BookBrowse Reviews The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith

BookBrowse:

'Tthe best, most charming, honest, hilarious, and life-affirming books to appear in years.'

This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For access to our digital magazine, free books,and other benefits, become a member today.

The Sunday Philosophy Club (the first in a new series from McCall) is set in his home town of Edinburgh, Scotland. As with the Mma. Ramotswe books, the story is not driven by the plot so much as the commentary. However, the difference is that whereas Mma Ramotswe is an African Miss Marple - who has an instinctive understanding of people based on her close observations of life in her own small community, the star of this new series is an extremely well read moral philosopher named Isabel Dalhousie, which gives McCall Smith a wider and more sophisticated canvas on which to work.  The result is a very clever book but one that is never obvious or overstated, and is stuffed full of wonderful one-liners.

Selected Reviews:
'Scotland's climate may be misty and cool, but the author's gentle humor and keen insights into human nature warm every page of this engaging series debut.' - Booklist Starred Review.

'Murder and moral obligation mingle in this whimsical new series from the author of the smash hit The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.... Fans will quickly be reassured that McCall Smith's latest possesses all the gentle humor and keen insights into human nature that characterized his Mma Ramotswe novels.' - PW.

This review first ran in the July 20, 2005 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.