The Sunday Philosophy Club (Isabel Dalhousie Series)

If you are expecting an action-packed murder thriller, you will be greatly disappointed. If you enjoy gentle-paced stories with some mystery, you will like this book. If you know anything about Edinburgh, and if you know even a little about philosophy, you will love this story, even if the "heroine" can be self-reflective to the point of paralysis. McCall Smith has written an urban, Western version of Mma Ramotswe in many ways. Isabel Dalhousie tries to use her knowledge of, and commitment to, applied ethics in everything she does, and it is fun to "watch" her struggle with the issues that she faces in her personal life every day. I really enjoyed this book, and the later ones in the series. I know a bit about Edinburgh and the Scottish people, and this book brought back some wonderful memories of my short time there. I hope that the author keeps this series going - and quickly.

I read this book without having read any of the author's prior books. I know that some have remarked that this was boring or slow but I found it to be neither of these things. I was thoroughly entertained by it. I loved Isabel's mind--which is why I found it so difficult to understand the ending and how she came about feeling the way she did. I won't spoil the ending but I will say that it leaves one with an utterly unending need to discuss the philosophy of justice. Throughout the book I felt as though I were watching "Murder She Wrote" with a younger woman in the lead. Isabel is profound, comical and thought-provoking. All of the characters are well-rounded and completely believable. I can't say enough good things about this book. It's hard to find well-written books that are profound, entertaining and suspenseful--read it and discuss it with your friends.

If your interests are limited to mystery books, nothing else, this book is not for you. I initially bought this book because of the title, thinking that we would have a female version of Her Professor Dr Dr (Hon.) Moritz-Maria von Igenfeld, the Pninish uberscholar philologist who wrote the seminal Portugese Irregular Verbs ("after which there was nothing left to discuss about the subject, Nothing."). I was curious to see how he would present a female version of such scholar. He did not. Nor was it a detective story, although there is an element of suspense. This book is about Applied Ethics, a subject about which the author seems to know a bit. It also makes you feel like leading a quite thinking life in Edinburgh. I don't want to spoil the story but I felt that I was reading a detective story until I realized what it was...

Catherwood is right! McCall Smith IS a genius. The fact that this amazingly versatile author is able to write in so many different literary genres is living proof of a brilliant original literary mind at work. Like Catherwood I enjoyed both the Ramotswe novels, the Von Igenfeld entertainments and now this splendid mystery novel all alike. Go with Catherwood's critique and buy all McCall Smith's oeuvre, from Botswana to Edinburgh!

In Mr. Smith's book he makes a natural transition from the books of the "No. 1 Ladies Detective" series toward a more human concept. Instead of the near `saintly' ethical and moral actions and thoughts of his characters in Botswana, McCall Smith deals here with a more advanced culture and the question of conflicting ethical concepts. In this book, "The Sunday Philosophy Club" again Smith uses a mystery as the vehicle for his discussion of ethics and morality. And to make sure that the reader does not miss his obvious point, he actually makes his protagonist, the editor of a journal on Ethics. Thus, the subject of ethics and morality is at the forefront of all that occurs in the book. Ironically, all through the book, the Sunday Philosophy Club never actually has a meeting. Yet, Smith introduces an element of cognitive dissonance. What happens, when one of the highest moral character, is faced with competing choices, both with totally ethical justifications? This issue is the focus of Mr. Smith's book. Smith clearly illustrates that one with even the finest and most upright personal character, may be faced with making a choice between two or more ethical possibilities, and must resolve that dilemma in some way. As with all Smith's books, he does resolve the mystery for us, and he does so with a particularly elegant ethical and moral touch. All readers of McCall Smith will continue to be enlightened and entertained by this most recent composition. All readers concerned with the execution of ethics and morality in real life, should not pass up the opportunity to read this example of how these issues might be resolved in the here and now.