The Sunday Philosophy Club

Finished The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith. I very much enjoyed his The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency when it came out in 1998 and subsequent books in the series.

I have purchased a reasonable number of his other books but none of them took. The Sunday Philosophy Club I have probably begun three times in the past five years. Just didn't engage me.

This time - straight from start to finish and enjoyed it a great deal. Sometimes the moment has to be right for the reading to be magic.

From the blurb:

Nothing captures the charm of Edinburgh like the bestselling Isabel Dalhousie series of novels featuring the insatiably curious philosopher and woman detective. Whether investigating a case or a problem of philosophy, the indefatigable Isabel Dalhousie, one of fiction’s most richly developed amateur detectives, is always ready to pursue the answers to all of life’s questions, large and small.

In this first installment, Isabel is attending a concert in the Usher Hall when she witnesses a man fall from the upper balcony. Isabel can’t help wondering whether it was the result of mischance or mischief. Against the best advice of her no-nonsense housekeeper Grace, her bassoon playing friend Jamie, and even her romantically challenged niece Cat, she is morally bound to solve this case. Complete with wonderful Edinburgh atmosphere and characters straight out of a Robert Burns poem,
The Sunday Philosophy Club is a delightful treat from one of our most beloved authors.

Well, yes. And more.

The writing has the culture and sophistication of P.D. James in her Dalgliesh series but graced with a lightness of touch and good humor that makes it erudite, intriguing, artful, and entertaining.

I particularly enjoy the many digressions and ruminations along the way. Little nuggets of observations with pertinence to the reader but not necessarily to the story.

Samples to follow.