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Material Type | Shelf Number | Shelf Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Book | LARGE TYPE MYSTERY MCCALL SMITH, ALEXAND | Large Print Collection | Searching... |
Summary
Summary
Isabel is asked to help a wealthy Scottish landowner who has been robbed of a valuable painting. This painting, by the celebrated French artist Nicolas Poussin, had been earmarked for ultimate donation to the Scottish National Gallery. The owner is uncomfortable about an approach he has received from the thieves and hopes that Isabel will assist him. She agrees in spite of the misgivings of her husband, Jamie. There is also the question of the thieves' identities. Could they be people who are rather close to the owner? It begins to look as if this may be so . . . Against the backdrop of this intriguing case, Isabel leads her day-to-day life, coping with issues small and large. One small issue is whether her three-year-old son, Charlie, is a budding mathematical genius and what should be done about it. And then there is the question of whether she should help a young man employed in her niece's delicatessen to live with his girlfriend against the wishes of the girlfriend's parents. The answers to both of these questions test Isabel's qualities as a parent, a philosopher, and a friend.
Reviews: 2
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* A painting by Nicolas Poussin, valued at £3million pounds and slated for donation to Scotland's National Gallery, has been stolen from the stately home of a Scottish country gentleman and held for ransom. After contacting his insurance company, the victim takes the unusual step of reaching out to Isabel Dalhousie, a philosopher who specializes in ethics. Isabel has the reputation for being able to sort through thorny situations and murky motives, a quality that has involved her in other people's problems in eight previous novels in this series. At first glance, Isabel doesn't seem nearly as quirky and human as McCall Smith's other woman detective, Precious Ramotswe (of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency), or as the recurring characters in the Scotland Street or Corduroy Mansions series. Isabel seems to have it all, effortlessly: inherited wealth that allows her to publish the Review of Applied Ethics, a dreamboat of a younger husband, and an adorable little boy all this good fortune housed in a well-appointed Edinburgh home. But Isabel's constant awareness of how Nemesis may take notice of her makes her wholly sympathetic. The art theft itself, which expands into a consideration of famous art heists and forgeries, gives readers fascinating glimpses into a mostly hidden crime industry. McCall Smith spikes his heroine's seemingly cloistered world with enough close encounters with tragedy a neighbor stabbed to death by someone he brought home, for example to make both Isabel and the reader aware of the fragility of good fortune. Utterly satisfying for its art-theft puzzle, characterization, and Edinburgh setting. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The Precious Ramotswe novels continue to be McCall Smith's most popular franchise, but the Isabel Dalhousie series, starring the ethicist and crime solver, is sneaking up on the outside.--Fletcher, Connie Copyright 2010 Booklist
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Smith's delightful ninth novel featuring Isabel Dalhousie (after 2011's The Forgotten Affairs of Youth), Isabel, "somebody who sorts out people's difficulties" when she's not editing the Review of Applied Ethics, assists a wealthy Scottish gentleman, Duncan Munrowe, with a tricky situation. One of Munrowe's favorite paintings, a Poussin, has been stolen, and he wants her help in dealing with the thieves (there's talk of a ransom). A minor subplot involves the endearing Eddie, who works in her niece Cat's deli, and his romantic woes. The almost too-good-to-be-true Isabel does her usual thing-talking, listening, and puzzling through the ethical implications of things-to bring about a fitting, and just, resolution. With his usual deft hand, Smith conjures characters with a few lines-housekeeper Grace with her short fuse is particularly alive-and he has a knack for combining light comedy and serious thought. The plot (not untypically for the series or the author) is as gossamer thin as even the thinnest clouds, though it's a pleasure to watch it scudding past. Agent: Robin Straus. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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