The Careful Use of Compliments

The 4th book in the series occurs after the birth of Isabel\’s son, Charlie. Isabel is at a crossroads in both her personal and professional lives. Personally, she is challenged by her niece\’s reaction to her relationship with Jamie and their son. Jamie is also thinking about formalizing their relationship through marriage, and Isabel must also consider this. On the work side, she is shocked to find out that the board of her journal has decided to give the editorship to someone else and she must come to terms with this and how she feels about the new editor. The touch of mystery comes from several unknown paintings coming on the market by an artist who died fairly recently in a sea accident. Isabel misses out on one of these in an auction, and when she hears of the other, she becomes suspicious and starts poking around. I found Isabel to be a bit peevish and paranoid, particularly about her job situation. She does solve the issue, but it feels like she took the easy way out. More interesting are the issues of the painting and Isabel sorting out her personal relationships with both Jamie and her niece, Cat.

I love McCall-Smith, I find his books soothing and wise and feminine yet balanced (this probably comes from their being written by a man!). I always get involved in his characters\’ lives, care bout them and can\’t wait to read more about them. Plots are not the point; human interaction and thoughts are, and they are presented with such a light hand, and such an obvious love for life and people and places that I always feel better after spending time with these books. Do not buy the Dalhousie or the Precious Ramotswe series (which I also love) if you want a proper detective story, but do buy them and enjoy them all, possibly in chronological order, if you want to be reconciled with life. Sounds like a lot to ask from books, but read them and you will see what I mean!

This is standard-issue Alexander McCall Smith — reliably well written, with gentle humor, perceptive on the human condition, and refreshingly free of vulgarity and other needless intrusions that speak to today\’s culture. But while I will turn to this author again and again for literary entertainment, this addition to the Isabel Dalhousie series was not my favorite. Isabel, as she always does, finds herself getting involved in other people\’s problems and either asked to help them get out of some trouble, or else she cannot resist trying to ferret out the truth. In the backdrop are her longtime boyfriend, Jamie, and their toddler son, Charlie, as well as Isabel\’s not-too-bright and often annoying niece, Cat. The most intriguing among Isabel\’s exploits in this book is the storyline regarding a pushy, unpleasant high-rolling banker who turns to Isabel for help when she is being threatened. It\’s not that convincing why Isabel would have agreed to involve herself in the first place, but once you get past that low hurdle the author unrolls the story to a satisfying conclusion. It\’s too bad that Jamie isn\’t a more interesting or charismatic character. He\’s sort of like wallpaper in these books.

The latest book in the \”Sunday Philosophy Club\” series takes a deeper look at protagonist Isabel Dalhousie as a person with intense attachments to her new baby and her musician lover but who is still struggling to approach life with the objectivity of a philosopher. Isabel finds that this is not always an easy act to balance. While some of the most enjoyable parts of this continuing story revolve around Isabel\’s personal life, author McCall-Smith has thrown in an interesting mystery (softcore) and a little intrigue that gives the book some snap and energy. The reader can easily get the impression from this series and the Mma Ramotswe books, that McCall-Smith may be using the two female protagonists as alter egos to get at some basic ethical issues that bug him and plague most of human kind. Isabel Dalhousie\’s mulling of daily moral issues is the basic structure on which all else in the books hang. I find this enjoyable for the most part, though I can understand why other readers could see it as off the point at times. Overall, this book and its predecessors are the purest form of mental comfort food. I feel great for days after reading these books and always look forward to the next one in the series.

Well, well–Isabel\’s life is really in flux. She and Jamie now have an infant son, Charlie. Jamie has proposed marriage, but she did not accept for fear that his youth and beauty will eventually lead him away from her. Nonetheless, they settle into being parents together and are in total agreement about the joy of that experience. But life does not stop at the family door. Niece Cat has not taken this new development well. And the conniving Professor Dove, in an unexpected challenge, has wrested away Isabel\’s position as the editor of the Review of Applied Ethics. When two paintings attributed to a deceased artist (whose work is very familiar to Isabel) come on the market at the same time, she suspects they may be forgeries. So all these issues must be dealt with as well, and McCall Smith adroitly weaves the plotlines together. With each new book in this series, Isabel becomes a fuller character and it is satisfying to take this journey with her.

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