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 Charm is 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.