A Day In The Life Of Dulcie Schwartz by Clea Simon

Good morning. Thank you for meeting me here, in the library. I know it sounds funny to say, after five years of research, that I am under the gun. But the truth is, I am. You see, I’m working on my doctoral thesis and every day counts. I don’t want to be Dulcie Schwartz “ABD” – all but dissertation – and so I really have to get to work.

That said, I’m happy to talk with you. Sometimes, I know, I can get a little caught up in my own head. Even though my boyfriend, Chris, is an applied science student, a computer geek, I know I tend to stick with the bookish types in the English and American Literature and Languages department, my friend Trista, especially. And we do tend to keep to ourselves. Which, come to think of it, may be why none of them have stumbled across a dead body in a while.

Ghosts? Do I believe in ghosts? Of course not! Yes, you’ve probably heard that Lucy, my mother, is a former hippie and that I was raised on a commune. And, yes, she’s always calling me to tell me that Jupiter is aligned with Venus or that she’s had some dream or other. But that’s part of the reason I’m a graduate student. I believe in the life of the mind. In rational thought. In reason – and in books. Well, yes, I am visited on occasion by the shade of Mr. Grey. But Mr. Grey was a special cat, a very special pet, and he only comes by to keep me company sometimes, when I get down. Well, yes, sometimes he has helped me out, but not too much. I mean, you wouldn’t expect a cat to tell you what to do – or who to suspect, would you? Why should a ghost cat be any different?

Right now, though, I could use some help. You see, the acting head of my department has been looking at me funny. He seems to think I’m involved in the theft of a real treasure, the Dunster Codex. Yes, I know it’s only a book – but a very ancient and rare one. But I swear I’ve only seen it once or twice, and I know Trista isn’t involved, whatever the cops are saying. Though, no, come to think of it, I don’t have any idea where she has disappeared to, either. Mr. Grey, could you help?

Meet the author
A reformed journalist, who has written for everyone from The New York Times to Cat Fancy, Clea Simon authored three nonfiction books before turning to to a life of crime (fiction). Her first mystery series, featuring the rock critic Theda Krakow, began with Mew is for Murder and continued for four books, through Probable Claws (Poisoned Pen Press). She then found herself communing with a ghost cat, Mr. Grey, via her graduate student heroine Dulcie Schwartz for the Dulcie Schwartz feline mysteries, the most recent of which is GREY EXPECTATIONS (Severn House). The Pru Marlowe pet noirs, with their bad-girl protagonist Pru Marlowe, and her even badder tabby Wallis, launched last year with Dogs Don’t Lie and continues this spring with Cats Can’t Shoot (Poisoned Pen press). A member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and the Cat Writers Association, Clea lives in Massachusetts with her cat Musetta and their husband. She is working on new Prus and Dulcies, and can be reached at www.cleasimon.com and on Twitter @Clea_Simon.

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