Search - The Sunday Philosophy Club (Isabel Dalhousie)

I did not enjoy this one from McCall Smith quite as much as the "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" novels; there is a certain amount of philosophical meanderings, which somehow detract from the detective aspect. However, it is a very readable mystery story, set in Scotland.

I ADORE the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by this author. This series, however, is slow and pendantic and self-rightous. it is as if he is trying to be "intellectual". This has none of the joy or lightheartedness of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books.

I'll post it anyway. Someone might want to read it. Don't know why....

I like all the Ladies #1 detective books and hated this one. Too English.

This is the first in the Isabel Dalhousie series, by the author of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, Alexander McCall Smith. The novel is set in Edinburgh, Scotland, and has a lot of cultural references. If you like The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency stories, you will probably like this, too.

Interesting characters; enjoyable read.

Delightful!

Interesting story, but not Smith's best book.

A pleasant read - more for the throughful musings of the protagonist than for action or drama.

This is an awesome author!

Love this character, good series....

I found the character of Isabel Dalhousie just as boring as the mystery itself. A wealthy editor of Philosophy magazines, I found her extremely dull. For too much of the book her mind wandered into philosophical thoughts that seemingly had little to do with the mystery, as if the author was trying to make her look intelligent and wanted to broach various subject with a captive audience. There seemed to be a lot of references to works of philosophy I don't know, or care about. Isabel seems to spend so much of her life *thinking* that she doesn't *do* much except get into other people's business when it suits her. Her housekeeper and niece were much more interesting than she was.

The mystery itself was very dull and slow moving. I got 3/4 of the way through and started skimming over the sub stories about the niece's love life, just to get the mystery moving along. I was very disappointed in the solution and the way it played out at the end. I just was left with the feeling that Isabel Dalhousie was a very dull person, and I wouldn't want to hang around her for very long. (Especially when even her niece notices she 'drifts off' in thought.)

Too dull to even consider any more.

I tend to like books that give you a view of other countries up close and personal, so I liked the setting of Edinburgh, Scotland. Isabel Dalhousie loves her city. She is trained as a philosopher and due to inherited wealth does not have to work. She is active in the international philosophy community, and the book brings up many questions. Frankly, I never knew what a philosopher did, and I found it interesting.

Murder and moral obligation mingle in this whimsical new series from the author of the smash hit The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. McCall Smith's new heroine is Scottish-American philosopher Isabel Dalhousie, a single woman of independent means who edits the esteemed Review of Applied Ethics and presides over the titular club. When Isabel witnesses fund manager Mark Fraser fall from a balcony after a performance at an Edinburgh concert hall, she feels obliged to investigate the gentleman's demise. "I was the last person that young man saw," Dalhousie tells her beloved niece, Cat. "The last person. And don't you think that the last person you see on this earth owes you something?" Given her affinity for applied ethics, questions of conscience are a daily concern for Isabel, and the more she thinks about Fraser's fall, the less accidental it seems. Among those who might have pushed him: his shifty roommate, his colleague's scheming spouse and a disgruntled broker with a craving for cash. Fans of Botswanan heroine Precious Ramotswe are sure to embrace Scotsman McCall Smith's plucky new protagonist, who leads a cast of delightfully quirky characters that includes Toby, a dapper bachelor with a dubious understanding of fidelity, and Grace, Dalhousie's morally upright housekeeper, who sizes up society's reprobates in two syllables or less. Scotland's climate may be misty and cool, but McCall Smith's charming prose warms every page of this winning series debut. --Amazon.com

Another smooth flowing female detective, this time in Scotland instead of Botswana.

The first in the series by McCall Smith featuring Isabel Dalhousie, of Edinburgh (depicted lovingly by one of its most famous citizens), the editor of a journal on ethics, which leads to many thoughtful digressions on her inconvenient habit of getting involved in other people's business, especially when murder is concerned. Like Smith's other beloved female sleuth, Precious Ramotswe, Isabel is an intelligent, caring, and given to gently humorous musings. Assisting in carrying the plot along are her niece, Cat, and Cat's former boyfriend Jamie, who has become Isabel's closest friend. And of course sensible housekeeper Grace offers her own advice as well. In this case, Isabel witnesses the death of a young man who falls from the balcony of a concert hall, and feels morally responsible to investigate the circumstances.

a simple, fun read, great for those who loved Precious.

Not as enjoyable as his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.

The first book in a new series by Ladies Detective Agency author. I really liked the main Character, Isabel Dalhousie. She is another unique character, a Scottish single, independently wealthy, who has a great circle of friends and lives an intellectual life but is really likable. If you like Ladies Detective agency try this for another fun, yet well written read.

This book is in Perfect Condition!

Isabel Dalhousie is a new sleuth to me. She witnessed an "accident at a theater when a man fell over the balcony and died. She belongs to a Philosphy club and is frequently philosophical in her dialogue.