The Sunday Philosophy Club

Isabel Dalhousie #1

by Alexander McCall Smith

Nothing captures the charm of Edinburgh like the bestselling Isabel Dalhousie series of novels featuring the insatiably curious philosopher and woman detective.  Whether investigating a case or a problem of philosophy, the indefatigable Isabel Dalhousie, one of fiction’s most richly developed amateur detectives, is always ready to pursue the answers to all of life’s questions, large and small.

In this first installment, Isabel is attending a concert in the Usher Hall when she witnesses a man fall from the upper balcony. Isabel can’t help wondering whether it was the result of mischance or mischief. Against the best advice of her no-nonsense housekeeper Grace, her bassoon playing friend Jamie, and even her romantically challenged niece Cat, she is morally bound to solve this case. Complete with wonderful Edinburgh atmosphere and characters straight out of a Robert Burns poem, The Sunday Philosophy Club is a delightful treat from one of our most beloved authors.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Scotland, Philosophy, Audiobook, Crime, Cozy Mystery

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 2004

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

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was just telling a friend that I rarely leave two-star reviews, but this is one of them. I probably wouldn't have read the entire book (Davina Porter's usual terrific narration notwithstanding), except for the resolution of the "mystery" presented at the outset; to avoid a spoiler, I'll leave it that Smith handles that aspect well in terms of a surprise.
What isn't handled so well are the characters - there wasn't a single one I care to hear about enough to read the second book in this series. The protagonist Isabel seemed considerably older than 42 to me - her "editorship" of an obscure journal seemed more of a make-work project than anything else; basically, she's independently wealthy, which isn't a bad thing, but she seems to live vicariously through others, when not obsessing over details. Her niece Cat struck me as rather a spoiled brat; sorry, but there it is. Grace, the housekeeper, is "wise", which is compensation I suppose for being neither rich nor very good looking, as with every other character in the story. The beautiful Jamie struck me as a wimp; moreover, Isabel (and Grace's!) focus on how hot he is struck me as a tad unseemly - I wouldn't have liked seeing male characters doing so either. Another reviewer stated that she felt Smith's women struck her as being written by a man, who thinks he knows how women think, but doesn't quite get it (paraphrased). I've never been a woman myself, but I think that person may have been onto something.
The story is cozily, quaintly character-driven in a similar manner to the No. 1 Ladies' Detective series, but lacks the spark of those tales. Perhaps the difference can be explained that Mma's Ramotswe and Makutsi (the latter especially) have made something of their lives, without having it handed to them, unlike Isabel and Cat.
So ... I wasn't sorry I read the book, but can't recommend it with any enthusiasm.

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sound the Post Horn! Isabel is off and running again...

And Isabel is anything but a mere Sunday Sleuth. No, she’s a total self-starter, and just as curiosity can kill us cooler-brained cats, it is ALWAYS time, regardless of consequences, for her to play Holmes to us more pedestrian Watsons.

You see (wanna know a secret?) - she’s Independently Wealthy. With her simple (ahem!) tastes she has enough to last THREE lifetimes. Let’s just pray she has a feline’s nine lives to boot, cause she sticks her neck out much more often than there are novels in this series of her misadventures.

And guess what? She’s an ingénue. So in one book we usually make the sign of the Cross more times than on Sundays! She’s THAT naïve.

And if curiosity, again, killed the Cat, we hope it will also spare her helpful niece - whose name is ALSO Cat - as Cat falls into the always-fatal blunder of hinting her friend should ditch her current beau and seek a more suitable mate.

Because (and skip this current paragraph if you hate spoilers - NOW) Cat’s ex is set to become Isabel’s current flame.

There, and if you read that bit I apologize, but there’ll be no more here.

Other than to say the book’s plot proves a push is often as good as a shove...

OK - I bit my tongue.

But if you’re finding yourself, one dreary Sunday Afternoon Teatime of the Soul, looking for a warm mystery to cozy up with -

Look no further than this one -

Cause it’ll get YOU up & running, and ready for another manic Monday.

[Sandysbookaday (taking a step back for a while) · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCERPT: Isabel Dalhousie saw the young man fall from the edge of the upper circle, from the gods. His flight was so sudden and short, and it was for less than a second that she saw him, hair tousled, upside down, his shirt and jacket up around his chest so that his midriff was exposed. And then, striking the edge of the grand circle, he disappeared headfirst towards the stalls below.

ABOUT 'THE SUNDAY PHILOSOPHY CLUB': Edinburgh. Genteel home to ladies who lunch, attend concerts, art exhibitions and - for this is not a showy city - do good by stealth. Ladies such as Isabel Dalhousie.

Behind Edinburgh's regimented Georgian facades, its moral compasses are spinning with greed, dishonesty, lust and murderous intent. Isabel Dalhousie knows this. Isabel, in fact, rather relishes it. An accomplished philosopher and editor of the Review of Applied Ethics, she knows all about the difference between good and bad. Which is probably why, by instinct, she is an amateur sleuth. And instinct tells her the man who tumbled to his death in front of her eyes after a concert in the Usher Hall didn't fall. He was pushed....

MY THOUGHTS: I first met Isabel Dalhousie in The Geometry of Holding Hands, #13 in this series. I immediately felt such admiration for her, a certain kinship with her, that I knew I had to start this series from the beginning. The Sunday Philosophy Club has only increased my liking for her.

'Curiosity killed the cat. Satisfaction brought him back.' Isabel is afflicted by unbridled curiosity. She is a devout believer that 'anything can and will happen in this life.' And once her curiosity has been aroused, she finds it impossible to disregard the matter. She feels that she has a 'moral obligation' to make sense of situations. Although she does occasionally jump to conclusions - well, who doesn't - I enjoy her thought processes and the discussions she has with her rather self-opinionated housekeeper Grace. Isabel and Grace are a good balance for one another. While Isabel often finds it difficult to form a decided opinion on an issue, Grace always has an opinion, and is always quite certain that she's right.

The mystery is not the main focus of the plot. The Sunday Philosophy Club is definitely character focused. I love the intellectual Isabel, who quotes Auden, does crosswords, and ponders the mysteries of life. I love the way her mind seemingly wanders (as mine does), the way she rather unashamedly listens to other people's conversations ( as I do), and the judgements she makes about the people she encounters. Isabel can be sharp and waspish, but is never afraid to apologise and never turns away anyone who needs help.

I could easily be friends with Isabel and am looking forward to spending more time with her.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#TheSundayPhilosophyClub #LittleBrown

I: @alexandermccallsmith @littlebrown

T: @McCallSmith @LittleBrown

#contemporaryfiction #mystery #philosophy #sliceoflife

THE AUTHOR: Alexander McCall Smith 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.

https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

[Paromjit · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick and likeable read that is mildly engaging. It is the first of the philosopher Isabel Dalhousie series set in Edinburgh. She edits a philosophy journal on applied ethics and ponders on the ethics and morality on the minutae of life. Upon seeing a man fall from a balcony at Usher Hall, she wonders if its just a case of being unlucky or murder. She settles on murder and delves into the mystery which gives rise to numerous ethical issues. She is aided by her wise and able housekeeper, Grace. We have Cat, her niece and Jamie, who Isabel feels Cat should have married. I have to say I much preferred the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Nevertheless an okay read. Thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, I'd have to call this series a guilty pleasure. The plotlines don't always ring true to life, although I've never been a wealthy philosopher living in Scotland, with a major crush on my niece's ex-boyfriend, a bassoon player who's at least a decade younger than me. I'm not as intellectual as Isabel, or as nosy, but I happen to love anyone who ponders the bigger moral questions in life, and who loves a crossword puzzle and a cup of freshly brewed coffee. So there you have it. Although I wasn't as convincingly hooked on this series as other books by the same author, I couldn't put it down. The ending was a bit of a disappointment, but I was still eager for the next installment.

[آبتین گلکار · Rating 4 out of 5]

به عنوان داستان پرهیجان پلیسی نیایید سراغش، چون موضوع پلیسیش خیلی کند پیش می‌ره و چیز خاصی نداره، ولی اصل ماجرا در دوراهی‌های اخلاقی مختلفیه که نویسنده و کارآگاهش در داستان مطرح می‌کنند. برای من انگار عصاره‌ی خیلی از کتاب‌هایی که خوندم و فکرمو مشغول کردن، به شکل خیلی مستقیم و در عین حال جذاب، در اینجا مطرح می‌شد. خیلی از این دوراهی‌ها و مشکل‌ها شاید بارها به شکل‌های مختلف در کتاب‌ها مطرح شده باشن یا اصلاً در زندگی واقعی فکرمون رو مشغول کرده باشن، ولی دیدنشون در اینجا باز برام جذاب بود. بعضی نظرهایی هم که مطرح می‌شد تازگی داشت و واقعاً ارزش فکر کردن داره. کتاب تازه از حدودای صفحه‌ی 90 جون می‌گیره.

[Gayle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alexander McCall Smith is best known for his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, of which I am a fan. He has another series featuring Isabel Dalhousie, a cultured and wealthy Scottish lady (and I use the term advisedly), which sounds far more like my usual preference than a genial African woman. So I began the first book in the Dalhousie series, The Sunday Philosophy Club, with great anticipation.

Alas, my hopes foundered. It started off well enough; Isabel sees a man fall past her, from the top level of the concert hall to his death on the lowest level. Stricken, she cannot leave it alone, and soon discovered that he had an excellent head for heights, a happy and forward-looking disposition, and a reason to fear for his safety. Isabel reluctantly decides she has a moral obligation to solve the mystery of his death.

With such a promising start, it wasn't until about halfway through the book that I realized I was getting bored to death. Isabel's penchant for philosophy results in an unfortunate tendency to ramble on about all manner of moral dilemmas or other philosophical ephemera. Sometimes this actually propels her to action, but not enough action to justify following her constant existential posturing.

And another thing: there were far too many dead ends in the first half of the book. The police inspector, sporting a navy windbreaker and a forbidding expression, promised to be an excellent competitor or co-conspirator for the amateur Isabel, but his cameo was too brief. Likewise, the smarmy journalist threatened to create a world of trouble for our hapless heroine, but--he didn't. Instead, we become acquainted with Isabel's niece Cat, Cat's boyfriend Toby, Cat's ex Jamie, and Grace the maid. And Hen and Neil, who were the deceased's roommates. None of them are particularly interesting, and nothing much happened before I finally gave up and read the end. Which was quite a let-down, in keeping with the first half of the book.

So I give McCall Smith points for consistency, but that's it. I cannot recommend The Sunday Philosophy Club. Just writing about it makes me sleepy.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

 I didn’t think I would like this series as I compared Isabel to Precious (from the author’s other series The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency). The contrasts were obvious. Isabel Dalhousie is a very different heroine from Precious. Where Precious was a gentle, simple soul Isabel is a complex creature. Precious accepts life as it is and Isabel wonders why? As time went on, I grew fond of Isabel. She is just as fascinating a creature as Precious once you understand her.

Once again the mysteries are not the focus. They are a side plot. The real story is that of Isabel, an educated middle-aged woman living in Edinburg Scotland. It gives us an intimate portrait of the city and of Isabel’s life, her friends and her interests all the while the author delves into the ‘philosophy’ side of Isabella’ mind. She wonders about everything in life and goes to great lengths to unravel the mysteries of human behavior. Some readers get bogged down at those points but I found they were basically the same questions I had been asking most of my life and it was interesting to read someone else’s conclusions.

One thing I liked was there was a BELIEVABLE story of a romance between an older woman and a much younger man. There was no angst or drama...it was the normal unfolding of a normal love story. It was refreshing to read.

Once again I’m not going to review all the books in this series. I do not recommend them to everyone. These are cozies but cozies that make you think. They may or may not leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling.

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't crazy about the narrator. She's too airy to narrate a whodunit. The protagonist, Isabel Dalhousie, is the editor of an ethics magazine and the asides about ethics and philosophy are as dry as they sound - the ethical quandaries she finds herself in aren't engaging. And she needs a flaw - committing ethical hypocrisy, farting in an elevator, something. It's no wonder she can't get the Sunday Philosophy Club together because she's so boring! (Why is that the name of the book when they never actually meet?)
And I hated the ending. Huge disappointment. This book does get points for giving my a nightmare because I fell asleep reading the one mildly scary part. I rated it "okay" because I did finish it and I liked living vicariously through the attractive, independently wealthy niece who runs her own cheese shop and loves the wrong men.

[Anne Hawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with most of Alexander McCall Smiths books, the plot is only half the story. This series is about Isabelle Dalhousie, an educated middle aged woman living in Edinburgh, Scotland. She reviews magazine articles for a Philosophy of Ethics journal and is a member of the Sunday Philosophy club if and when it meets. We not only get a picture of her comfortable life, but a treatise on the ethical dilemmas of everyday life.

I found the ethical delemmas to be extremely interesting. When I was in college, our Methods of Education teacher took a class to Northern Virginia to visit some of the classes we would be doing our practice teaching in. In the course of the trip all of the students of one particular "Philosoply of Education" class (with a very poor teacher) said that the class was about the most useless class we had ever taken. Our "Methods" teacher told us that this was the most important class we could take. It was the basis on which we would make all of our decisions about the way we taught. He then proceeded to teach all we should have learned in the class we were enrolled in.

I felt like this book was just like that trip. One of the problem of today is that too many people have no philosophy of life. We may say we value our friends, but choose to watch television instead of being with them. We say we value our children, but we are spending less than 2 hours of conversation a week with them...you could go on forever. Many of the things we say we value are in direct conflict with other things we value.

Isabelle's ruminations about what we own the people whose lives cross ours really made me stop and think. She is the last person a man saw when he fell from a balcony at the Opera house. She is haunted by the gaze and wants to find out why he either jumped, fell or was pushed from the balcony. Her applied ethics makes her question what her role in his death should be. That is just one dilemma in the book. I found myself constantly being challenged by her ethics "in fear and trembling."

[Melora · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, so when a member of my library book club proposed this, another series by the same author, this time headed by a Scottish “Mma Precious Ramotswe,” I figured it was bound to be enjoyable. Ha! Isabel Dalhousie wins the trophy for the most unappealing protagonist I've encountered in quite a while, and my recent reading has included Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus and Richard III, so that's saying something. Okay, maybe she's not quite as bad as Titus and Richard. Still, between her constant pontificating on “good taste” (in concert music, wine, paintings, newspapers, trousers, cities, coffee, etc.) and manners (how to answer the phone, how to dress, etc.) and her habit of spying, eavesdropping, and lusting after her niece's ex-boyfriend, who is young enough to be her son, she is pretty repellant. Ceaselessly judgmental of the people she encounters, Isabel's wry recognitions of her own hypocrisies are not even close to enough to render them charming, or even tolerable.

I first mentally threw this across the room at about the halfway mark, when Isabel started fantasizing about becoming her niece's ex's sexual mentor. Eeew. Just eeew. I suppose it's meant to be ironic that a woman who is endlessly speculating on the ethical ramifications of … everything is, at the same time, indulging in fantasies about the deaths of those who annoy her and lurid sexual fantasies about a young man she pretends to have a “motherly” interest in. If so, it didn't work for me. Isabel's endless self-pity about being dumped by her college sweetheart (who clearly was a toad, but at least he was astute enough to get clear of her) is annoying and, given that the breakup must have happened around twenty years before the action in our story, her obsession makes her seem pathetically maladjusted. And not in an attractive way. As if the whining, judging, and condescension weren't enough, Isabel is constantly observing that “things just aren't the way they used to be/kids today...” I couldn't decide if this was meant to make her seem prematurely world-weary (she is supposed to be in her mid-forties) or just to bolster her “holier than thou” aspect, but it certainly contributed to her unattractiveness. Improbably, the other characters in the book regard Isabel with an admiration which does explain her inflated sense of importance and entitlement, but the author never gives us convincing grounds for their reverence. At one point, Isabel is visiting a financier friend and, in the course of the conversation, uses the phrase “quick and dead.”

”Peter reflected on her turn of phrase. Who still spoke of the quick and the dead? Most people had lost that understanding of “quick” and would look blank if they heard it.”

Really? I'm pretty sure that any regular churchgoers would recognize the expression, as would most educated people. But this, like her endless mentions of Auden and Kant, is, I presume, supposed to establish her as some sort of intellectual giant. Maybe? Actually, given the fine job he did with the characters in No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, I have a hard time accepting that Smith created such a pretentious, self-absorbed, silly protagonist “accidentally,” but the “why” of such a character never became clear to me.

The “mystery” here, which was secondary, if that, to Isabel's intriguing in the life of her niece, was never developed beyond the most cursory sketch. The author did provide a surprisingly satisfactory resolution at the last minute, though, which bought the book a star, raising it to two. Not recommended.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

فکر نکنم بخوام این کتاب رو جز دسته جنایی معمایی بزارم، درسته که معمای قتلی در حال رخ دادنه اما به نظرم حجم بیشتر مطالب در مورد هنر و دوراهی‌های اخلاقی بود که اگر از وجهه صرفا پیدا کردن قاتل صرف نظر کنیم، خسته کننده نخواهد بود.

پ.ن: کاش یه راه‌کاری بود که می‌تونستم با خیال راحت دونه به دونه پانویس‌ها و توصیفات و کلمات هنری نااشنا کتاب سرچ کنم، ولی چه کنم که استرس جان سپردنم قبل از خوندن کتاب‌های کتابخونه‌م نمیزاره ازین کار لذت ببرم :(

پایان: پانزدهم خرداد ماه سال ۱۴۰۲

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook. If your moral compass is in working order it’s time to enter middle class Edinburgh with nosy philosopher Isabel Dalhousie. However for me there are way too many moral dilemmas and ethical questions, which contribute to a fairly unexciting story.

[Shankar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picture this.

You have inherited a substantial amount from your parents from sale of “Louisiana Gulf and Land” company. And do not have to worry about this silly thing called money.

You live in a comfortable house to accommodate more than yourself if needed but you are single. Its so beautiful that moonlight streams into your bedroom at night.

You have a wonderfully conscientious housekeeper aptly named Grace who not only keeps the house shining and bright but is a trusted advisor to you on life and people issues including willing to do some of the meetings that you don’t want to do.

You work for a journal titled “Review of Applied Ethics”. Imagine who might be the targets….🙂….’I am a Senior Moral Policeman’ facing Ethical issues with Prisoners who have redeeming qualities such as gambling’ 🥱. Or should I say Applied “Ethicians”.

You have a wonderfully flexible job that allows flexible deadlines on reviews. And you have gratefully taken a salary cut to accommodate increased printing costs on account of inflation.

You have a love for classical music - Bach / Mahler et al - and theatre.

Yet you have a keen eye for investment banking and insider trading - as part of your keen interest in human behavior and how people commit crimes. You can guess who is having an affair who and ….

Your friends are in elite circles and introduce to you people across the industry.

You have a love for wines - and an unending stock of reasonably priced whites and reds to suit your mood. ( what a delightful thought ). And you attend “Whisky Sniffing” sessions arranged by the concerned society. They speak of Macallan as a Speyside.

Mme Isabel Dalhousie echoes the philosophy of the Sunday Club ( a k a Alexander McCall’s possible philosophical thoughts that may have occurred). Things such as “ Fat is Immoral” “ The Morality of Gambling “ - different perspectives from Kant and … in her reviews. And the fact that by not giving full attention to someone you know you are doing them an injustice - not just when they are in front of you but you are doing your fullest to help them.

This book has a wonderful story and you can finish in one sitting. But I found this setting a deliciously realistic fantasy - I would love to jump into it and imagine myself doing some if not all of it - more so given that I can possibly daydream indulgences in thoughts such as “money is immoral” with a glass of Chenin Blanc in my hand.

It’s immoral for me to say this is recommended highly - and I am willing to be punished for it.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

With all due respect to McCall Smith's fans, I couldn't stand this book. I'm sure there are many folks out there who loved it--it was, after all, a national bestseller--but I found it much too British-upper-class for my taste. The book, for a cheap little large-ish-print paperback mystery, is way too heady and intellectual for what, to me, looks like a "beach book". Ninety percent of the book was taken up by this woman's philosophical ramblings over why she is or isn't in love with her niece's ex, who's twenty years her junior. (The actual club to which the title refers, if you were wondering, never meets and I doubt even exists. It seems to be nothing more than the author's way of posing questions get pondered about for several pages but that never get answered.)

Some of the accolades for the book referred to the scenery. Frankly, I just didn't get that much of an image of Scotland, other than that it had different regions and each of these regions were better than the rest in their own condescending little ways. (Forget about the attitudes towards the Brits and the Irish!) The book only became a mystery in the last 3 chapters (about the last 20 pages). I don't mind not having a dead body thrown at me every other page, but I would like a slight thrill now and then to keep the story line interesting!

Most authors nowadays stick to the formula for mystery novels, which, if you're looking for a good, easy summer read like I was, is welcome, even if it's overdone. Some, like The Club Dumas breaks form entirely, but still keeps you on your toes. This book breaks from the form of the standard mystery novel to delve into the boring end of a philosophy class. If you want philosophy, read the old masters or form your own club to discuss things. If you're looking for a light mystery, go for Janet Evanovich or Penny Warner or any of the other scores of authors out there.

[Ренета Кирова · Rating 5 out of 5]

Отдавна не бях чела толкова интелигентно написана книга. Авторът има много интересни разсъждения, описани чрез неговата героиня Изабел Далхауз. Наслаждавах се и я четях бавно, провокира много размисли в мен. Героите са пълнокръвно изградени, като всеки от тях притежава някаква своя странност, но в ни��акъв случай за мен не бяха дразнещи.
Изабел е завършила философия и има Неделен клуб, на който се обсъждат различни темички за размисъл. Тя също така много чете такава литература и постоянно разсъждава върху някоя морална дилема. Никога не съм харесвала философията, но тук с интерес четях разни теории и въпросите, които предизвикват някои ситуации. Същата дама, която е на около 40 години, на един концерт вижда да пада от балкона млад мъж. Въпросът бутнат ли е или сам е паднал я мъчи през цялата книга. Накрая истината излиза наяве и тя ще трябва да реши какво да прави с нея. Същевременно второстепенните герои също ми бяха много интересни. Наслада изпитах от книгата и ще чета останалите от поредицата.

[Austra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Visumā okei grāmata, bet nepamet sajūta, ka autoram vienkārši gribējās gudri parunāt un paspriest, tāpēc viņš par sava romāna galveno varoni izvēlējās filozofi, lai varētu runāt caur viņu. Gaidīju kaut ko cosy mystery stilā, bet gan pats noziegums, gan tā izmeklēšana aizņem patiešām niecīgu grāmatas daļu.

Sākumā nelielās kļūmes grāmatā norakstīju uz neprecīzu tulkojumu, bet pie beigām jau arī autors jutās izpildījis uzdevumu un sāka laist luni ar loģiku. Visumā grāmata ir pietiekami interesants atslodzes variants, ja patīk palasīt par Edinburgu un paprātot par dzīvi, bet ne pārāk sarežģīti. Nekaitinoša galvenā varone arī ir pluss.

[Will Byrnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smith has created yet another female detective. This time it is Isabel Dalhousie, an independent 40-something who leads the club of the title. She is not a professional like Mma Rowatse of the number 1 ladies detective agency series, but a gifted amateur in the manner of Miss Marple. She is a lady of independent means so never needs be concerned about having to handle the mundane to put haggis on the table. The Edinburgh setting certainly gives it a more British setting than can be found in Africa. While at the opera one night. Isabel is witness to a young man plunging headlong to his death from the upper reaches. With this small leverage of legitimacy she begins her inquiries. We are introduced to various characters who will, no doubt, continue on through the series, her 20-something niece Cat, her insightful housekeeper, Grace, Jamie the young man she wishes Cat would marry and who she secretly pines for herself. The Philosophy Club never actually meets, but Isabel comments on the articles that are submitted for their publication and ponders matters philosophical throughout. As with the African series, McCall mixes Isabel’s familial travails with her semi-professional investigations. The whole is a pleasant, if not terribly exciting mix. Africa, perhaps by its relative remoteness from western sensibilities, is a more stimulating setting. Still, Isabel is a human, endearing sort and it might be pleasant to follow her through a few mysteries.

[Abbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I love Alexander McCall Smith's Ladies Detective Agency Series, I was less into this book. He follows a similar pattern and writing style in that he focuses on the characters, with the mystery being secondary. The problem is that I found the characters mildly interesting, and the solution to the mystery somewhat boring. Also, I felt the title had little to nothing to do with the book, other than a mention of the Sunday Philosophy Club. With Mma Ramotswe, I was fascinated from the first chapter of the first book. The mysteries are unique and are solved in funny and sweet ways and it's easy to see why Mma Ramotswe gets involved... she does, after all, run a detective agency.

With Isabel Dalhousie, it felt as though she was intruding on other people's lives and interfering. I did enjoy it because of the writing. I will probably read the rest of the series, but I sorry that I didn't fall in love with the characters and the story the way I did The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency.

[Richard Derus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Book Report: Isabel Dalhousie is a quiet, contented woman. She's got all the money she will ever need, she lives in a comfortable home where she grew up, she has survived the ghastly experience of loving a rotten man. She edits the Review of Applied Ethics because she's a philosopher, and because she's extremely interested in the subject of ethics (see above re: rotten man), and because she doesn't need any money or want any fame.

It's a quiet life. Then Isabel sees a murder.

It's not obvious that it's a murder. Isabel is morally certain that it is. So she sets out to figure out what led to the unnatural death of a virtual stranger.

Because if she can, she believes she should. ...!!...

My Review: I can't help myself: I fell in love with Isabel Dalhousie. Not to take anything away from my existing wife, a lovely woman (for legal purposes), or my boyfriend (now ex, so maybe I should edit this out...nah, he's still a nice guy), but Isabel is just like your dream of a roommate: Quiet, considerate, intelligent, rich, and honest.

Reading this book is like putting on soft, warm socks, a fluffy robe fresh from the dryer, and settling into your leather wing chair under your reading lamp with a scotch and a beloved friend to talk to.

If that sounds good to you, read the book.

[Chazzle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book a lot. Had I known Alexander McCall Smith was so good, I would have read him a long time ago. Now I'm going to read him more.

The author definitely has the writing chops. Here’s a pretty amusing excerpt:


“ ‘…And then, when we arrived at his parents’ place in Cork, it was a middle-class bungalow with a Sacred Heart on the kitchen wall. And his mother did her best to freeze me out. That was awful. We had a flaming row after I came right out and asked her whether she disliked me most because I wasn’t a Catholic or because I wasn’t Irish. I asked her which it was.’

Jamie smiled. ‘And which was it?’

Isabel hesitated. ‘She said…she said, this horrible woman, she said that it was because I was a slut.’ “


I mean, what’s not to love about the writing?

The Isabel in this passage is the main character, whose day job is editor of The Journal of Applied Ethics, and long passages show her musings of the ethics of many, many situations, even the ethics of eating cake in a world where many die of hunger. And the thinking is not just academic – Isabel philosophizes and decides eating cake is immoral, and puts the cake aside, uneaten. (Perhaps there’s an analogy to end stage medical care? But I digress.) Anyway, her philosophizing isn’t just a mental exercise, it’s to decide how to live her life, as it should be.

And indeed, this aspect of Isabel’s personality is brought to bear in the denouement, which I shall not spoil here…it would be unethical.

Try this book.

[Beth Bonini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isabel Dalhousie, the protagonist of this series, reminds me more than a bit of Emma Woodhouse: "handsome, clever and rich". She is also a bit bored, although that is more inferred by the reader than actually stated. While Emma stirs up some interest (and trouble) by match-making, Isabel involves herself in the mystery of young man's fall "from the gods" (ie, the upper reaches of the Usher Hall). Isabel accidentally glimpses the young man as he plummets to his death, and then decides that it is her moral duty to pursue the matter. Suicide, accident or murder? Isabel is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. There is a limited cast of characters: in addition to Isabel, there is her niece Cat, her housekeeper Grace and Cat's ex-boyfriend Jamie. There is also a limited plot. Indeed, much of the book is devoted to Isabel's domestic routine (the crossword puzzle, having coffee with Cat, editing articles for a philosophy journal) and her philosophical musings. It doesn't sound like much, but if you are attracted to the character of Isabel -- which I definitely was -- you will probably find this rather genteel mystery completely charming. According to Instagram friends, the Edinburgh setting is not only true-to-life but also peopled with some real-life characters.

[Jammin Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this mystery set in Scotland, another country I'd love to visit. Isabel Dalhousie is an interesting character, and I do enjoy a good murder in the Scottish countryside. And I didn't figure out who did the murder until it was announced, which I think is great!

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the fact that Isabelle Dalhousie is the president and cofounder of a Sunday philosophy club that can never get around to meeting because Sunday is such a bad day....I also like her categorizations of people. For example, she believes in the existence of the "profoundly unreasonable," a small subclass of people who are beyond any reasonableness of solving their own problems or their problems with the interactions of others. I also like her belief that one must have a "moral imagination" in order to act in the interests of others; we must be able to imagine others' thoughts and feelings and be ready to adjust our behavior to have an appropriate and ethical relationship with that person. Is one somehow morally connected and therefore owe a person a right relationship simply because the person glanced at us once? Isabelle thinks so. Other people may think she is a busybody, but she is trying to do the right thing by her own definition of the term. These are all put in a very funny context with an interesting mystery full of ethical dilemmas for Dalhousie and friends.

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have long wanted to read a book by Alexander McCall Smith, but if I hadn't been doing this as part of a group read at Book Loving Kiwis & if it hadn't been a reasonably short book, I would never have finished this.

I didn't like Isabel. I found her manipulative, judgemental, entitled & controlling. Other readers tell me that she improves on acquaintance but I want to be engaged from book one of a series not book two or book three.

The beginning did catch my attention, but for long periods nothing much happens other than lots of philosophising. & the resolution, or rather another chance for Isabel to decide her judgement is so superior to everyone else's made me feel the whole book was a waste of time & I dropped my rating from 2.5 stars to just 2.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Occasionally I enjoy bland food. Hey, even bland movies or television can be a nice way to relax sometimes. There is never, never an excuse for a bland book, which is exactly what this is. It's not good, it's not bad, it is absolutely mundane. I can think of no reason that something like this should have even been published. As an aside, a good friend of mine met Smith a few weeks ago in Tanzania. She described him as horrible, complaining, and completely self-absorbed. Somehow, I'm not at all surprised.

[Ieva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Šomēnes Grāmatu klubs lasa detektīvromānus, un tas nudien nav man tuvs žanrs. Taču Āfrikas mēnesī man Makkola Smita romāni par Dāmu detektīvaģentūru patika, un man pačukstēja, ka viņam ir romāns, kas derēs mana lasīšanas bingo pēdējā lauciņa (grāmata, kuras nosaukumā ir nedēļas diena) aizpildei.
Diemžēl Izabella nav Prešesa, ar viņu neradās tas kontakts, it kā nav jau vainas Izabellai, bet tādas sasaistes un identifikācijas nebija. Arī mīlestība pret Skotiju un Edinburgu nepārliecināja - dīvaini, ka uz Skotiju es gribu aizbrukt, bet uz Āfriku nekad neesmu gribējusi, bet Makkols Smits manī neradīja nekādu papildus vēlmi doties uz Skotiju, toties radīja interesi par Botsvānu (ja kāds grib izmaksāt ceļu, es neatteiktu :)). Izmeklēšana gan arī Svētdienas filozofu klubā nav galvenais un vienīgais motīvs. Bet trūkst burvīgu ikdienas ainiņu, tās aizstāj it kā filozofiskas pārdomas, bet tā nav maiņa, kam es piekritu.
Bet galu galā liekas, ka es vienkārši neesmu grāmatas auditorija, nevis tā ir sliktāk uzrakstīta.

[Saleh MoonWalker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Onvan : The Sunday Philosophy Club (Isabel Dalhousie, #1) - Nevisande : Alexander McCall Smith - ISBN : 1400077095 - ISBN13 : 9781400077090 - Dar 272 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2004

[Vivian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do you like a good mystery? Then you'll certainly want to read something else. Perhaps one of Alexander McCall Smith's earlier works. I like The Number One Ladies Detective Agency, for its unconventional setting (how many white genre writers are setting their novels in Africa?) and its lack of murders. The sequel is pretty good too, and perhaps even the one after that, but then things start to go downhill. That's the thing about Smith: he's uneven. Also, he has an unfortunate tendency to moralize ramblingly. To wit:

Good manners depended on paying moral attention to others; it required one treat them with complete moral seriousness, to understand their feelings and their needs... How utterly shortsighted we had been to listen to those who thought that manners were a bourgeois affectation, an irrelevance, which need no longer be valued. A moral disaster had ensued, because manners were the basic building block of civil society. They were the method of transmitting the message of moral consideration. [And on and on...]

That's a quote from The Sunday Philosophy Club. Tiresome, isn't it? There are several passages like it. But that's not the reason you shouldn't read the book. If that were its only flaw, one might overlook it. The real problem is that the story doesn't make sense.

Isabel, the editor of a scholarly review on ethical philosophy, witnesses the death of a young man as he falls from the highest balcony or "gods" of an opera house. She decides to investigate. The novel intertwines the mystery of Mark's death with two other threads: relationships and their difficulties, and ethics, particularly truth-telling and lies.

The rest of this review is a spoiler, but don't let that bother you. We're talking about a story that doesn't make sense. What's the point of trying to avoid spoiling it? It was spoiled from the get-go. Smith spoiled it when he wrote the ending.

For a while, Isabel is led to believe that Mark's murder was related to insider trading. Though this is the avenue she spends most of the book pursuing, it turns out to be one big red herring. One of the first people Isabel talks to, Mark's roommate Neil, turns out to have been the killer all the time. And here's where things get altogether nonsensical. At the end of the book, Neil, cornered, admits that it was in fact he who elbowed Mark off the balcony. But it was an accident, he claims. He was jealous of Mark's relationship with their common roommate, Hen and gave him a little elbow, not meaning to hurt him and certainly not to kill him. But it unbalanced Mark and he plunged to his death.

Aided by her ever-harped-upon, frequently tediously self-congratulatory philosophy, Isabel decided he is telling the truth, and that it would be wrong to punish him.

Let's leave aside the hubris, worthy of noted ethical philosopher Captain Kirk, of deciding without benefit of trial which killers do and don't deserve to be punished. There's a bigger problem than that. Did Isabel forget who set her on that wild-goose chase after the insider-trading red herring in the first place? It was Neil himself. He came to Isabel because, allegedly, he hadn't told her everything and it was weighing on his conscience. Mark, he said, had info about insider trading, had been subtly threatened and feared for his safety. The suggestion was that Mark might have been done in by one of those insider traders or someone working on their behalf. And this is coming from the person who knew exactly what had killed Mark, because he himself had.

Neil's is the worst sort of lie, a cowardly coverup. Neil knew that Isabel was investigating the murder and felt the need to steer her in the wrong direction, away from himself and the truth. How can she still see him as an innocent? She would have to be an imbecile to do so. Such a lie, such a deliberate attempt to confuse and foil the investigation, casts doubt even upon his claim that the killing was an accident.

How did Smith screw up this story so badly? My guess would be that he made it up as he went along. Many novelists work this way, not knowing where the novel is going until they get there. Perhaps he fiddled with the insider trading idea, decided well into the novel that he didn't want to end that way, then decided to revisit an earlier minor character and make him the murderer. Having done so, he wove all the business of relationships and jealousy throughout the novel to have that consistent theme.

Neatly done, as long as you forget all about Neil's earlier visit to Isabel and what he knew that the time, which makes the whole story fall apart into egregious nonsense. A pity, but perhaps a writer who has attained so much success and critical acclaim may forget to be careful. He may forget that he is capable of making mistakes, that even he, the great McCall Smith, may leave plot holes that call for stitching up. I wonder if Isabel with all her philosophizing would have anything to say about that. Would she conclude that Smith had failed his readership on philosophical, moral grounds? Based on her moralizing in the novel itself, I think she might have.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

So my office has a shelf of donated books that we exchange with one another, and last week I found myself - unusually and unexpectedly - without a book in my bag, so I picked up Alexander McCall Smith’s The Sunday Philosophy Club, having heard good things about The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency and being keen to work on my “spies and detectives” category. Let this be a lesson in choosing books: do not choose out of expediency and do not choose out of the vague remembrance that someone once said the author was “okay.” Let it also be a lesson to always have an emergency-back-up-just-in-case-the-bus-breaks-down-or-your-meeting-is-cancelled book.

The Sunday Philosophy Club suffers from boring characters and so an unengaging - and it’s a mystery! - plot. I struggled to care whether Isobel was murdered in the night, was profoundly indifferent to whether the murder was solved because I didn’t get to know the victim and didn’t believe Isobel was all that interested in being a detective in the first place, and was annoyed by Isobel’s niece, Cat, in no small part because she’s named Cat, but more precisely because she “pops round for tea”: I distrust characters who show up without invitation.

It’s true I didn’t care about the mystery because Isobel is boring and her investigatory skills are suspect, but it’s also true that I didn’t care because Isobel doesn’t seem to care. Every chapter she vacillates between absolute commitment (a moral imperative, she thinks) to investigate the crime and a willingness to drop it altogether because it makes people uncomfortable. What made me uncomfortable was her apparent willingness to do all this investigating as if she had license to do so. Rogue detective!

Other point of annoyance:the so-called “philosophical” basis of the novel are Isobel’s occasional musings on the ethics of particular situations. She considers the ethical principles of lying and seems surprised when she receives articles for her journal about lying: is this a coincidence she wonders? Well of course it isn’t. McCall Smith must think we’re thematic dopes for this, and other, heavy handed displays of the moral and thematic questions. Hint for the the thematically uninitiated: the book is about deception!

Finally, I don’t like that the red herring woman is named Minty. I don’t know why. I just don’t.