Reviews
“Simon scores…”
"Simon scores with the spectral Mr. Grey and the likable Dulcie." – PW 3/15/10Whee!
So you want a signed book…
Hi folks,I often get emails asking if I can sign and mail books. I'm always happy to! But sometimes the logistics can get complicated. So, I thought I'd get out ahead of this one. I'll be doing a launch event (reading/signing) at Brookline Booksmith next Tuesday,...
“Girl Who Fell From the Sky” by Heidi Durrow
Meant to post this review, which I wrote for the Boston Globe. Belatedly... "Does truth, as well as beauty, exist in the eye of the beholder? That’s one of the questions posed in Bellwether Prize-winner Heidi Durrow’s heartbreaking debut, “The Girl Who Fell From the...
Thank you, Richmond Times-Dispatch
From today's Richmond Times-Dispatch:"Back-stabbing, jealousy and gamesmanship. Is it corporate America? Or could it be academia? In Grey Matters (232 pages, Severn House, $28.95), the second installment in Clea Simon's series featuring Harvard grad student Dulcie...
How self-referential can we be?
This Court Reporter blog noted my blog as covering a variety of topics "from animal rights to crime fiction." Um, I guess I'd better get back to updating this!
I love Henning Mankell, but…
I just couldn't love "The Man from Beijing," (as I say in my Boston Phoenix review). Too many things kept throwing me out of the book, mostly a sense of heavy handed message. Mankell is – as are most crime writers – highly moral. Usually, he lets his characters do the...
Not kicked too hard
"Sure to provide cat fanciers with a relaxing couple of hours." – Kirkus Reviews on Grey Matters.Not bad, right? Well, coming from Kirkus, this is probably meant to be snarky - the infamous "Kirkus kick." But I'll take it. I mean, I write to entertain and those who...
Congrats to Lesa – and The Conscious Cat
One of my favorite blogs, combining pet news and advice and book reviews, is The Conscious Cat. This week, TCC awarded an "Over the Top" award to longtime librarian and indefatigable book blogger Lesa Holstine and her Lesa's Book Critiques blog. The award is most apt...
Thank you, Booklist!
My Grey Matters officially pubs in March – here's my first pre-pub review: Grey Matters, Simon, Clea (Author), Mar 2010. 240 p. Severn, hardcover, $28.95. (9780727868404).Simon’s second Dulcie Schwartz mystery picks up a few months after the end of Shades of Grey...
James Patterson, not so much
Why does James Patterson bother? From reading the New York Times profile, I've learned that he has five "co-authors" who actually writethe books he drafts. He skews his plots for marketing purposes. He's abandoned his early literary potential to write sadomasochistic...