The Sunday Philosophy Club : An Isabel Dalhousie Mystery (Hardcover)

by Alexander McCall Smith (Author)
Key Phrases: Paul Hogg, Johnny Sanderson, Usher Hall (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine
The Dalhousie series is “sure to be a second hit franchise,” notes The New York Times. That may be, but it’s currently suffering inevitable comparisons with the popular No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Sunday Club rambles along just as slowly and develops its sense of time and place just as whimsically. Still, something—maybe the charm?—is missing. This time, McCall Smith, a professor of medical law, examines both a mysterious death and moral responsibility. Isabel’s ethical musings may bore some of us shallow folk, though McCall Smith’s psychological insight fascinates. And, while critics liked Isabel, they didn’t heap on the effusive praise they’ve reserved for the charming Precious (see The Full Cupboard of Life, **** July/Aug 2004). So, sit back, take a deep breath, and wait for the second installment … what’s the rush?

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; First American Edition edition (September 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375422986
• ISBN-13: 978-0375422980
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (147 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #420,825 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The Sunday Philosophy Club (Isabel Dalhousie) Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It just won't translate, September 20, 2005

By	Stephen Doiron (New Orleans, LA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Sunday Philosophy Club (Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries) (Paperback)

It seems to matter not how much I celebrated AM Smith's work or how often in re-reading any of his Botswana tales, I reveled in the homogeneity of his crafted prose and the perfected simplicity of his character's emotions, none of this translated into an appreciation for The Sunday Philosophy Club.

The characters are still clean, crisp and open to the reader's inspection, but the prose is much too languid.

Worse, though, the writer just couldn't seem to keep his mitts off the story and leave it to the reader to find his way through. I had to put the book down and walk away with each interruption. And so obsequious! I kept feeling him, peering over my shoulder, asking "Did you get that," or "Wasn't that clever of me?"

Now, mind, I do reciprocate Mr. Smith's concern for dwindling ethics, civility and taste; but that's better left to a book where I choose to read his thoughts on that subject, it's simply not germane to a yarn preoccupied with Isabel, busily poking her nose into other people's business.

Mr. Smith also seems to suffer from what I call the English Mystery Writer's syndrome. Ninety percent of the energy and craft go into the opening and build of the story; then, as the writer nears the end of his prescribed length, he slaps up a climax and conclusion with apparent disdain for the reader's investment in the story or the characters. I am certain he can do much better.

Harsh, yes. But it's the reaction of a loyal, avid reader of a very competent wordsmith who's gone off the rails for a bit. I can only imaging what Grace might have said, if she were asked.

I'll try one more, but mind the gap!

66 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Edinburgh Mystery, October 26, 2004

By	L O'connor (richmond, surrey United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Isabel Dalhousie is a quiet, refined lady philosopher. One night at a concert a young man falls to his death,apparently accidentaly, but Isabel suspects otherwise and sets out to find out the truth. She is helped some of the time by her niece, who has a hunky new boyfriend. Isabel does not understand the appeal of hunks, which tells you all you need to know about Isabel. She likes her niece's former boyfriend, who also helps her in in her investigations.

This is a quite pleasant but unmemorable mystery story with a rather lame ending. Isabel is not nearly as interesting a character as Mma Ramotswe, and the story generally lacks the charm and humour of the Botswana-set No. 1 Ladies series. Rather disappointing.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Torture to finish, November 4, 2005

By	Elizabeth Murphy "Emurph" (St. Louis, Missouri, US) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Sunday Philosophy Club (Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries) (Paperback)

I have been interested in Mr. Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency for quite a while, but had not yet picked one up, so was quite pleased when our book club selected Sunday Philosophy Club as our next novel. However, the book was more than a disappointment--it was absolutely painful to finish.

The book is filled with inane details of the protagonist's life, including tales of her housekeeper's best friend's husband, detailed descriptions of meals and visits with her niece, and all of her thoughts and efforts surrounding her efforts to get that niece safely married off to Mr. Right. What isn't filled with these events, is filled with Isabel's rather snobbish thoughts as she works the daily crossword puzzle, finding somewhat obscure references to be terribly simple clues, and with her comparative analyses of events in her life to the writings and teachings of various philosophers and musings as to how her Sunday Philosophy Club would react to her analysis.

Ugh.

While the murder occurs in the first few pages, the author takes half the book to even begin the plot related to that death. And even when the plot gets started it seems a terribly minor part of this book, which apparently isn't a murder mystery at all, but just a month or so in the life of Isabel. The plot itself, when it did finally unravel, was terribly disappointing and did not ease the pain of dredging my way through the last half of the book in the least.

While I am generally easygoing and forgiving of authors, and rarely rate books under at least 3 stars, this book was not enjoyable at all, and in fact I must admit I actually hated it.