The Charming Quirks of Others

✍ Scribed by Smith, Alexander Mccall

• Book ID: 106877310
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: en-GB
• Weight: 166 KB
• Series: Sunday Philosophy Club - Isabel Dalhousie mysteries 7
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9780307379177

✦ Synopsis

SUMMARY: The seventh installment in the beloved chronicles of Isabel Dalhousie finds our inquisitive heroine facing new intellectual challenges, but buoyed by her recent engagement to the nearly perfect Jamie. After having dinner with Jamie, Isabel is approached by a pair of old friends, asking her to help them in a rather tricky situation. A successor is being sought for the headmaster position at their alma mater. The board has four final candidates. They received an anonymous letter, however, alleging that one of them has a very serious skeleton in their closet. Could Isabel discreetly look into it? The answer is of course, yes. Although for Isabel the whole investigation is even more revealing: she finds herself attracted to one of the candidates, which complicates her life immeasurably because she is engaged to Jamie, the father of her young son. Dealing with issues of charity, forgiveness and humility, Isabel's most recent investigation is a revealing look at the need we all have to keep a little bit of ourselves hidden.

From Publishers Weekly

While Smith's seventh novel featuring Scottish philosopher and woman of means Isabel Dalhousie (after The Lost Art of Gratitude) doesn't break new ground, the author's many fans will be more than satisfied to follow the small events of Isabel's life, in particular her struggle to come to terms with her own imperfections. Much to Isabel's dismay, Prue, a cellist with a terminal illness who's a professional colleague of her bassoonist fiancé, Jamie, has been making ever greater demands on the good-natured Jamie. An angry Isabel eventually accuses Jamie of sleeping with Prue. Meanwhile, Isabel agrees to dig into the background of three candidates for headmaster at an Edinburgh boys' school after an anonymous letter claims that one of them has a skeleton in his closet. If chance more than a logical strategy leads Isabel to resolve this issue, her investigation leads her to valuable insights into human nature. As usual, crisp, often funny prose complements the author's limitless reserve of good will and understanding of people in general.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From

The seventh entry in McCall Smith’s series featuring moral philosopher Isabel Dalhousie finds the fortysomething Edinburgh resident drawn into an investigation of three candidates vying for the headmaster position at a local boys’ school. It seems that the selection committee has received an anonymous letter alleging that one of the three candidates has engaged in behavior that would cause the school serious embarrassment. But which one? As Isabel makes discreet inquiries about the candidates’ backgrounds, she learns that her much younger lover, Jamie, is anxious to give up his bachelor pad, marry Isabel, and move in with her and their toddler son, Charlie. But Isabel suspects that Jamie is not telling her everything about his sudden desire to make a mad dash for the altar. For Isabel, no decision is straightforward; there are always complications and nuances that must be given their proper due. With Isabel’s shrewd and frequently funny assessments of people and McCall Smith’s heady quotations from W. H. Auden, among others, the Isabel Dalhousie series continues to instruct and amuse. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: McCall Smith is best known for his No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels, but the Isabel Dalhousie series, showcasing the author’s native Scotland, also has its devotees. --Joanne Wilkinson