Bertie's Theory of Ice Cream: A 44 Scotland Street Novel

44 Scotland Street #18

by Alexander McCall Smith

The latest installment in the lively and deliciously charming 44 Scotland Street series finds all our favorite residents of Scotland’s most celebrated address navigating their enchanting and eventful lives

Settle in and take a trip back to Scotland’s favorite fictitious street with Bertie, Irene, Big Lou, newcomer Galactica Macfee and all the rest.

Once more, we catch up with the delightful goings-on in 44 Scotland Street. With his singular warmth and charm, Alexander McCall Smith gives us another installment in this popular series, where anything could happen to Bertie and the gang…

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Audiobook

256 pages, Hardcover

Published August 7, 2025

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

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alexander McCall Smith writes several popular, ongoing series, and 44 Scotland Street is my favourite. His writing is charming, containing wit, wisdom, and a gentle philosophy of life, friendship, and love. His observations of humanity are astute, insightful, and humorous. He is sympathetic to the characters' foibles and so far has not judged them, leaving that to the readers. Karma has been delayed or held in check. This is the 18th book in the series and features mostly recurring characters, whose personal growth or lack thereof is revealed. Kindness is one of the most important human qualities.

Angus, an artist, and his wife, Dominica, an anthropologist, seem to be the backbone of the stories. They know all the others and discuss their strengths and weaknesses, as well as the changes they have observed in Edinburgh. They meet a vegan couple who are ready to confront anyone about the ways they are contributing to climate change. They have an unhappy dog that has been forced on a vegan diet, and the dog would like to run away. I hope we revisit this couple in the future, as they are prepared to stir up dissension. Can the dog be saved and fed sausages?

A favourite character is seven-year-old Bertie, described as having 'pure goodness'. His mother, Irene, is a horrible, neglectful woman. She left home to move to Aberdeen and take courses in psychology. Her professor was a psychiatrist, Hugo. They had an affair but eventually separated due to philosophical differences. Bertie's father, Stuart, is weak and ineffectual, but his mother, Nicola, takes good care of Bertie and his younger brother, Ulysses, who bears a suspicious resemblance to Hugo more than to Stuart.

Irene is living a happy life with everything going her way. She lives in a rustic fishing village and is in love with a fisherman; her love is returned. The social norm is that men take the fishing boats out while the women stay home and cook. Irene has shown a talent for filleting fish. She persuades her lover to let her and other women command a boat and bring in the fish. She now plans to visit her boys on a weekly basis and adds another language course to Bertie's schedule, along with all the other courses she previously added. Stuart is forced to pay for all the activities she has forced on Bertie during her absence.

At school, Bertie is still bullied by Olive, who is supported by Pansy. Olive insists she and Bertie will marry in the future. She has started a book club for the seven and eight-year-olds, where Pride and Prejudice will be discussed. She demands that Bertie join as the only boy allowed, and will not take 'NO' as his answer. Bertie decides to hide with his best friend, Ranald Braveheart MacPherson. All descriptions I have read about the plot mention Galactica McFee as a main character. I was hoping that with her rude and domineering personality, she would put Olive in her place. She is not only absent from the classroom, but it is as if she never existed. Bertie believes in kindness. If he is enjoying an ice cream, it should be shared.

The nun who moved to Scotland Street is annoying. She is a social climber and has quickly joined the social clubs, provoking envy among those who have been waiting for a long time for membership. She thinks she has found part of the Stone of Scone, which will add to her prestige.

The obnoxious Bruce has recovered from being struck by lightning. The injury removed his narcissism, but now he has reverted to his old conceited self. Reading about him is always entertaining.
I am impatient to read the next book in the series. This book will be published in North America on April 28, 2026.

[Alyson Million · Rating 5 out of 5]

This made me laugh out loud a great deal! I love this series so much I can’t bear the idea of how long I’ll have to wait for the next one. I guess I’ll have to just try other titles by Alexander McCall Smith, to keep me going!

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Bertie. To paraphrase he's got 99 problems and chicks are all of them. It's lovely to catch up with the denizens of Edinburgh again and find out how Irene is coping up north in a fishing village. She's up to her old ways and I think Mccall Smith always is too nice to her. He's too nice to most of his villains which is a nice change but just once I'd love her to get her comeuppance for the nightmares she put both Stuart and Bertie through.
Bertie gets caught up with Olive and her gang, I knew an older lady who once told me some kids need and deserve a good smack and Olive is one of them. I don't condone violence but she's a terrible child who will grow up into a terrible adult andit needs to be stopped beforeshe becomes yet another adult bully. Bertie and Ranald end up at a wedding somehow wearing Campbell tartan kilts and escape through spooky dark underground tunnels. His mother also decides he needs an Irish passport foursome reason. Matthew and Elspeth have vegan neighbours whose dog is depressed at also being vegan as most dogs don't like that. The neighbours are insufferable with their electric car, solar panels and superior attitude. The dog runs away to join Matthew's household and now he's faced with a dilemma. To keep the dog or give him back to a family he hates. Nicola meets a man and ends up thinking there could be romance but can it be that easy. Bruce has returned to his full on old self unfortunately and has bought a dingy basement apartment hoping to give it a better address by moving a door only to learn that's impossible. Our favourite nun thinks she has found a piece of literal Scottish history. We also see Angus, Cyrillic, Dominica and others we've come to know and love along the way, and its like catching up with old friends even if some of them are people you would despise if you met them in real life. I do hope in future Ulysses gets a role, I'd love to see the brothers' relationship as it develops, if they can bond over their awful mother. All we know about Ulysses is that he throws up when he sees Irene, smells bad and looks like Fairbairn. We shall see. A sweet comforting read, always fun to catch up with the gang again.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the last two.

Irene was quite entertaining, staying with the fishing folk in Peterhead. Poor old Bertie is still being tortured by Olive, so it would be good for her to get her comeuppance in the next book. The vegan couple could have had a bigger role, but, all in all, an ok read this time.

[Adele · Rating 3 out of 5]

A milestone book - 1,500 books read on Goodreads 🥳
In each of his series Alexander McCall Smith quietly discuss humanity leveraging his extensive knowledge of literature, history, art, music, and philosophy. And I always feel a bit better for the debate.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another instalment from the 44 Scotland Street characters, always a palate cleanser between reads for me. A reassuring balm for the soul. Also felt all the more enjoyable listening to this whilst walking around Edinburgh.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is his most accomplished series. The myriad of characters, the generation mix, the woven lives. I admit I'm getting fed up with Isabel Dalhousie's perfect life and the languid nothingness of the banal lady detectives... but here there's always wry amusement, a daft scheme, a bit of gossip, and wisdom.

[Andrea ☕️📚🌴 · Rating 4 out of 5]

On reaching the end of this book (I always listen to these on Audible as David Rintoul’s voice is now as much a part of these books as the characters!) I was amazed that this is book #18. I look forward to the new releases like I would do a favourite series on TV.
This book did not disappoint, a great catch up with the regular characters.

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating 2.5

Used to read this series when it began in the newspapers and continued with the published titles.
Due to the nature of them I do find them hit or miss for me, probably depending on my mood at the time of reading.
Saw this one in the library and since quite some time since reading any others in the series picked it up.
Didn’t really work for me. Nice easy read. Enjoyable meeting the old characters again.
Obviously same style as usual …. episodic story telling moving from character to character.
For whatever reason this one didn’t really work for me. Not a bad book, good in parts but felt something was lacking … more than likely my mind wasn’t in the right place.
Would still recommend though to anyone who has read other titles in the series.

[Tim Unwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

McCall Smith writes sweet and gentle stories that take us to a world where the majority of people are good and kind, despite the presence of the odd bad egg about whom there is a clear moral consensus anyway. But after 18 stories in the 44 Scotland Street series (more in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, and several other series besides) I am beginning to feel that he writes too much. Much as I enjoy reading the 'Bertie books' especially, in the end they get repetitive and predictable. It's as if McCall Smith has fallen into the trap of imitating himself, or (heaven forfend) that he has got to the stage where AI can do the job for him. It's all getting too familiar. The formula worked in the earlier books in the series, but it is beginning to show signs of wear and tear.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely to catch up with all the familiar characters and discover what they've been up to ... thank goodness Irene remains up in the far north! As always, Alexander McCall's writing manages to combine a 'comfort-read' with some thought-provoking, philosophical reflections on the state of the nation!

[Clare Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another sweet gently funny chapter, pointing fun at extremes and suggesting we just get on with life and not judge others

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best in the series but always a soothing read, I do sometimes find the sentiment a bit much.

[Marie O'Halloran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alexander McCall Smith manages to keep the series fresh. I'm sure he enjoys writing these romps. It's difficult to believe that Bertie is still only 7 years old!!

[Oonagh Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this light read.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another gentle story from 44 Scotland Street

[J Macmillan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who can resist 44 Scotland Street for a quick easy read. Will Bertie ever grow up?

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favourite series by a very insightful, humorous and well grounded author.
I listened to this on audio book read by David Rintoul... instantly in Scotland!

[Anne Herbison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting a new book in this series is like meeting old friends. There are thought-provoking, gentle philosophies to enjoy as usual.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

McCall Smith spreads his ideas so thinly these days given the number of books he produces. However, it was lovely to go back to Scotland Street again and meet the familiar characters.

[Rebecca Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book, although it felt at the end like there were lots of loose ends!

[MS S C WILSON · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bertie’s view of icecream

Loved this as always - the only problem is that I couldn’t read it slowly enough, so now I will have to wait nearly a year for the next instalment!

[Iain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annual visit to Scotland Street in Edinburgh's New Town a hoot as ever.

[Audrey Hogg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another utterly delightful read in the Scotland Street series.