08 August, 2011

Sunday Philosophy Club

Title: The  Sunday Philosophy Club
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Audio Book - Library

Synopsis: Isabel Dalhousie was the last person to see Mark Fraser alive as he fell from the balcony above her at the theatre. Feeling disturbed by the event, Isabel feels she has an ethical responsibility to investigate the event. Was it suicide, or is there a darker reason for the death of this young man?

What I thought:  I decided to have a go at this as I love McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so impressed with this. I’m not even sure what it was that made me not like it. I didn’t particularly like the main character, Isabel Dalhousie. What she justifies as an ethical obligation, I  simply see as meddling – sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. I also found her to be snobbish, giving the impression that she frequently thought she was better than others. Now this may be exactly what McCall Smith was aiming for, but I find it hard to read a book where I dislike the main character so much! I won’t be reading any more of The Sunday Philosophy Club books and I’m not sure if I am game enough to dip my toes in any of McCall Smith’s other works.

Recommended for: others who like McCall Smith’s books and ‎want to see what else he writes. Just be warned, you may be ‎disappointed!‎

Challenges: 100+ Challenge, ‎