Play Book Tag discussion

This one has been tagged comedy, although I wouldn't choose that tag. Very mild humor, yes, but I don't really think it's funny enough for comedy.


Department of Sensitive Crimes - McCall Smith
Audio performance by David Rintoul
3 stars

The Department of Sensitive Crimes is about as far from Mma Ramotswe and her detective agency as it’s possible to get. Detective Inspector Ulf Varg is employed in the Sensitive Crimes Department (SCD) of the Criminal Investigation Authority in Malmo, Sweden. I have enjoyed the slow moving No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series for its quirky characters, its human warmth, and the low key humor. I was hoping for the same in a cooler climate with this newer McCall Smith series.

It starts off slowly. For more than half of the book, I wasn’t at all interested. There just didn’t seem to be much point to the Department of Sensitive Crimes. If anything the depiction of the first crime involving a little person (dwarfism) seemed actually insensitive. I came close to giving up.

It gets better. Inspector Varg demonstrates his actual sensitivity and intelligence. His colleagues emerge as interesting characters. The pointless rambling conversations and internal monologues become a bit more humorous, even mildly entertaining. Now that I know the characters and the general layout of the SCD, I will probably read the second book. Sometime when I need a quiet book with understated humor.
Given the state of the world, that could be now.