Probable Claws by Clea Simon
Probable Claws is the fourth book in Clea Simon's Theda Krakow series involving cats & crime & rock & roll.Give us a brief overview of the new book, Probable Claws (great title by the way!)
Probable Claws opens up with shelter cats being sickened by contaminated cat food. (This is based on real incidents from last year with pet food from China that had been contaminated with melamine.) In my books, of course, no cats would ever die -- but it does raise a question: Has the food been intentionally poisoned or is this an accident? Theda and her buddy Violet, who runs the shelter, can't quite agree on this, and when Theda learns about some of the politics that are dividing the area shelters -- basically the question of euthanasia and shelter funding -- she begins to understand why. But would shelter politics explain why a vet is then brutally murdered? Since Theda's cat, Musetta, is the only witness -- and Theda is the likeliest suspect -- these questions take on a grave importance.
How did you get the idea for the Theda Krakow books and a cat mystery series at that?
I love cats, but I love them as they really are -- as real, wonderful animals -- so I wanted to write a series that incorporates cats and pet issues in a realistic, but entertaining way. I think anyone who reads my books can tell I adore cats. But I'm also intrigued by all the issues surrounding our love of pets -- from animal hoarding, to feral trap-neuter-return, to shelter politics! Plus, I miss my days as a rock critic (I'm still a fan), so I really wanted to write a series set in the rock and roll world. (Theda is a music critic.) I figure that's my take on the traditional English village! And it lets me get away with the tagline: cats & crime & rock & roll.
You are now on your fourth Theda Krakow mystery - how do you keep your series fresh?
There is so much to learn and do and depict with animals and animal issues, the question is really how can I keep up? Plus, I adore my characters. They've taken on lives of their own, and their relationships keep evolving just as the extended family of the music scene -- "clubland" -- keeps changing and growing.
Which authors inspire you?
Wow, there are so many authors I read regularly - whose books I look for the moment they come out. Sarah Waters, James Lee Burke, and Hilary Mantel, in particular. Among thriller/suspense/mystery writers, the list is so huge, I'd prefer to just say who I'm enjoying right now: Ariana Franklin, Michael Stanley, Daniel Silva, Alexander McCall Smith, Elizabeth Peters, John Lawton, Alan Furst...and that's just what's on top of my pile of just-read or to-be-read right now!
I see you are starting another series - Shades of Gray - how did you find the experience of 'starting anew' on a new series?
While I adore Theda, I felt there were issues and a style of writing that I couldn't broach with her. Dulcie Schwartz, heroine of "Shades of Grey" (my new series with Severn House), is much more fanciful and bookish. Dulcie is a graduate student, writing her doctoral thesis on Gothic literature of the eighteenth century. But even outside of the library, her own life takes on some of the attributes of the Gothic when she finds her roommate dead -- and her late, great cat seems to have come back as a ghost to warn her. Yes, these books have a touch of the paranormal, but I hope that in this context -- after all, Dulcie is studying ghostly stories -- they seem quite natural. ("Shades of Grey" will be published by Severn House in the UK in June. The US edition comes out in Sept.)
If people would like to read excerpts of both these books, I have them up on my website at http://www.cleasimon.com
Contributing editor, Clare Langley-Hawthorne,
was raised in England and Australia. She was an attorney in Melbourne
before moving to the United States, where she began her career as a
writer. Her first novel, Consequences of Sin, has been nominated for
the 2008 Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery Macavity award. The
second in the Ursula Marlow series is The Serpent and The Scorpion.
Clare lives in California with her family.
I love cats, but I love them as they really are -- as real, wonderful animals -- so I wanted to write a series that incorporates cats and pet issues in a realistic, but entertaining way. I think anyone who reads my books can tell I adore cats. But I'm also intrigued by all the issues surrounding our love of pets -- from animal hoarding, to feral trap-neuter-return, to shelter politics! Plus, I miss my days as a rock critic (I'm still a fan), so I really wanted to write a series set in the rock and roll world. (Theda is a music critic.) I figure that's my take on the traditional English village! And it lets me get away with the tagline: cats & crime & rock & roll.
You are now on your fourth Theda Krakow mystery - how do you keep your series fresh?There is so much to learn and do and depict with animals and animal issues, the question is really how can I keep up? Plus, I adore my characters. They've taken on lives of their own, and their relationships keep evolving just as the extended family of the music scene -- "clubland" -- keeps changing and growing.
Which authors inspire you?
Wow, there are so many authors I read regularly - whose books I look for the moment they come out. Sarah Waters, James Lee Burke, and Hilary Mantel, in particular. Among thriller/suspense/mystery writers, the list is so huge, I'd prefer to just say who I'm enjoying right now: Ariana Franklin, Michael Stanley, Daniel Silva, Alexander McCall Smith, Elizabeth Peters, John Lawton, Alan Furst...and that's just what's on top of my pile of just-read or to-be-read right now!
I see you are starting another series - Shades of Gray - how did you find the experience of 'starting anew' on a new series?
While I adore Theda, I felt there were issues and a style of writing that I couldn't broach with her. Dulcie Schwartz, heroine of "Shades of Grey" (my new series with Severn House), is much more fanciful and bookish. Dulcie is a graduate student, writing her doctoral thesis on Gothic literature of the eighteenth century. But even outside of the library, her own life takes on some of the attributes of the Gothic when she finds her roommate dead -- and her late, great cat seems to have come back as a ghost to warn her. Yes, these books have a touch of the paranormal, but I hope that in this context -- after all, Dulcie is studying ghostly stories -- they seem quite natural. ("Shades of Grey" will be published by Severn House in the UK in June. The US edition comes out in Sept.)
If people would like to read excerpts of both these books, I have them up on my website at http://www.cleasimon.com
Contributing editor, Clare Langley-Hawthorne,
was raised in England and Australia. She was an attorney in Melbourne
before moving to the United States, where she began her career as a
writer. Her first novel, Consequences of Sin, has been nominated for
the 2008 Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery Macavity award. The
second in the Ursula Marlow series is The Serpent and The Scorpion.
Clare lives in California with her family.
ThrillerFest
ITW's annual celebration of the thriller world is the largest event of its kind, a meeting place for authors, readers, budding writers, and publishing industry professionals.
For 2011, we’ll be back in the heart of New York in July with the ThrillerFest conference including CraftFest and AgentFest.
ThrillerFest VI will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
The dates will be July 6-9, 2011.
More information to follow.
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