Clea Simon's Blog

Kings River Life says The Cat’s Eye Charm is “a lovely mix of magic, mystery and playfulness.” How wonderful! Thank you, critic Sarah Erwin! (A former public library director, Erwin knows her books!) You can read the full review (and register to win a copy of my latest Witch Cats cozy mystery) here. Or simply read the review below!

Mar 21, 2026 | 2026 Articles, Mysteryrat’s Maze, Sarah Erwin

by Sarah Erwin

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win an ebook copy of the book and a link to purchase it. 

The Cat’s Eye Charm is book five in Clea Simon’s Witch Cats of Cambridge paranormal cozy mystery series. Readers new to the series can easily jump in here, as book five can be read as a standalone. 

Witch detective Becca believes she has magical powers, but does she? She works at the Charm and Cherish magic shop as a clerk and is also devoted to developing her magical capabilities. In addition to her work at the shop, Becca also advertises her services as a witch detective, helping to solve a variety of mysteries. 

Cat lover and pet owner, Trina, walks into the shop one day, desperate to find her beloved cat, Mr. Butters. Mr. Butters is an indoor cat who can’t be found. Always the animal lover, Becca jumps in to help Trina, but that search becomes about more than a missing cat. Soon a stolen gem (the famous Cat’s Eye sapphire) is involved and Becca is in deep. 

Thankfully Becca has her cats—Harriet, Laurel, and Clara— who are actually magical and can use their powers to help Becca solve the mysteries that unfold. 

This paranormal cozy mystery is a lovely mix of magic, mystery and playfulness. Even though it is clear (to the readers) Becca doesn’t have magical powers, she’s a warm and caring character and certainly unafraid to jump in and help. Paired with her magical cats (who talk to each other), Becca seems unstoppable. It is a clever technique Clea uses to have readers see what Becca cannot. And it is reassuring to know the cats are looking out for Becca. The dialogue between the cats is entertaining and sounded just like how I would imagine a talking cat would sound. The story includes an addition of a kitten who added charm to the setting and story. 

This is a quick read as the mystery and action are well paced. I read this in just two sittings and so enjoyed my cozy time with Becca. 

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon. 

To enter to win an ebook copy of The Cat’s Eye Charm, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “cats eye” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen March 28, 2026. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like. 

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook groupto keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Also listen to our new mystery podcast where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify.

Sarah Erwin started her career as a children’s librarian, later becoming a public library director and now she’s a stay at home mom. While her career might have changed, her love of reading has been a constant since 4th grade and she reads over 200 books a year. Read along with her on her blog Sarah Can’t Stop Reading or on Instagram. Sarah lives in St. Louis, MO with her two kids, her husband and a family dog and cat.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.

Kings River Life magazine is offering readers a chance to win my latest “Witch Cats of Cambridge” cozy mystery1 Just click through and comment for your chance: https://kingsriverlife.com/03/21/the-cats-eye-charm-by-clea-simon/

“Readers who could use a break from the absolute hellscape that is America right now will find Clea Simon’s latest … a delectably tasty cat treat.” HA! I love that phrasing (much as I detest the reality the necessitated it). Anywho….a real live witch (Peg Aloi) reviewed my latest Witch Cats book, The Cat’s Eye Charm. Read the full review here: https://lnkd.in/e4-k99kP or below!

March 21, 2026|

By Peg Aloi

Clea Simon’s latest is an easy-going entertainment that will be a fine introduction to those who are only now discovering the author’s uniquely enchanting brand of feline genre fiction.

The Cat’s Eye Charm: A Witch Cats of Cambridge Mystery by Clea Simon. Level Best Books, 271 pages $17.95 (paperback)

The newest book in Clea Simon’s cozy mystery series “Witch Cats of Cambridge” is a charming caper set in the familiar (if fictionalized) environs of the quintessential Northeast city. Like Oxford’s dreaming spires, the scholarly vibe of Cambridge also works well as a literary setting, Simon has embraced it in her many mystery novels featuring cats who sometimes help their owners and friends solve mysteries. But this series embraces a rich subculture that’s had a longtime presence in New England: modern pagan witchcraft. Like the first four books in the series, A Spell of Murder, An Incantation of Cats, A Cat on the Case, and To Conjure a Killer, the main character in The Cat’s Eye Charm is Becca, who works in a witch shop called Charm and Cherish. Her three cats, Harriet, Laurel, and Clara, are her helpmeets in life and in occasional crime-solving. If this sounds like a recipe for humor and cuteness, well, yes, but there’s also intrigue and juicy suspense along the way.

I feel the need to begin this review by saying that the term “cozy mystery” is fairly new to me. In fact, I was first introduced to it last October at the Woodstock Film Festival, when I saw Beck Underwood’s absolutely amazing animated live-action film made with vintage dolls called The Lure of Ponies: A Spellbound Attic Mystery. Underwood is a very cool and talented filmmaker who also happens to be married to another very cool and talented filmmaker, Larry Fessenden (Wendigo, Summoners). Underwood’s film was my film of the festival –it is inventive, hilarious, and beautifully-made. Naturally, I came away with a curiosity about this pleasing sub-genre.

As a teenager in the ’70s, I often read my mom’s Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen mystery magazines, full of wonderful short stories by various authors who’d perfected the genre. Unlike more hard-boiled or hardcore detective stories, the “cozy mystery” genre, in which amateur sleuths (usually women) solve crimes, generally eschews violence and sexual themes: think Dame Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, the premiere doyenne of this milieu. The term has become more fashionable recently, and Simon is a prolific local champion of the cozy mystery genre.

I’ve known Simon since our days writing arts reviews for the Boston Phoenix back in the late ’90s. In 2003, after having written two well-received non-fiction books on very compelling personal topics, Simon started a work with a fascinating title: The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats. She interviewed me over the phone for a chapter about witches and cats, and I was delighted to assist. Not long after this, Simon started writing mystery novels that included cats, starting with the well-loved Dulcie Schwartz series. It begins with the eponymous Harvard doctoral student finding herself in the middle of a murder investigation just after her beloved cat dies. Cats, it turns out, are excellent helpers for would-be detectives. The rest, as they say, is history. Five different cozy mystery series — featuring cats and their human companions — followed.

No crystal ball or revelatory tarot reading was needed to predict that Simon would eventually start writing mysteries including cats and witches, and here we are. Harriet, Laurel, and Clara reprise their starring roles, alongside Becca’s adventures as the local witch detective (for that is how she is known in this enchanting world). A wonderful animal talent permeates these books — cats talk to each other. Not with out-loud voices like cartoons, but italics: their dialogue is full of nuance, insights, and, well, catty humor. Some new feline friends join the intrepid three, including a curious tortoiseshell kitten Becca has taken in, who’s learning the ropes from her three older cats:

“What’s a coven?” Like all children, the kitten was full of questions.
“They eat cookies,” Harriet broke in, even as she maneuvered to catch a crumb.
“They get together and try to do magic,” Clara, a little more sympathetic to the small beast, explained.

There’s also the erstwhile Mr. Butters (a sweet ginger tabby), a temporarily lost kitty who finds himself at the center of what might well be Becca’s next excursion into sleuthing. Complications include stress at Charm and Cherish, which may be rebranding as a craft store. Witchy wares like herbs, crystals, and pagan statues are popular, but there’s competition from other shops. The owner, Margaret, appears to be more concerned with maintaining retail success than keeping the local witch community happy. However, when a rare gemstone is reported stolen, odd strangers begin sniffing around Charm and Cherish. Suddenly the shop is a hub of dangerous activity. Becca’s coven tries to help her but, in cozy mystery style, Becca prefers to work alone…helped by her cats, of course, who are the real masterminds.

Look, either you are delighted at the prospect of a cozy mystery featuring cats, witches, gemstones, magical spells, and stolen antiquities, set in the picturesque, progressive hub of Cambridge, or you’re not. Readers who could use a break from the absolute hellscape that is America right now will find Clea Simon’s latest entry in her popular series “Witch Cats of Cambridge” an easy-going entertainment that will be a fine introduction to those who are only now discovering the author’s uniquely enchanting brand of feline genre fiction. The Cat’s Eye Charmis a fun romp snugly nestled in a richly-detailed setting — a delectably tasty cat treat.

Peg Aloi is a former film critic for the Boston Phoenix and member of the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Critics Choice Awards, and the Alliance for Women Film Journalists. She taught film studies in Boston for over a decade. She has written on film, TV, and culture for web publications like Time, Vice, Polygon, Bustle, Dread Central, Mic, Orlando Weekly, Refinery29, and Bloody Disgusting. Her blog “The Witching Hour” can be found on substack.

Book Review: “The Cat’s Eye Charm” — Cozy, Witchy, and Wonderful

So very excited to finally be able to announce this new series, featuring an inquisitive librarian and her kitten sidekick! Yes, there’s another Witch Cat on the way, but I say the more mystery cats the merrier!

My black cat noir, The Ninth Life is once more available as an ebook! (You can get it as a hardcover and paperback too)

This surprising whodunit, the first in a trilogy, introduces Care, a young woman alone in the world, and Blackie, the stray who adopts her. Set in a future world, dystopian but recognizable, the pair have different goals: Care wants to survive, and to take care of those she loves. Meanwhile, Blackie – who narrates this mystery – is haunted by a recurring dream that he hopes will provide answers to his questions about who he is and what is meant to do.

“A delight for anyone who relishes cat mysteries” ― Library Journal

“Forget everything you think you know about ‘cat mysteries.’ THE NINTH LIFE is a dark and gritty story of life on the streets, told from the unique point of view of a narrator who sees things humans can’t. Clea Simon has given us a window into a world of constant and surprising dangers, frustrations and almost unbearable tension, and it’s one I won’t soon forget.” — Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of The Fixer and The Oligarch’s Daughter

And if you find yourself falling for Blackie and Care, their adventures continue in As Dark As My Fur and Cross My Path. Find out more here.

“Cats, magic, gems—what’s not to love?” What lovely words to hear – especially from a librarian! Jeanne Powers, who reviews at the Bookblog of the Bristol Public Library.

You can read her entire review on the library’s site here, but I’ve also pasted it below.

Reviewed by Jeanne

Becca’s life seems a bit fraught right now.  Business has been slow at Charm and Cherish the magic shop where she works, and the owner is making noises about turning the place into a (sigh) craft shop.  Becca doesn’t seem to be making much progress in honing her own magical skills, which truth to tell seem to be pretty much non-existent. Well, except for that pillow she conjured, but that was a long time ago.  Even the coven seems to be slowly falling by the wayside.

So it seems like a good omen when Trina comes into the shop wanting to hire Becca in her other capacity as a witch detective. Maybe all Becca needs is a good focus, a challenge, to help her bring out her powers.  The cause is certainly a worthy one: Trina is desperate to find her beloved cat, Mr. Butters.  He was an indoor cat, but has gone missing.  Can Becca do a spell or something to bring him home?

Becca may not be able to wield a lot of magic but she still has help nearby.  Unbeknownst to her, her three cats do have some supernatural abilities.  That pillow Becca thinks she conjured?  That was luxury-loving Harriet who fancied a new bed.  Siamese Laurel can subtly influence human behaviors (usually to Laurel’s benefit) and sweet devoted Clara can become invisible. Clara adores Becca and often follows her to make sure she’s safe, but Clara is careful to remain unseen so Becca has no idea.

What seems like a relatively straightforward request soon turns out to be more complicated and more dangerous than Becca expected, involving kidnapping and a stolen gem.  Even worse, it’s becoming difficult for Becca to know who to trust. 

This is the fifth book in the Witch Cats of Cambridge series, but it can be read as a standalone.  I have to say this is probably my favorite entry in the series. I loved seeing the magical cats’ world expand with the addition of a kitten who may be much wiser than they realize.  Kitten is an absolute peach-toed charmer even if she does have a penchant for knocking things off shelves. There’s also Mr. Butters, who has some surprises of his own.  All this makes for some delightful feline world-building.  On the human side of things, the mysterious Elizabeth takes on a somewhat bigger role.  And even though we’re told not to judge– I adore the cover!

Cats, magic, gems—what’s not to love?

Just kidding! As you can see, my glasses are falling off and that would never do! (They also get steamed up when I shovel with a scarf over half my face). Seriously, I hope you are all staying warm and safe, despite this monster storm and all the horrible things going on in the world.

Peace to you all.

Wow! THE CAT’S EYE CHARM just got a rave review from critic/cat expert Ingrid King on her Purrs of Wisdom blog.

“Like the other books in the series, the combination of mystery with a touch of the paranormal is irresistible,” says this critic. Simon’s “trademark descriptive writing style makes this book a pleasure to read for more than just the expertly woven plot. Her knowledge of feline behavior and her love of cats shines through in how the feline characters are written.” THANK YOU!

Read the full review here: https://ingridking.com/2026/01/22/review-the-cats-eye-charm/ or below)

“The Cat’s Eye Charm is the most recent installment in Clea Simon’s Witch Cats of Cambridge series, and like the other books in the series, the combination of mystery with a touch of the paranormal is irresistible.

When a young woman contacts witch detective Becca to help her find her missing cat, Becca is on the case. She quickly realizes that this case involves more than a missing cat as the search for the cat turns up a stolen gemstone, known as the Cat’s Eye sapphire. As Becca tries to solve the mystery, her cats Harriet, Laurel, and Clara have to use all their powers to keep their human from harm, and this time they have help from the newest member of Becca’s feline family, the tortie kitten she rescued in To Conjure a Killer.

As is the case with all of Clea’s books, her trademark descriptive writing style makes this book a pleasure to read for more than just the expertly woven plot. Her knowledge of feline behavior and her love of cats shines through in how the feline characters are written. I particularly enjoyed the evolution of the little tortie, who, much to her siblings’ surprise, appears to have special powers of her own.

If you enjoy feline-centric mysteries, fantasy, and a touch of magic, you will be charmed by this book. It can be read as a standalone, but why not treat yourself to the whole series?”

The Cat’s Eye Charm is available from Amazon.

*Purrs of Wisdom is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This means that if you decide to purchase through any of our links, we get a small commission.  I received this book from the author. Receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review. All reviews on The Conscious Cat  will always reflect my honest opinion.

Advance praise is coming in for The Cat’s Eye Charm, the fifth Witch Cats of Cambridge mystery. The few readers who have gotten a sneak peek at this cozy mystery have loved Becca and her magical felines, noting their warm interactions. This cozy mystery should be out on Dec. 16, but you can pre-order it here.

“A treat for anyone who loves warm, sensitive, caring characters determined to do what’s right for both animals and humans.”  –  Vicki Delany, best-selling author of the Tea by the Sea, Sherlock Holmes Bookshop, Lighthouse Library, and Year-Round Christmas cozy mysteries

“The Cat’s Eye Charm surprises and delights as witch detective Becca hunts for a lost cat while her cats at home work their own magic.” – Marty Wingate, author of the London Ladies’ Murder Club

“The Cat’s Eye Charm is catnip for the mystery-lover’s soul, with just the right mix of suspense, magic, furry mayhem…and cats, of course. Highly recommended!” – Amy Shojai, CABC, author of the September & Shadow thriller series

Just in time for Halloween, Level Best Books has reissued the first four “Witch Cats of Cambridge” cozy mysteries: A Spell of Murder, An Incantation of Cats, A Cat on the Case, and To Conjure a Killer. These ebooks are on sale now, too, at only $3.99! Look for a new witch cat cozy – The Cat’s Eye Charm – in December!

For more info, click here.