance, exceptional story telling and multi-dimensional secondary characters. I can't wait for the next book in this series.

Known for the Theda Krakow series, Clea Simon has created an appealing new heroine in Dulcie Schwartz. Smart, hip and bookish, Dulcie also happens to have a ghost cat as a friend and confidante. But unlike those in the Theda series, the mystery here doesn't revolve around felines: Instead it's her roommate that bites the dust, and Mr. Grey is there to comfort the long-suffering Dulcie as she pute the pieces together, dicovers the roommate's shady past and struggles with her own relationships and thesis. Simon is a master at creating appealing and believable characters, and the twists and surprises keep coming until all is revealed.

The first in a new series featuring Dulcie Schwartz, a graduate student at Harvard who is supplementing her grant money by temping at an insurance agency. Dulcie is startled to see what looks like the beloved cat she recently lost, Mr. Grey, sitting on her front steps one evening--and even more startled to hear a voice in her mind advising her not to go into her apartment. Ignoring the voice, she goes in anyway, to find her roommate Tim stabbed to death.

I could not help but compare Simon's Cambridge with that of Susan Conant, who also writes animal-centric mysteries set around the university community. Conant's Alaskan malamutes don't talk to their owner--at least not in English--and her heroine is not a member of the university community. Her Cambridge, however, is drenched in the university culture, whether Holly Winter is a student or not. There is a distinct feeling of difference between the haves (university-affiliated) and have-nots (everyone else), whether it's in dress, topics of conversation, or choice of home décor. This isn't the case with Dulcie.

This is not an animal-centric story, despite its Although she spends quite a lot of time at the Widener Library trying to pin down her thesis topic, we don't see her socializing with other students as students. She's working in data entry, management hates her, a sweater has gone missing, and there are mysterious files on her personal laptop. Her best friend is a legal intern in Washington, DC, and the people she encounters while trying to keep her job and figure out what Tim was really up to are not necessarily associated with the university at all. There's a clear distinction between the habits of the privileged (of whom Tim was one) and the poor struggling grad student, but I'm not sure that's unique to the Boston area! While Mr. Grey does, from time to time, appear to or talk to Dulcie (leading her to doubt her own sanity), he doesn't solve the mystery for her--and who would expect a cat to expend that much effort, anyway?

Dulcie has to find her own way through the perils of computer backups, viruses both at work and at her beloved library, evil HR managers, slippery marble steps, a bewildering array of Tim's girlfriends and a lineup of potential boyfriends before she finally figures out, using the skills she's developed in the study of literature, who's really behind it all. (And without spoiling, may I say that I absolutely loved the last little conversation in this book.)

I found this book to be most refreshing in style and content. Looking forward to the next book/s in the series. Highly recommend it -- intelligently written, different. Not your usual "feline mystery" format.

It's a sensation known to many who have loved and lost a pet: a glimpse out of the corner of the eye of a familiar furry shape, the scratch of claws walking down a hallway at night when there's no one left to walk, the sudden weight of something jumping on the bed, only there's nothing really there but memories.

That's the situation for Dulcie Schwartz, still grieving the loss of her beloved cat, Mr. Grey. The rest of her life isn't going any better. She's a struggling graduate student at Harvard, trying to come up with a topic for her dissertation. She's working as a temp at an insurance company, doing endless data entry. Her best friend and roommate Suze has taken a job out of town, so Dulcie is having to share space with Tim Worthington, a spoiled rich kid.

Things are about to get worse.

On her way home, Dulcie is startled to see a cat resembling her late pet and seems to hear a voice say, "I wouldn't go in if I were you." She turns, but sees no one except the cat who is now placidly washing its face.
Whatever the source, it turns out to have been good advice, because once inside she finds Tim has been murdered--with Dulcie's mother's second best carving knife, no less.

What follows is well-crafted mystery with numerous suspects and several intriguing (and topical) subplots that dangle in front of the reader like ribbons teasing a kitten. Readers who enjoy an academic setting will have a field day with Dulcie's struggle to find some new reading of an early novel that might keep her grant money flowing, not to mention the wonderfully atmospheric library, nicely juxtaposed against modern computers which hold key clues.

Then there's a hint of the paranormal with the mysterious messages from someone, offering cryptic advice. Is it the ghost of Mr. Grey, still looking out for Dulcie? Or is it only her subconscious, desperate to hold on to some part of her beloved pet? Or has the stress and strain finally gotten to Dulcie, and she's losing her grip on reality, just like a heroine in a gothic novel?

There are some interesting secondary characters as well. My favorite is Lucy, Dulcie's flower child mother who advises burning sage to clear out the bad vibes from the apartment and offers tarot readings but whose love is unconditional. Let me amend that: Lucy is my favorite human, because Mr. Grey, alive or deceased, is also quite the star.

As someone who ought to join Garrison Keillor's Professional Organization of English Majors, I particularly enjoyed the parts where Dulcie read and reread and reread her chosen novel, desperately seeking something fresh and new to say about it. I suspect some treatments of literature espouse theories that the scholars don't believe for a minute, but just needed to publish or perish.

The only real complaint I have is that the print is a bit small for my taste. A sign of my advancing age, I know. Alas, there doesn't seem to be a large print version available as yet. Let's hope the publisher takes the hint.

I enjoyed "Probable Claws", and I'm equally delighted in Clea Simon's new direction. "Shades of Grey" is a captivating mystery with strong, interwoven plots that keep you guessing, good pacing that keeps you reading, intelligent writing, and a main protagonist who is likeable and quite human. I also like the "play" of featuring a Harvard grad student obsessed with Gothic novels who has a feline spirit guide. It's a great read, and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Enter: Dulcie Schwartz. And what an entrance it is. I haven't been this excited about a new series for a while. Gothic Literature is Dulcie's area of expertise so why was she surprised when her beloved cat, Mr. Grey, returns to her life in the form of a ghost? This new series has all that a mystery lover could ask for. Great characters, truly horrible villian, ghosts, small amount of romance and a character that you will love. I was so sad when I finished it and I wanted another one immediately. Very addictive. Good for Clea Simon. Good for mystery lovers. Hurry up, Clea, I'm waiting.

Every amateur sleuth needs a sidekick and Dulcie Schwartz is fortunate to have Mr. Grey at her side.
Mr. Grey is quick-witted, resourceful and endlessly devoted. He's has finely tuned instincts and a nose for ferreting out the truth.
Oh yes, and he happens to be a cat.
.Mr. Grey is more than a garden variety house cat; he's the ghost of Dulcie's beloved pet feline, and it quickly becomes apparent that he's more of a spirit guide" than a woo-woo presence in the book.
Dulcie, still mourning the loss of her pet, feels an immediate affinity with him when he crosses her path. Is he really an incarnation of Mr. Grey? Could it be possible? He has "long silver fur and a face more Siamese than Persian, the slanted eyes giving him an intelligent and inquisitive look."
And he's not only a gorgeous feline, but a talkative one. When Dulcie walks right into a crime scene, he gently chides her, "Dulcie, please go back outside. Go outside and dial 911."
Is it the spirit of Mr. Grey speaking to her? Dulcie wonders if her imagination is playing tricks on her-perhaps it's a grief reaction or maybe the heat is getting to her. But the fact remains: his advice is eerily on target. "Please be careful, Dulcie," he tells her."Trust, like faith, can weave spells."
Anyone who has ever lost a pet can certainly relate to the notion that our beloved furry friends are somehow still "with us." As Clea Simon said, "I came up with the idea of Mr. Grey after losing a beloved cat - and feeling like I was seeing him everywhere. It's very comforting, when you've lost a pet to feel like he's still there, watching over you, and my particular "Mr. Grey" was the cat of my single years, the wise and quiet companion who was always there for me. I think that's a common phenomenon - to keep seeing someone, human or animal, who you have lost. The feeling lives on, the love lives on, even after the corporeal being is gone."
A multi-layered plot is another element in this delightful series and the reader is treated to a rare glimpse into the world of academia. Dulcie, a Harvard graduate student, is fascinated by eighteenth century Gothic novels and is caught up in The Ravages of Umbria. The author cleverly weaves passages from the book into Dulcie's own musings, adding another dimension to the story and a new insight into Dulcie's character.
The first release in Clea Simon's Dulcie Schwartz series, SHADES OF GRAY (Severn House, September, 2009) has everything a mystery-lover could hope for-an engaging heroine, an intriguing plot, plenty of smart, sophisticated dialogue, and wonderful secondary characters. This is a series to watch.

You don't have to be a cat person to love Clea Simon's wonderful new mystery. Full of twists and turns (and felines!), Simon also provides a real portrait of Cambridge environs and some unforgettable characters, too. Really highly recommended!