Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780375425134
ISBN: 0375425136
Label: Pantheon
Manufacturer: Pantheon
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2008-09-23
Publisher: Pantheon
Release Date: 2008-09-23
Studio: Pantheon

In the fabulous new installment in the best-selling adventures of Isabel Dalhousie, Isabel is asked to help a doctor who has been disgraced by allegations of scientific fraud concerning a newly marketed drug. Our ever-curious moral philosopher finds her interest piqued. Would a doctor with a stellar reputation make such a simple but grave mistake? If not, what explains the tragic accident that resulted in the death of a patient? Clearly, an investigation is in order, especially since a man's reputation is in jeopardy. Could he be the victim of someone else's mistake? Or perhaps he has been willfully deceived by a pharmaceutical company with a great deal to gain.

Not every problem prompts an investigation (take, for example, her ongoing struggle with her housekeeper, Grace, over the care of Isabel's infant son, Charlie), but, as we've seen, whatever the case, whatever the solution, Isabel's combination of spirit, smarts, empathy, and unabashed nosiness guarantees a delightful adventure.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Charming, as always
Comment: I really love this series. This book, like the others, is a quick read with characters you have to love. I especially enjoy the way the main character's mind works. If you are looking for well-written, light reading, Smith's series is a winner.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Check out from the library, but I wouldn't buy...............
Comment: The characters in this series are well developed, but they seem not to be growing in strength are doing "new" things. This is an easy read and the outcome is easy to predict. I have enjoyed this series, but this one is the least favorite of them. I look forward to the next to see how the relationships develop - maybe marriage would strengthen the relationships in the book?

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Pleasant
Comment: Unfortunately the new 44Scotland Street novel only can be described as pleasant. Isabel is somewhat tedious in this story and is becomoing obcessive about her younger lover. It is not the best of the series, altough a "plesant" and easy read.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: McCall's Best Dalhousie Book Ever
Comment: This one will keep you up all night turning pages, even if you are not already hooked on Isabel Dalhousie and company.

McCall's extended portrait of life in Edinburgh is both thought-provoking and emotionally delicious as we follow Isabel's ups and downs and find ourselves strangely comforted by the humanity and vulnerability of her life.

Will her beloved Jamie be enticed by an American composer to leave Edinburgh to further his career as a concert bassoonist? Did the doctor do it? Why does Grace claim Isabel's baby boy Charlie is her own son? Will Cat ever figure out why she chooses the wrong men? Do people, even nice Edinburgh people, actually go about telling lies every day?


Curl up with a cup of strong black tea with cream and plenty of sugar as you get to know Isabel a little better.

You won't regret it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not the best in the series, but still worth reading
Comment: The Comfort of Saturdays is the fifth book in the "Sunday Philosophy Club" series, which feature Isabel Dalhousie, philosopher and occasional amateur sleuth. I should say at the outset that I adore this series. Isabel is a very likeable character with lovely little observations about life and its everyday moral dilemmas. But having said that, this is the book that I have liked least in the series to date. It felt like Isabel spent too much time thinking and not enough doing, to the detriment of the book's momentum.

The story picks up a year after "The Careful Use of Compliments". Isabel and Jamie's son Charlie is now 15 months old. One thing that felt wrong to me as a mother was Isabel's relationship with Charlie, which seemed very functional. She spends so many hours fretting about Jamie - does Jamie love her? is he happy? is she at risk of losing him? how can someone so beautiful want to be with her? - while she seems far less interested in her own son.

The book opens well. Isabel is asked to investigate the circumstances behind a doctor's disgrace over a medical scandal. At the same time, Jamie has developed a friendship with a mysterious composer by the name of Nick Smart. However it felt like McCall Smith lost interest in both of these storylines, which get pushed to the back and never get fully resolved. Instead we spend a lot of time with Isabel and her insecurities. For the first time we see sides of Isabel which are not very appealing: for example she harbors a grudge over a loan that she has made and is quick to pass judgment on Eddie's girlfriend based on the way she looks.

Despite all of this, McCall Smith is still a lovely writer. I always feel a little lighter in spirit after reading his books. The Edinburgh settings are captivating and Isabel has an original and refreshing take on life.

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