The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds

August 27, 2012
In Smith's delightful ninth novel featuring Isabel Dalhousie (after 2011's The Forgotten Affairs of Youth), Isabel, "somebody who sorts out people's difficulties" when she's not editing the Review of Applied Ethics, assists a wealthy Scottish gentleman, Duncan Munrowe, with a tricky situation. One of Munrowe's favorite paintings, a Poussin, has been stolen, and he wants her help in dealing with the thieves (there's talk of a ransom). A minor subplot involves the endearing Eddie, who works in her niece Cat's deli, and his romantic woes. The almost too-good-to-be-true Isabel does her usual thingâtalking, listening, and puzzling through the ethical implications of thingsâto bring about a fitting, and just, resolution. With his usual deft hand, Smith conjures characters with a few linesâhousekeeper Grace with her short fuse is particularly aliveâand he has a knack for combining light comedy and serious thought. The plot (not untypically for the series or the author) is as gossamer thin as even the thinnest clouds, though it's a pleasure to watch it scudding past. Agent: Robin Straus. 

June 1, 2012

Boasting more than one million copies in print, the Isabel Dalhousie series is right up there in popularity with McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency titles. In this ninth entry, a Scottish landowner robbed of a Nicholas Poussin painting asks Isabel's help in dealing with the thieves, who have approached him privately. With a reading group guide.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 15, 2012
A painting by Nicolas Poussin, valued at 3million pounds and slated for donation to Scotland's National Gallery, has been stolen from the stately home of a Scottish country gentleman and held for ransom. After contacting his insurance company, the victim takes the unusual step of reaching out to Isabel Dalhousie, a philosopher who specializes in ethics. Isabel has the reputation for being able to sort through thorny situations and murky motives, a quality that has involved her in other people's problems in eight previous novels in this series. At first glance, Isabel doesn't seem nearly as quirky and human as McCall Smith's other woman detective, Precious Ramotswe (of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency), or as the recurring characters in the Scotland Street or Corduroy Mansions series. Isabel seems to have it all, effortlessly: inherited wealth that allows her to publish the Review of Applied Ethics, a dreamboat of a younger husband, and an adorable little boyall this good fortune housed in a well-appointed Edinburgh home. But Isabel's constant awareness of how Nemesis may take notice of her makes her wholly sympathetic. The art theft itself, which expands into a consideration of famous art heists and forgeries, gives readers fascinating glimpses into a mostly hidden crime industry. McCall Smith spikes his heroine's seemingly cloistered world with enough close encounters with tragedya neighbor stabbed to death by someone he brought home, for exampleto make both Isabel and the reader aware of the fragility of good fortune. Utterly satisfying for its art-theft puzzle, characterization, and Edinburgh setting. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The Precious Ramotswe novels continue to be McCall Smith's most popular franchise, but the Isabel Dalhousie series, starring the ethicist and crime solver, is sneaking up on the outside.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)