A landmark figure in the development of the Gothic novel, Reeve was also a poet, educational writer, and literary critic. Her Original Poems in Several Occasions appeared in 1769 under the initials C.R. Reeve's most significant novel was The Champion of Virtue. A Gothic Story (1777), republished as The Old English Baron (1778). Its preface offers important comments on the theory of the Gothic novel. Her historical novel Memoirs of Sir Roger de Clarendon, the Natural Son of Edward Prince of Wales, Commonly Called the Black Prince (1793) is also noteworthy. Reeve's other novels include The Two Mentors: A Modern Story (1783), The Exiles; or, Memoirs of the Count de Cronstadt (1788), The School for Widows: A Novel (1791), Plans of Education; With Remarks on the Systems of Other Writers. In a Series of Letters Between Mrs. Darnford and Her Friends (1792), and Destination; or, Memoirs of a Private Family (1799). The Phoenix; or, The History of Polyarchus and Argenis, is her translation of Argenis (1621) by John Barclay. In literary criticism Reeve was best known for The Progress of Romance (1785) and an exchange with Anna Seward in a series of letters to the Gentleman's Magazine.