Romance to the Fore
Pros:
Writing is excellent as always.
Cons:
The plot is rather thin.
The Bottom Line:
Enjoyable, but not as much as the Ladies 1st Detective Agency series.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Among McCall Smith’s books, his series of novels featuring Isabel Dalhousie, the Edinburgh philosopher, haven’t usually been my favourites. They have next to nothing in the way of plots, and an unsatisfying thinness of action. Dalhousie spends a good deal of time thinking about what she should do rather than doing it, and this can be frustrating for the other characters as well as the reader.
That’s not to say that these books lack entertainment value: the digressions McCall Smith allows Dalhousie are often amusing. But the series began as one in which Dalhousie was supposed to be not only a philosopher but an amateur detective. This side has dropped away almost completely, and this latest book is primarily a romance.
The romance flowers between Isabel and her long-time friend, Jamie, who is fourteen years younger than her. (Jamie has been in the series since the beginning.) Naturally this means Isabel spends a good deal of time thinking through the implications of such a relationship. Perhaps too much time. Nevertheless, when she does take some action (to the reader’s relief), things move along quickly. Whether the romance is realistic or not other readers can decide. I felt it sometimes bordered on the unlikely, not because of the age difference but because in spite of Isabel and Jamie’s friendship, there didn’t seem to be enough writing up of the romantic side of things. It may suit others better than me.
McCall Smith is a stylist with few peers. The fact that he writes such delightful English (with the odd bits of Scottish thrown in) makes him enjoyable even when his characters sit around mulling about things.
