Product Description

The delectable new installment in the bestselling and already beloved adventures of Isabel Dalhousie and her no-nonsense housekeeper, Grace.

When friends from Dallas arrive in Edinburgh and introduce Isabel to Tom Bruce – a bigwig at home in Texas – several confounding situations unfurl at once. Tom’s young fiancée’s roving eye leads Isabel to believe that money may be the root of her love for Tom. But what, Isabel wonders, is the root of the interest Tom begins to show for Isabel herself? And she can’t forget about her niece, Cat, who’s busy falling for a man whom Isabel suspects of being an incorrigible mama’s boy. Of course Grace and Isabel’s friend Jamie counsel Isabel to stay out of all of it, but there are irresistible philosophical issues at stake – when to tell the truth and when to keep one’s mouth shut, to be precise – and philosophical issues are meat and drink to Isabel Dalhousie, editor of the Review of Applied Ethics. In any case, she’s certain of the ethical basis for a little sleuthing now and again – especially when the problems involve matters of the heart.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14694 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-10
• Released on: 2007-07-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 276 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781400077113
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
The third novel featuring well-to-do and somewhat-nosy philosopher Isabel Dalhousie continues McCall Smith's exploration of the rights and wrongs of everyday life, with Isabel's thoughtful presence providing decidedly more intellectual punch than the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. When Jamie, a young musician, begins to show interest in Isabel, her stirred feelings threaten to overwhelm her even keel, throwing her into ethical crisis. To what degree are our lives dictated by biological imperatives and desires? Does the meaning of art arise from the art itself or its audience? Are white lies permissible, and if so, when? What does the well-off individual owe the homeless man on the corner? Out-of-town visitors to Edinburgh—Americans, no less—provide further touchstones for all manner of ethical mulling as well as the grist of the book's mystery: does Angie, a young, inscrutable woman betrothed to a wealthy Dallas bachelor, Tom Bruce, have her eyes set on true love or money? At times Isabel's intense dedication to mindfulness borders on the didactic, but love comes to the rescue, nicely illustrating the book's most important philosophical puzzle: how is it that people find real happiness, and what does it have to do with loving rather than thinking? (Sept. 19)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Prolific Scottish novelist McCall Smith is best known for the delightful--and phenomenally popular--No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. His second mystery series, featuring Scottish American moral philosopher Isabel Dalhousie, is a charmer, too, and steadily growing in popularity. In this third installment, Isabel, fortysomething and well to do (her mother left her a sizable inheritance, much of which she donates anonymously to charity), once again finds herself in several ethical dilemmas. Houseguests from Dallas introduce her to an affable and affluent fellow Texan, whose flighty fiancee seems less interested in his character than his cash. Meanwhile, Isabel must come to terms with her feelings for Jamie, her niece's handsome former suitor. (He's 14 years Isabel's junior, but should age really matter when it comes to matters of the heart?) Isabel's predilection for passing judgment occasionally comes off as preachy, but her assessments of human foibles are both hilarious and shrewd. Even the most erudite among us can't always suppress inappropriate urges, advises Isabel, illustrating her point with the tale of a Cambridge classicist who vociferously opines on the girth of a visiting scholar's wife. Adding to the pleasures here are McCall Smith's wealth of heady references, from W. H. Auden and Robert Graves to Catullus and Kant. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Praise for Friends, Lovers, Chocolate (Book 2):

“This mystery’s a charmer.”
–People

“Friends, Lovers, Chocolate delivers . . . offering a fulfilling mystery and satisfying visit with the Edinburgh connection.”
–Calgary Herald

“Sophisticated fun. . . . McCall Smith succeeds in creating another enjoyable philosophical mystery starring a woman who can only be described as a blend of the infamous sleuth Nancy Drew and the philosopher Voltaire.”
–Metro (Toronto)

“Friends, Lovers, Chocolate is written with an easy grace and gentle charm. Violence is out; the emphasis is on civility and intelligent inquiry. For those who like their mysteries leisurely and cerebral, this is a lovely offering.”
–Edmonton Journal


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

A Matter of Heart
The Right Attitude to Rain (2006) is the third novel in the Isabel Dalhousie series, following Friends, Lovers, Chocolate. In the previous volume, Isabel spent a bit of time thinking of Auden and Brother Fox. With a little help from Jamie, she tracked down the donor of Ian's heart. And she brought about a sense of resolution between a father and his late son.

In this novel, Isabel is concerned about her interventions into others's affairs. Several people, particularly Jamie, have chided her for going over the line into nosiness. However, she has convenient excuses for noticing a foreign couple park their car in a clearly marked no-parking zone and for following them into the Scottish Gallery. As it happens, she is destined to encounter this couple often during the next few weeks.

Speaking of intervening, Isabel is looking for an apartment for Grace, her housekeeper. Isabel's father has asked Isabel to take care of Grace and she has decided that this request means that she should provide a place for Grace to live. Isabel asks Jamie to go with her to inspect an apartment close to his home.

Isabel immediately takes a liking to the seller, Florence Macreadie, and Florence seems to like Isabel. Florence also seems to approve of Jamie. Florence has inherited a house in Trinity from her aunt and must leave her long-time residence. Yet she is not enjoying the flood of nosy viewers who have come into her home.

Cat has another boyfriend, Patrick, and Isabel is determined to hold back her opinions of the man. Isabel is told about Patrick by Eddie, Cat's only employee, who seems to approve of him. Isabel soon learns that Patrick is dominated by his mother, whom she knows slightly, but she virtuously refrains from mentioning her growing doubts on the relationship to Cat.

Isabel has houseguests during the summer. Cousin Mimi McKnight and her husband Joe have fled the Dallas heat and are visiting Isabel for a few weeks before moving on to a house in Oxford. They are seldom within the house during the daylight hours. Joe is researching the history of adoption in the libraries and Mimi is haunting bookstores to find works by Arthur Waley.

In this story, Isabel spends too much time thinking about the morals of various subjects innocently introduced by various acquaintances. She is personally concerned about her relationship with Jamie. Of course, Jamie loves Cat, but her niece has spurned all his advances. Now Isabel is free to wonder about her own feelings for the much younger -- fourteen years -- and very good looking man.

Naturally, the Review of Applied Ethics takes up some of her time and lots of her mentality. She has a young professor on her editorial board who asks many questions. Another member of the editorial board submits an incoherent article on "The Ethics of Tactical Voting" that requires extensive editing. At least it gives her some outlet for her obsessive cogitations.

This story is more personal than the previous novels, with few elements of a mystery story. Actually, the author has always dealt more with the daily mental life of Isabel Dalhousie than with her investigations into illegal acts. There are some improper activities occurring in this novel, but they are almost irrelevant to the main plot.

Highly recommended to McCall Smith fans and to anyone else who enjoys tales of a highly intelligent woman with independent means and a rather old-fashioned approach to life and romance.

-Bill Jordin

These keep getting better!
Finally, Isabel starts acting like a 40 year old instead of like an elderly lady! This book really started showing us how likeable and interesting Isabel really is, and for that I am grateful. I found the first book in the series rather dull, liked the second book a lot better, and finally really enjoyed this one.

Isabel develops a romantic interest (I won't spoil it for you!), has some visitors from America, and generally has some interesting and fun times. The plot, as in the previous books, has little enough to it that I don't want to say much more, but the philosophical musings and thoughts on everyday life are charming and a pleasure to read, and I was thrilled to see her character blossom so nicely!

Can't wait for the next one.

The Ethics Of The Older Woman
Once again, Smith has produced a stunningly glorious novel that spends its time dealing with both human relationships and ethics; as Smith is wont to do. In a finely crafted piece Smith examines the attitudes toward a relationship between a man and a woman who are separated by 14 years. This plot element is one that Smith has carried over three books now and had to be resolved for the sake of ethical clarity.

With particular finesse, Smith weaves in both the American perspective and the Scottish perspective because "Isabel" is half each and Smith mixed in some visiting American relatives from Texas. He thus created an opportunity to mix and match cultures in this ethical question. The resolution of that question I will leave to the reader as he or she consumes this finely created addition to the "Isabel Dalhousie" series of Smith books.

As always, Smith is clear, with fine and illustrative human experience examples to point out the fine points of ethics, especially as it mixes with real society and real human beings. Nonetheless, his messages are clear and his style is engaging. The book is recommended to all readers of Smith's former works and anyone looking for a quick and interesting take on the societal position of older women being involved with younger men.