by Alexander Mccall Smith
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Product Description
Isabel Dalhousie is back, in the latest installment of this enchanting, already beloved, best-selling series.
In addition to being the nosiest and most sympathetic philosopher you are likely to meet, Isabel is now a mother. Charlies, her newborn son, presents her with a myriad wonders of a new life, and doting father Jamie presents her with an intriguing proposal: marriage. In the midst of all this, she receives a disturbing letter announcing that she has been ousted as editor of the Review of Applied Ethics by the ambitious Professor Dove.
None of these things, however, in any way diminishes Isabel's curiosity. And when she attends an art auction, she finds an irresistible puzzle: two paintings attributed to a now-deceased artist appear on the market at the same time, and both of them exhibit some unusual characteristics. Are these paintings forgeries? This proves to be sufficient fodder for Isabel's inquisitiveness. So she begins an investigation... and soon finds herself diverging from her philosophical musings about fatherhood onto a path that leads her into the mysteries of the art world and the soul of an artist.
Amazon.com
A Message from Author Alexander McCall Smith Three great places to visit in Scotland: The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh
This gallery, housed in an extraordinary red sandstone building topped with spikes and twirls, contains a pictorial record of Scots over the ages--the handsome, the deluded, the unfortunate, the inventive--they’re all there. Falkland Palace
A lovely little palace in lush countryside, where the father of Mary Queen of Scots turned his face to the wall and predicted the end of the Stuart dynasty. The Isle of Muck
You reach this charming little island on a tiny boat. There is nothing to do on the island but to contemplate its beauty--and its name. Note to readers:
I would like to thank you for all your support. If it weren’t for the encouragement this has given me, my long conversation with Mma Ramotswe would have ended far earlier. As it is, I feel that we still have quite a bit to hear from her – as we do, too, from Isabel Dalhousie, heroine of my Edinburgh novels, and all the denizens of 44 Scotland Street. Each of these series will have a new novel written this year, and I am also planning to revisit the three German professors of the Portuguese Irregular verbs series. I was in the United States in the spring this year and will return in the Fall. These visits give me the chance to meet many readers of these books, so if we have not yet met, perhaps we shall do so before too long. And if we do, please do not hesitate to give me your views on what should happen to the characters in the future: all (reasonable) suggestions gratefully accepted! --Alexander McCall Smith
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Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
She's not your typical mom, 2008-05-19
In response to an earlier review, I didn't feel cheated by the absence of description about how Isabel carried and gave birth to Charlie. I don't think she's the kind of woman who gets into matters of motherhood the way most women do. She lives in her head and has to learn to live more in the physical world, which a baby will force her to do, sooner or later. The novel is fun, like the earlier ones, but not quite as well put together in my opinion. Toward the end I felt as if the author was in a hurry to get it finished. On the whole, I think his Ladies Detective Agency novels feel more polished. But I love them all.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 The Careful Use of Compliments, 2008-04-27
I'm always curious and somewhat puzzled....how does a man think he can write as if he were a woman? But, I have to say, Alexander McCall Smith makes it believable. His main character is in many ways genderless, and not totally feminine sounding, but the story is excellent, the writing style enjoyable to read, and I'm crazy about all things Scottish, so it was a pleasure. Having been in Edinburgh, it was fun to be able to feel I was walking along with the protagonist about the city. I think I'd like to read more in this series.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Agree - Isabel has jumped the shark, 2008-02-28
I agree with the earlier posted who said Isabel has jumped the shark with the birth of Charlie. However, I think the Charlie storyline could have been very interesting, if McCall-Smith had any idea what it's like to be a mother of a newborn baby, which is impossible.
The ridiculous way that Isabel continues to pine for and obsess about Jamie is almost comical in this book. Sorry, but most new moms only have eyes for their babies, for at least the first 6 months or so. Hormones play a big role in that unconditional love thing, you know. But in this book, she barely gives Charlie a passing thought; we never see her being in the least bit tender with him, etc. Even in one scene where she looks out the window (or whatever) and sees Jamie holding Charlie, she's only thinking about wonderful Jamie. Sorry, this is not believable at all.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
 Bored and disappointed, 2008-02-19
Isabel Dalhousie is surely the most self-absorbed,pedantic,prudish shrewish busybody I have ever had the misfortune to come up against. She obviously considers her opinions to be the only ones that count, and doesn't trust anyone to have a legitmate thought in their heads. Even the father of her child is given the sharp side of her tongue every time he speaks. What he ever saw in her is a mystery. I have read many stories set in Edinburgh, a city I love, but these tales are spoiled by this impossible woman. Surely the women of Edinburgh have progressed far enough to let the person they love know how they feel without dissecting every emotion until there is nothing left. Not recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Disappointing , 2008-01-25
This is the first book I have read in this series. His character development for Isabel cannot compare with that for Mma Ramotswe in the Detective series. Based on this novel, I would not read anymore in this series. I just didn't find Isabel, or her perfectly behaved baby, believable. I would forget that the baby was in the scene, since he was most often awake, completely content and completely silent, or asleep, even on weekend-long romantic getaways, at dinner parties, and at galleries. Who is this kid???
Even the character of Jamie wasn't well developed (maybe he was more life like in previous novels, but in this one he seems flat, an afterthought, and a bit subservient).
I am very surprised this has averaged 4 stars here. I recommend the Detective series for better developed characters, more engaging plots, and an undercurrent of humor.
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