Friday, March 29, 2013

The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday by Alexander McCall Smith

I really enjoy McCall Smith's Isabel Dalhousie series.  This is another book about the moral philospher.  Isabel is still with her partner, Jamie, and their son Charlie is getting older.  Isabel is considering making the situation more permanent, in spite of the fact that she wants Jamie to feel free.  The "mystery" in this story occurs when a doctor's wife asks Isabel for her help with her husband, the doctor.  The doctor had overlooked information about a drug and some one ended up dying from it.  Isabel's conclusions, as usually happens, are completely wrong, yet she still makes things better for the doctor who is suffering from crippling shame and depression.

This is probably one of my least favorite of the Isabel Dalhousie books.  I think because she continues to obsess about the age difference between her and Jamie, and it makes her jealous and possessive in this book.  We see a lot of her weaknesses in this particular story, and I got a little tired of the repeated theme of Isabel suspecting Jamie of some underhanded behavior and then he proves that he was actually thinking of her.  And then she suspects him again!

It is a quick read.  Like all the Dalhousie books, it is intelligently humorous and quirkily clever.  It is worth the time, but if you're new to the Dalhousie series, don't start with this one!

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