Friends, Lovers, Chocolate

July 18, 2005
The second installment of McCall Smith's Sunday Philosophy Club series sports a charmingly meandering plot and winningly hyperverbal characters—no surprise to fans of Isabel Dalhousie's debut, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books, or any of McCall Smith's 50-plus titles. Once again, Edinburgh's Dalhousie, intrepid editor of a philosophy journal, finds herself analyzing other people's problems when asked to fill in for her niece Cat, at Cat's gourmet food shop-cum-delicatessen. At the shop, Isabel meets Ian, who is haunted by visions of a man he comes to believe must be the murdered donor of his transplanted heart. As McCall Smith lovingly takes Isabel sleuthing across Edinburgh, the donor's stepfather (a man Ian has never seen) turns out to look much like the man of Ian's nightmares. Meanwhile, Cat's romantic rejects find their way, via the shop, into Isabel's social set, including former major beau Jamie, a classical musician who, though 15 years younger, becomes Isabel's confidant. A delicious mix of the unlikely and the tried-and-true, this latest cozy from an undisputed master will make readers feel just that. 9-city author tour.

Can the recipient of a heart transplant see the memories of the person it came from? Isabel Dalhousie thinks so, seeing a mystery in the visions of a new friend while covering for her niece who runs an Edinburgh delicatessen. In this follow-up to THE SUNDAY PHILOSOPHY CLUB, Davina Porter gives Isabel a voice, complete with brogue, that's well in character for a 40-something woman; she can't help but take matters into her own hands when her friends have problems, she sees her feelings toward a younger male friend turning into something more, and she lives by a unique code of ethics. Porter's portrayal is important since the mystery here plays a secondary role to Isabel's life and those of her friends. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

March 1, 2006
What one finds at 44 Scotland Street is a rooming house and a microcosm of Edinburgh society. Twenty-year-old Pat rents a room from handsome but vain Bruce for her second gap year. Precocious Bertie, pushed to excel by his overbearing mother, and crusty widow Domenica McDonald lease other spaces. There is also Matthew, the son of the owner of the art gallery where Pat finds employment as a receptionist. When a piece of art gets misappropriated, author Ian Rankin becomes involved in the sleuthing. This is Smith's best since the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, and librarians will want to be sure to start their collection with the first title. Performer Robert Ian Mackenzie aptly portrays these Scots.InFriends, Isabel Dalhousie, general editor of the philosophy periodicalJournal of Applied Ethics, returns in the second installment of the Sunday Philosophy Club series. When her niece Cat goes to a wedding in Italy, Isabel fills in for her at her delicatessen and meets a customer named Ian, who's banned from chocolate, among other things, since his heart transplant. Now Ian is having visions of an unfamiliar face he thinks might be meaningful to the original owner of his new heart. Recommended for collections with loyal Smith fans and only for patient, literate listeners, even with Davina Porter's competent rendering of the personalities.Sandy Glover, Camas P.L., WA

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