Alexander McCall Smith, The Lost Art of Gratitude
I am never quite sure if I like the Isabel Dalhousie series, but I keep reading them! They are easy reads, and the everyday moral conundra they explore are interesting. I just find Isabel herself irritating and unconvincing. Perhaps it’s because I have read all the Scotland Street books that I have turned to these – I haven’t been able to get into AMS’s African books, but I love the Scotland Street ones. I do love the charm, gentleness, old-fashioned manners and graciousness of AMS’s writing, and that tinge of melancholia despite the warmth and love of life – there is something very real and engaging even about these books that I am less sure of. Maybe I should try the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series again.
