From Publishers Weekly
Murder and moral obligation mingle in this whimsical new series from the author of the smash hit The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. McCall Smith's new heroine is Scottish-American philosopher Isabel Dalhousie, a single woman of independent means who edits the esteemed Review of Applied Ethics and presides over the titular club. When Isabel witnesses fund manager Mark Fraser fall from a balcony after a performance at an Edinburgh concert hall, she feels obliged to investigate the gentleman's demise. "I was the last person that young man saw," Dalhousie tells her beloved niece, Cat. "The last person. And don't you think that the last person you see on this earth owes you something?" Given her affinity for applied ethics, questions of conscience are a daily concern for Isabel, and the more she thinks about Fraser's fall, the less accidental it seems. Among those who might have pushed him: his shifty roommate, his colleague's scheming spouse and a disgruntled broker with a craving for cash. Fans of Botswanan heroine Precious Ramotswe are sure to embrace Scotsman McCall Smith's plucky new protagonist, who leads a cast of delightfully quirky characters that includes Toby, a dapper bachelor with a dubious understanding of fidelity, and Grace, Dalhousie's morally upright housekeeper, who sizes up society's reprobates in two syllables or less. Scotland's climate may be misty and cool, but McCall Smith's charming prose warms every page of this winning series debut.

sending to tabby-cat-owner for a relay...enjoy!

received this in the mail yesterday. I look forward to reading it since I enjoyed Alexander McCall Smith's other books.

I finally read this book and it was as enjoyable as I expected it to be. You can't help comparing this book the the No. 1 Ladies Detective series written by the same author. This book has the same sweet and slow-moving atmosphere that can be almost therapeutic although Scotland doesn't have that "get away from it" feel that the Botswana does of the lady detective books. The book was a tad too slow-moving at times but I think that that was the point of the book. This book is not the typical detective/murder mystery. I did find myself liking and admiring the main character which is always something I like to do when reading a book. However, the main character also had some faults so she was endearingly human.

RELEASE NOTES:

mailing to stormon of Storfors, Sweden as an RABCK.

Enjoy!

Got this in the mail today. Thank you ever so much, tubby-cat-owner!
I´ll be back with a comment as soon as I´ve read the book.

This will be a bookray once I´ve read the book.
These persons have joined so far:

Alvhyttan, Sweden have read
Susse, Sweden have read

Amberkatze, Austria have read
Necroscope, UK have read
ReetPetite, UK have read
spiritinflight, Canada have read
newf, Canada have read
gaysocialworker, USA reading

A lovely story and I enjoyed it thoroughly!
It will go off on a trip as a BookRay and I wish you all Happy Reading!
Thank you, tabby-cat-owner, for sharing.

Got this book from stormon today, thank you!
I look forward to read it and will start tonight. :)

Nice read, I liked it, but got a little bit feed up with the morality somewhere in the middle of the book.
Will send it to Susse tomorrow.

The book arrived to me safely today. I will start reading it as soon as I return from my holidays.

I really enjoyed this book! The main character Isabel kind of reminds of the lady in Murder she wrote, as she is constantly putting her nose in other people's business. I really enjoyed how Isabel was portrayed. I really felt like I got to know her up close and personal. The other characters didn't stand out that much in my opinion. On the other hand, I think they weren't supposed to. I think the plot of the book wasn't so much the murder of Mark Fraser, but how it affected Isabel and her imagination. A lovely book!

EDIT 30.8.2006: The book is on its way to Amberkatze now.

Thank you Susse for sending this on to me! I hope you are feeling better!

I will try and read this one during the week and try to have it out on it's way again as soon as possible!

I just finished this one and quite enjoyed it. A very strange murder/mystery and sometimes I wondered if I wanted to carry on reading the book right till the end.

However as usual the author managed to keep me interested with all the little stories, tangents and facts. Some are annoying but mostly they are interesting and make the book more fun.

I liked the characters in this book and think it is wonderful that a man can write as a woman and not mess it up! I loved the background of Edinburgh as it is a city I recently visited and have ties with...although I do prefer this authors books set in the city '44 Scotland Street' & 'Espresso Tales' more.

Anyway...I have just pm'd the next person on the list and will post the book off when I next go to the post office (missed this weeks trip).

Thank you for letting me take part and please let me know if anyone gets hold of the next one in this series. It sounds even more interesting than this debut!

Received as part of a bookring.....Can't say i was too thrilled with the story although I loved the characterisation of isabel dalhousie. She was exceptional, and i hope that her further outings into detective work will be better than her dabblings in this book.

All in all, great characters, terrible plot.

now posting to Reetpetite....

Received as part of a bookring.....Can't say i was too thrilled with the story although I loved the characterisation of isabel dalhousie. She was exceptional, and i hope that her further outings into detective work will be better than her dabblings in this book.

All in all, great characters, terrible plot.

now posting to Reetpetite....

Thanks Necroscope. This is next in my TBR pile.

A really enjoyable book. I'm looking forward to reading the others in the series. I think the aim of this book was to introduce Isabel & the other characters.
Thanks for sharing Stormon & tabby-cat-owner (I hope no one minds but I love the postcard of Arizona so i'm keeping it :))

Being posted to newf in Canada.

First off, my apologies for not journalling this book when I received it. I was just running out of the house to the airport when it arrived, and I was excited to have it for holiday reading on my trip.

Like other readers above, I wasn't particularly thrilled with this book; it's certainly not as fun as the #1 Ladies series. However, I view it as an introduction to the series, so I will probably read the second one before I really make up my mind. I too loved Isabel's character and the depiction of Edinburgh, although I found it rather slow in places.

I will have it in the mail to the fina participant as soon as I have an address.

Arrived safely, though slightly wet, probably due to the snow and rain. I should be able to read shortly. Thanks!