The Private Life of Spies

by Alexander McCall Smith

The Private Life of Spies

Genres: Audiobook, Fiction, Short Stories

300 pages, Hardcover

Published July 15, 2023

About the author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Reviews

[Conny Belzen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories, some of them witty and funny but not one story was as good as his novels.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a whole different type of writing than what I'm used to reading from this author, yet it is familiar and laced with the humor I've come to expect. The best way to describe the difference is that the stories are a bit more complicated or sophisticated than what I'm accustomed to reading in some of Smith's charming series. Where better for an author to experiment with different ideas on a topic than in a series of short stories?
The stories are entertaining and the reader can never be sure in what direction they will go. There are hints given along the way, but you can't be certain that things will turn out as you've imagined. Some of the characters are the most unlikely people to end up in the situations they find themselves in, but that's what keeps the reader going while wondering just how things will be resolved. As is typical of Smith's stories, there are questions posed that are food for thought for the reader. You have to ask yourself how you would handle or react under a similar situation. End the end, the best way to describe my reading experience was that I became as "absorbed" in the stories as the characters were in their surroundings by the end of their tales.

[Peter Holz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five unusual and very entertaining spy stories, quite different from the usual cloak and dagger fare. Mixing fact with fiction, they provide light, amusing and illuminating reading, sprinkled with the author's usual insightfulness when it comes to human nature. I particularly enjoyed Syphax and Omar, which revealed the espionage business for the nonsense that it is.

[Neil Basnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best and I found some of it quite boring. Why does this author continue to use words that none of us use in everyday life e.g. concomitant and shibboleth? I still have to look up their meaning every time! The first three stories were the best of the five and were more typical of the author's style of writing with some humour, seriously lacking in the last two stories.

[J.A. Kahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just loved this book. As always, McCall Smith’s use of humour is delicate and such fun. Each character is so believable, they pop out of the pages as all of them go through great stress and then relief. I think everyone will enjoy this, a true delight.

[Anakayoshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first Alexander McCall Smith book I’ve read that wasn’t part of a series. I liked the short story format, and the interesting characters he’s created. Not gripping page turning, but interesting, philosophical musings that nourish the soul. I love AMS.

[Helen Cordell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this ❤️

[Popup-ch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comfort food for the soul.

A couple of short stories that vaguely relate to spies.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

McCall Smith always challenges my way of thinking, the way I see things. For this I am grateful for his body of work.