I'd forgotten that I had this amusing book of the adventures of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, author of the great scholarly tome PORTUGUESE IRREGULAR VERBS. I set it aside ages ago upon receiving this copy from an online merchant who did not tell me that this is a WITHDRAWN library book. I was annoyed and had to disinfect and clean the book. Then I set it aside. Now McCall Smith's gentle humor here is much appreciated. It's just about made me forget this book came into my life as a discard.