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Isabel Dalhousie #16
The Subtle Pleasures of Indiscretion
Not yet published
Expected 21 Jul 26The surface of Isabel Dalhousie's life is usually a tranquil one. From her house in Edinburgh, she edits a philosophical journal. In the background is her housekeeper, Grace; her husband, Jamie; and her two small boys. And yet, in the middle of this rather idyllic setting, things are happening.
Jamie, a bassoonist, has been invited to play in a prestigious London concert. This invitation, though, comes from a scheming woman who finds him particularly charming. Alarm bells ring. And they ring too when a wily philosopher, Christopher Dove, reveals a plot to topple Professor Robert Lettuce, a member of Isabel's editorial board.
Could Isabel's life get more complicated? Yes. A woman she knew many years ago at school approaches her with a request for help. She has made an awkward discovery as a result of taking a DNA test. Can Isabel prevent the information obtained from this test from causing real harm to a whole family? If anybody can do that, it is Isabel Dalhousie. And she does that with tact and, most importantly, the grace that we have come to know as her hallmark quality.
Jamie, a bassoonist, has been invited to play in a prestigious London concert. This invitation, though, comes from a scheming woman who finds him particularly charming. Alarm bells ring. And they ring too when a wily philosopher, Christopher Dove, reveals a plot to topple Professor Robert Lettuce, a member of Isabel's editorial board.
Could Isabel's life get more complicated? Yes. A woman she knew many years ago at school approaches her with a request for help. She has made an awkward discovery as a result of taking a DNA test. Can Isabel prevent the information obtained from this test from causing real harm to a whole family? If anybody can do that, it is Isabel Dalhousie. And she does that with tact and, most importantly, the grace that we have come to know as her hallmark quality.
- GenresFiction
240 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication July 21, 2026
About the author
Alexander McCall Smith
674 books12.9k followersAlexander 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.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 13, 2026
Another very welcome visit to the world of Isabel, Jamie and their two small boys. In this sixteenth story Isabel deals with with a threat to her marital happiness, solves yet another problem caused by Christopher Dove, and helps someone she has not met since their school days with a very delicate problem.
All this is done with Isabel's usual understanding and tactfulness. As usual I come away from another Alexander McCall Smith book amazed at the extent of this author's general knowledge and his skill at character building. Easily five stars.
All this is done with Isabel's usual understanding and tactfulness. As usual I come away from another Alexander McCall Smith book amazed at the extent of this author's general knowledge and his skill at character building. Easily five stars.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Pantheon and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on July 21st, 2026.
Hard to believe, but this is book 16 of my favorite McCall Smith series based on Isabel Dalhousie. Isabel is a philosopher who is editor (and now owner) of the Review of Applied Ethics, and each novel sees her living her life in Edinburgh, doing her job, contemplating moral issues in the world around her (which I admit is my number one hobby) and solving problems that people seem to bring to her.
This book opens with a delightful exchange on biting and socialization (the biter being Isabel’s younger son, Magnus). What follows delves into plot elements to do with surprising DNA results, the occult, and some nasty (and typical?) academic jockeying. But on the way — and this is the best part of these books — there are thoughts and discussions on the difference between treating people with decency vs respect, censorship, the temporary beauty of making music, how to define a “real” man by a definition of masculinity, how to really define selfishness, John Rawls theory of justice (look it up — it’s simple and fascinating), etc. I’ll include a few quotes, but suffice it to say that I enjoy the depth of moral discussion which the author keeps complex but also accessible. I have no appetite for dry philosophy journals, but morality is a subject that everyone has the capacity to consider, but which needs to go beyond the shallow slogans that permeate our current political life.
Every one of these books is a treat for me.
Some quotes:
“Making music was so much of an effort, and when you get to the final bar, it all fadd away; silence had been temporarily replaced by something beautiful and harmonious, but only for a few precious minutes. That was all that art did. For a moment, it made beautiful the space it occupied, giving a vision of something sublime, something that made sense. But then we turned away, and we had to start all over again.”
“We all have to do what we can, every single day, to ensure that the faults in our character do not derail our attempts to improve — to become more morally aware. It was exhausting, and so she sighed, and wondered whether she should stop thinking about it. Did we really have to expend so much energy on the development of our moral character? We could never be perfect. It was legitimate, surely to look after our own interests and the interests of those who were closest to us —family and friends most of all. That meant that there were limits to what we could do for others — and limits, too, to how much time we could spend on personal moral improvement. We cannot all be saints.”
“She thought of beauty, and the part that it played in our lives. We sought it out, whether or not we were aware of what we were doing. We looked for it in things, in people, in places, because beauty was something that was resolved and complete. And yet beauty itself was never enough: If you loved others for their beauty alone, then you were destined for disappointment. Beauty was no more than an invitation to contemplate something that lay before one: resolution, harmony, peace — there were many desiderata that beauty might promise, but not provide.”
Hard to believe, but this is book 16 of my favorite McCall Smith series based on Isabel Dalhousie. Isabel is a philosopher who is editor (and now owner) of the Review of Applied Ethics, and each novel sees her living her life in Edinburgh, doing her job, contemplating moral issues in the world around her (which I admit is my number one hobby) and solving problems that people seem to bring to her.
This book opens with a delightful exchange on biting and socialization (the biter being Isabel’s younger son, Magnus). What follows delves into plot elements to do with surprising DNA results, the occult, and some nasty (and typical?) academic jockeying. But on the way — and this is the best part of these books — there are thoughts and discussions on the difference between treating people with decency vs respect, censorship, the temporary beauty of making music, how to define a “real” man by a definition of masculinity, how to really define selfishness, John Rawls theory of justice (look it up — it’s simple and fascinating), etc. I’ll include a few quotes, but suffice it to say that I enjoy the depth of moral discussion which the author keeps complex but also accessible. I have no appetite for dry philosophy journals, but morality is a subject that everyone has the capacity to consider, but which needs to go beyond the shallow slogans that permeate our current political life.
Every one of these books is a treat for me.
Some quotes:
“Making music was so much of an effort, and when you get to the final bar, it all fadd away; silence had been temporarily replaced by something beautiful and harmonious, but only for a few precious minutes. That was all that art did. For a moment, it made beautiful the space it occupied, giving a vision of something sublime, something that made sense. But then we turned away, and we had to start all over again.”
“We all have to do what we can, every single day, to ensure that the faults in our character do not derail our attempts to improve — to become more morally aware. It was exhausting, and so she sighed, and wondered whether she should stop thinking about it. Did we really have to expend so much energy on the development of our moral character? We could never be perfect. It was legitimate, surely to look after our own interests and the interests of those who were closest to us —family and friends most of all. That meant that there were limits to what we could do for others — and limits, too, to how much time we could spend on personal moral improvement. We cannot all be saints.”
“She thought of beauty, and the part that it played in our lives. We sought it out, whether or not we were aware of what we were doing. We looked for it in things, in people, in places, because beauty was something that was resolved and complete. And yet beauty itself was never enough: If you loved others for their beauty alone, then you were destined for disappointment. Beauty was no more than an invitation to contemplate something that lay before one: resolution, harmony, peace — there were many desiderata that beauty might promise, but not provide.”
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I have to stop doing this to myself. I consistently think that I have not read a McCall Smith, so I pick one up because my dad loves them. And then I am underwhelmed, remember I have read and not really enjoyed them before, and am stuck because I am not someone who will DNF a book.
There is nothing wrong with this book in concept. And if you like McCall Smith and have enjoyed all of the books in the Isabel Dalhousie series before, then I am sure this will be one that you enjoy. The challenge for me is that I have not read the previous books, so I am not familiar with how this series has evolved from Isabel as a single woman to a family woman. You don't necessarily need all of that context to understand this book and the characters, but there is so little that happens that it feels like a chapter in the series rather than a whole book. Well, except for the word count and the drawn out story.
For me, this reads very much like how I felt about the Fifty Shades of Grey series .... There is not a lot of plot and a whole lot of filler. For Fifty Shades, that was the red room; for Isabel, it's just the banalities of her day. I also feel like McCall Smith inserts all of this intellectual thinking as a way of trying to show his reader how smart he is, especially when he spells out the meanings of words and colloquialisms to the reader. If I want to know what something means precisely, I will look it up. If not, I'll figure it out from context or skip it if it's not necessary for me to understand while I read on.
Isabel comes across as a very self-absorbed person who, despite her philosophical objectives, does not really do things for the sake of others. She helps people and does things to satisfy herself, and to make herself feel better. Is it really doing a service to tell Lettuce that Dove is going to explode a tawdry secret? Is it following a moral compass to do this? It would probably be better for her to tell him that Dove is up to no good and to have him speak to Dove directly. Is asking Grace to stalk John through her friendship with a neighbour really about helping her schoolmate or about making her feel less guilty about being a contributor to bullying? These are obviously intended to make us think about the moral dilemmas behind her actions and how we judge them. But I had no desire to dig deep. I just wanted to get it done.
In the end, McCall Smith is definitely not for me. But if he is for you and you have always been happy with his style and stories, go for it.
There is nothing wrong with this book in concept. And if you like McCall Smith and have enjoyed all of the books in the Isabel Dalhousie series before, then I am sure this will be one that you enjoy. The challenge for me is that I have not read the previous books, so I am not familiar with how this series has evolved from Isabel as a single woman to a family woman. You don't necessarily need all of that context to understand this book and the characters, but there is so little that happens that it feels like a chapter in the series rather than a whole book. Well, except for the word count and the drawn out story.
For me, this reads very much like how I felt about the Fifty Shades of Grey series .... There is not a lot of plot and a whole lot of filler. For Fifty Shades, that was the red room; for Isabel, it's just the banalities of her day. I also feel like McCall Smith inserts all of this intellectual thinking as a way of trying to show his reader how smart he is, especially when he spells out the meanings of words and colloquialisms to the reader. If I want to know what something means precisely, I will look it up. If not, I'll figure it out from context or skip it if it's not necessary for me to understand while I read on.
Isabel comes across as a very self-absorbed person who, despite her philosophical objectives, does not really do things for the sake of others. She helps people and does things to satisfy herself, and to make herself feel better. Is it really doing a service to tell Lettuce that Dove is going to explode a tawdry secret? Is it following a moral compass to do this? It would probably be better for her to tell him that Dove is up to no good and to have him speak to Dove directly. Is asking Grace to stalk John through her friendship with a neighbour really about helping her schoolmate or about making her feel less guilty about being a contributor to bullying? These are obviously intended to make us think about the moral dilemmas behind her actions and how we judge them. But I had no desire to dig deep. I just wanted to get it done.
In the end, McCall Smith is definitely not for me. But if he is for you and you have always been happy with his style and stories, go for it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Isabel Dalhousie, a philosopher and editor of the journal “Review of Applied Ethics,” is a rather privileged woman. She enjoys a loving husband, two small children, and full-time help. However, like many women, she feels the pressure of being overextended with her responsibilities. Isabel is known for offering help to others which sometimes can be overwhelming.
In this installment, Isabel encounters a former high school acquaintance seeking advice about a family secret that is about to be revealed. A member of her editorial board informs her that another member cheated during college and he intends to make that transgression public. Additionally, there appears to be a woman scheming to get closer to Isabel’s husband.
This is the 16th book in the Isabel Dalhousie series. You do not need to have read the prior works to enjoy Isabel’s wisdom and kindness. Visiting with her is always a delightful and soothing experience. McCall Smith creates wonderful characters, and the story is filled with poignant observations and enjoyable humor. These novels may not be action-packed, but they offer profound wisdom from a philosophical and practical perspective.
Thanks to @NetGalley and @aaknopf for the DRC.
In this installment, Isabel encounters a former high school acquaintance seeking advice about a family secret that is about to be revealed. A member of her editorial board informs her that another member cheated during college and he intends to make that transgression public. Additionally, there appears to be a woman scheming to get closer to Isabel’s husband.
This is the 16th book in the Isabel Dalhousie series. You do not need to have read the prior works to enjoy Isabel’s wisdom and kindness. Visiting with her is always a delightful and soothing experience. McCall Smith creates wonderful characters, and the story is filled with poignant observations and enjoyable humor. These novels may not be action-packed, but they offer profound wisdom from a philosophical and practical perspective.
Thanks to @NetGalley and @aaknopf for the DRC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I have been a fan of Alexander McCall Smith for years. Mma Precious Ramotswe is a favorite character in his The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series. I was excited to read something from his The Isabel Dalhousie Series.
In The Subtle Pleasures of Indiscretion, Edinburgh-based moral philosopher Isabel Dalhousie juggles three ethical dilemmas:
The London Concert: Her husband, Jamie, receives a dream musical opportunity orchestrated by a woman who has a blatant crush on him. Isabel must decide whether to warn him or remain silent to avoid causing him to doubt his own talent.
The DNA Dilemma: A close friend discovers a long-lost half-brother through a home DNA kit. She asks Isabel to help protect her late father's revered memory and shield the family from the sudden scandal.
The Academic Feud: Isabel's philosophical journal board falls into complete chaos. She is reluctantly forced to mediate a petty power struggle between Christopher Dove and the exasperating Professor Robert Lettuce.
Isabel relies on her signature empathy, grace, and pragmatic wisdom to help those around her find their footing.
Thanks to NetGalley and Pantheon, this book is scheduled for release July 21, 2026
In The Subtle Pleasures of Indiscretion, Edinburgh-based moral philosopher Isabel Dalhousie juggles three ethical dilemmas:
The London Concert: Her husband, Jamie, receives a dream musical opportunity orchestrated by a woman who has a blatant crush on him. Isabel must decide whether to warn him or remain silent to avoid causing him to doubt his own talent.
The DNA Dilemma: A close friend discovers a long-lost half-brother through a home DNA kit. She asks Isabel to help protect her late father's revered memory and shield the family from the sudden scandal.
The Academic Feud: Isabel's philosophical journal board falls into complete chaos. She is reluctantly forced to mediate a petty power struggle between Christopher Dove and the exasperating Professor Robert Lettuce.
Isabel relies on her signature empathy, grace, and pragmatic wisdom to help those around her find their footing.
Thanks to NetGalley and Pantheon, this book is scheduled for release July 21, 2026
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Quiet, measured Isabel's Edinburgh summer👨👩👦👦
The draws of this series for me are Isabel's home life and the various everyday ethical concerns she gets wrapped up in. She's very comfortably situated, with loving husband Jamie, two children, a career she loves and a firm place amongst the thinkers and academic community. Others come to her for advice or assistance and she can seldom turn them away in good conscience.
Here again, she gets stuck in on about half a dozen issues, from an old school contemporary who requests her intervention in a family matter; a scheming woman admirer of her handsome husband; a friend of Jamie's with financial problems; academic rivalries; an effort to recruit an intern to work with her; and a youngest son with a propensity to bite his schoolmates.
This novel is a perfect break from heavier, grittier suspense or action adventure. It's reflective, concerned with the human condition and the ethical concerns of daily living. I loved that Isabel and then Jamie shame themselves into abandoning the octopus meant for their evening meal!
Thanks to Pantheon and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.
The draws of this series for me are Isabel's home life and the various everyday ethical concerns she gets wrapped up in. She's very comfortably situated, with loving husband Jamie, two children, a career she loves and a firm place amongst the thinkers and academic community. Others come to her for advice or assistance and she can seldom turn them away in good conscience.
Here again, she gets stuck in on about half a dozen issues, from an old school contemporary who requests her intervention in a family matter; a scheming woman admirer of her handsome husband; a friend of Jamie's with financial problems; academic rivalries; an effort to recruit an intern to work with her; and a youngest son with a propensity to bite his schoolmates.
This novel is a perfect break from heavier, grittier suspense or action adventure. It's reflective, concerned with the human condition and the ethical concerns of daily living. I loved that Isabel and then Jamie shame themselves into abandoning the octopus meant for their evening meal!
Thanks to Pantheon and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.
Review of advance copy
Well I am an outsider in this universe as this is the first AMS novel I have read though being aware of his earlier Detective Agency work. I listened on Audible with a very good narrator with an excellent Edinburgh accent.
So why 2 stars.
The book is very pleasant - but too pleasant.
Perfect people leading largely untroubled perfect lives with only some minor bits of gravel in their shoes to disturb them.
It is all very plain vanilla with nothing particularly troubling and only some shenanigans in the Philosophy Dept to ruffle the waters
I see AMS has written 100 novels and it is easy to see his MO
Take a bit of a germ of a story and wrap it round with well written but prosaic musings on life the universe and everything. I gather a lot of people are not looking for a challenge in their novel reading, life providing more than enough trauma and I can see how this meets that need.
Good for AMS tapping in to this market.
Did any of his earlier novels have more interest and more edge?
I will have to survey the reviews
2 stars
So why 2 stars.
The book is very pleasant - but too pleasant.
Perfect people leading largely untroubled perfect lives with only some minor bits of gravel in their shoes to disturb them.
It is all very plain vanilla with nothing particularly troubling and only some shenanigans in the Philosophy Dept to ruffle the waters
I see AMS has written 100 novels and it is easy to see his MO
Take a bit of a germ of a story and wrap it round with well written but prosaic musings on life the universe and everything. I gather a lot of people are not looking for a challenge in their novel reading, life providing more than enough trauma and I can see how this meets that need.
Good for AMS tapping in to this market.
Did any of his earlier novels have more interest and more edge?
I will have to survey the reviews
2 stars
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The unexamined life may not be worth living, but the examined life in the hands of Isabel Dalhousie is certainly not a walk in the park!
In the latest book in this series, we find Isabel drawn to her usual involvement in helping those in sticky situations. Jamie continues to be her handsome Renaissance man, Professor Lettuce continues his irritating arrogance, Through it all, Isabel weighs her actions and the actions of others on a moral scale that’s admirable, sometimes humorous and always compassionate.
It’s always a treat following the inner musings of this ethics philosopher and neighborly do-gooder as she navigates her enviable Edinburgh world.
Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
In the latest book in this series, we find Isabel drawn to her usual involvement in helping those in sticky situations. Jamie continues to be her handsome Renaissance man, Professor Lettuce continues his irritating arrogance, Through it all, Isabel weighs her actions and the actions of others on a moral scale that’s admirable, sometimes humorous and always compassionate.
It’s always a treat following the inner musings of this ethics philosopher and neighborly do-gooder as she navigates her enviable Edinburgh world.
Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
June 10, 2026
No more for me!
I have been reading the Isabelle Dalhousie and the Scotland Street series by Alexander McCall-Smith for many years, loved them all and eagerly anticipated the latest instalments.
Until now McCall-Smith has navigated the zeitgeist without aligning to a political narrative and has delicately installed a balance of views in his characters, but with "The Subtle Pleasures of Indiscretion" he has failed.
McCall-Smith's own biases are blatantly on display; the Climate Cult and Identity Politics underlie his writing, and I suppose you would expect no less as he was/is an academic, and as we all know, that is WOKE central. What a shame!
I have been reading the Isabelle Dalhousie and the Scotland Street series by Alexander McCall-Smith for many years, loved them all and eagerly anticipated the latest instalments.
Until now McCall-Smith has navigated the zeitgeist without aligning to a political narrative and has delicately installed a balance of views in his characters, but with "The Subtle Pleasures of Indiscretion" he has failed.
McCall-Smith's own biases are blatantly on display; the Climate Cult and Identity Politics underlie his writing, and I suppose you would expect no less as he was/is an academic, and as we all know, that is WOKE central. What a shame!
June 23, 2026
I particularly like this series of books by this author. I was missing Isobel since book 15 seemed to be so long ago. Waited in hope of another edition to come down the line. Book 16 did not disappoint. Makes for great reflection and some thought about others. Please keep Isobel's story alive for at least another few stories of a quiet life in the very well described Edinburgh.
July 6, 2026
2.5 stars. Very reliable. Comfort read. I know I’ll enjoy some philosophical debate about choices and actions. Unfortunately this novel barely touched the sides of Isobel’s life. The children were barely represented which would not be the case of a family with young kids. I felt distant from Isobel’s household as clearly the upper class with a “nanny” was very present.
July 2, 2026
The latest book in this series sees all the issues gently dealt with - a serene read
July 2, 2026
I have loved the previous books in this series but found this one lacked the charm.
Review of advance copy
An ok read ,not a great deal happens but still great writing from alexander
Review of advance copy
Brilliant as usual
July 9, 2026
Another gentile installment of Isabel Dalhousie's life, where problems as insubstantial as clouds float in and out of her orbit almost without trying...
Review of advance copy
I bought this book mistaking it for something else...
I've read it but am still not sure what it was about & feel I shouldn't have bothered.
Sorry can't recommend, I didn't enjoy it.
I've read it but am still not sure what it was about & feel I shouldn't have bothered.
Sorry can't recommend, I didn't enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews