Customer Reviews:
 Isabel Becomes A Real Detective January 17, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is probably the best of the entire Dalhousie series. McCall Snith writes a fast reading smooth mystery about art. Isabel, being independently wealthy is a modest art collector. She specializes in Scottish artists. Being in Scotland, that is not a surprise. And, she has an eye for the good and valuable in Scottish art.
In this book, she attends an auction and bids on a painting by McInnes, a Scottish artist of some serious repute in the art world. His paintings are especially valuable, because he died in a sea accident. But she finds there is something funny about the painting and another one as well. She starts to investigate.
Unlike the previous Dalhousie books, this one much more than the others really involves a serious mystery. McCall Smith's smooth writing style makes this book a real page turner. Combining this with some really interesting plot twists, the book is by far the most intriguing of the series. Along with the art mystery; Smith introduces a social dilemma for Isabel. Her job is to edit the "Journal Of Applied Ethics." She takes this job very seriously. However, in this book, she is terminated by the Board of the Magazine. This `sacking' hits her very hard. How she resolves this dilemma is indeed a lesson in the power of manipulation.
The book is recommended for all mystery readers and especially all lovers of McCall Smith's books. This one is not to be missed. The interleaving of the ethical way of life with the mystery of the plot is truly exceptional and should not be overlooked by lovers of the genre. It truly is a wonderful example of Smith's abilities as a writer.
 An enchanting series January 10, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Isabel Dalhousie's contemplative life as Edinburgh's resident philosopher has reached a major crossroads in this, the fifth novel in McCall Smith's enchanting series. With the revelation that she was pregnant with her young lover Jamie's child, at the end of the fourth installment, THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TO RAIN, her quiet, respectable and nearly Victorian lifestyle has dissolved.
It is, after all, the 21st century, so her new unwed motherhood has not made her an outcast as it might have done in earlier times. In fact, little Charlie's presence has caused barely a ripple among her colleagues in the arts and literary world of Edinburgh. Grace, her faithful housekeeper, has assumed the additional role of nanny with joy, if not outright zeal, which sometimes proves disconcerting to Isabel as she continues her work editing The Review of Applied Ethics.
When she receives the abrupt and disturbing news that she is to be unceremoniously ousted in her position at the esteemed magazine, she is almost as stunned as when she discovered her impending parenthood. The personal ambitions of an Aberdeen professor, a member of the magazine's board of directors, sees the editorship as a stepping stone to his ascension from an obscure college to the higher ranks of Scotland's academia. He thus embarks on a campaign to replace Isabel and take over the magazine.
Isabel is an enormously wealthy woman in her own right, so the loss of her job is not hazardous to her financial well-being --- but the loss to her ego is another thing altogether. The upstart professor finds a battle on his hands as Isabel struggles with her own ethical standards to retain her position --- especially when Cat, Isabel's estranged niece who is the only one in her circle of family and friends who is affronted by her aunt's pregnancy, seems quite taken by the professor.
Meanwhile, a mystery evolves as Isabel begins to suspect that a painting she is interested in buying by a well-known artist may be a forgery. She wrestles with the moral dilemma that arises from questioning the authenticity of the painting, discovering the truth behind the subterfuge and divulging the truth, creating another fascinating conundrum for Isabel and now Jamie, who is a major part of her life as befits the father of her son.
With time on her hands as the responsibilities at the magazine shifts to someone else, Isabel is free to travel to one of the Hebrides Islands in search of the artist in question. The trip leads to several revelations that most certainly will result in McCall Smith entertaining us with another installment in the life of this increasingly interesting woman.
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea
The Careful Use of Compliments November 12, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Another well written novel from Alexander McCall Smith which embraces the relationship of Jamie, Isabell and their son Charlie. The author uses his characters as conduits through which he puts out his lessons of morality and other very human issues. He also succedes in bringing the reader into the lives of the books characters such that I look forward to a further issue.
Good old Isabel! November 9, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I did really enjoy this book---it has a bit of a mystery to it, but it's a "soft" mystery. Of course, Isabel goes through a lot of examining her feelings about herself, about Jamie, about her niece, and she is enjoying being a mother, although I did not get the impression of warmth toward the baby that you might expect. Isabel is a bit cold and calculating about a lot of her life, but she does experience some jealousy when she feels the housekeeper is taking too much of a front seat with the baby. I recommend this as a good read. It's a good series.
Best Isabel Dalhousie book yet! November 1, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This Isabel Dalhousie title pulled out all the stops. All of the regular characters are more fully developed. Their relationships are stronger and more interesting. The customary ethical dilemas in this story are somehow more real and less "invented". And, the sense of place, the roamings around Edinburgh and the holiday on a Scottish coastal island feeds the imagination of those who wish they could even momentarily live in Isabel's world.
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