Love over Scotland

*Starred Review* Life is full of drama for residents of 44 Scotland Street, in this thoroughly enjoyable third installment in McCall Smith's droll series. This time around, anthropologist Domenica Macdonald leaves Edinburgh to study modern-day pirates in the Malacca Straits. Her platonic companionship and spirited views are sorely missed by confirmed bachelor Angus Lordie, who is further vexed by the theft of his loyal hound, Cyril. Smart, affable Pat begins work toward an art history degree at the University of Edinburgh, where she meets a handsome cad, appropriately named Wolf. (Matthew, the kind, if somewhat bland, gallery owner Pat works for, continues to harbor hope Pat will one day fall for him.) Supremely talented young Bertie, who speaks fluent Italian and plays the saxophone like a pro, endures more humiliation at the hands of his pushy mother, who insists he audition for the Edinburgh Teenage Orchestra. (He repeatedly reminds her to no avail that's he's only six.) Scotsman McCall Smith, author of more than 50 books, including the best-selling No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels and the Isabel Dalhousie and Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, serves up yet another masterful blend of wisdom, humor, and heart. Is it any wonder his graceful works have won him fans around the world?--Block, Allison Copyright 2007 Booklist

The irresistible third entry to the 44 Scotland Street series picks up with the residents of 44 Scotland Street where Espresso Tales left off and is as addictive as any book McCall Smith has written. Anthropologist Domenica has flown off to the Straits of Malacca to study modern-day pirates. Back in Edinburgh, Pat moves from 44 Scotland Street and develops a crush on fellow art student Wolf, whose strange ways hint at a darker subplot that involves Pat's flatmate. Pat moves in with gallery owner Matthew, who struggles with both a sudden fortune and a yearning for Pat. Meanwhile, child prodigy saxophonist Bertie becomes a reluctant member of the Edinburgh Teenage Orchestra at age six and later, on a trip to Paris, finds himself wonderfully unsupervised. Poet/portrait painter Angus is tormented by the theft of his beloved dog Cyrus. The proceedings sparkle with McCall Smith's trademark wit ("It was not always fun being a child, just as it had not always been fun being a medieval Scottish saint"), proving once again, he's a true treasure. Illustrations by Iain McIntosh enliven the text. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

The denizens of 44 Scotland Street (Espresso Tales, 2006, etc.) spread their wings in the third volume of their ever more far-flung adventures, originally published as 113 daily installments in The Scotsman. "This is no fanciful picture of Edinburgh life, this is exactly as it is," announces Smith in a headnote aptly titled "The story so far." Certainly, it's a picture of Edinburgh life as it ought to be, even for series regulars who experience reversals. Art-history student Pat MacGregor, who's cast off one unsuitable man only to fall for another, continues impervious to the plaintive devotion of her friend Matthew, whose attainments as the owner of the Something Special Gallery have been enhanced by an infusion of £4,000,000 from his wealthy father. Painter Angus Lordie, saddened by the departure of anthropologist Domenica Macdonald for Malacca Straights, ponders whether his relationship with her friend Antonia Collie, a budding novelist who's subletting her flat, will ripen into something even closer, but is swiftly disillusioned. Angus's dog Cyril is pinched while he's tied outside the Italian grocery Valvona & Crolla, leaving both man and beast desolate. Big Lou Brown, who owns the coffee bar to which Matthew routinely repairs for caffeine and consolation, suddenly finds herself in danger of losing the place. And Bertie Pollock, the precocious six-year-old whose laughably overbearing mother has already pushed him to learn Italian and the saxophone, is cast despite his protests as Captain von Trapp in his class production of The Sound of Music and forced to audition for the Edinburgh Teenage Orchestra. In the novel's single funniest episode, he's left behind during the orchestra's trip to Paris and has to survive on his own wits, which are considerably sharper than those of his parents. Irresistible stuff. As Antonia wonders of Domenica: "Why did she bother going to the Malacca Straits when all this was going on downstairs?" Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Life is full of drama for residents of 44 Scotland Street, in this thoroughly enjoyable third installment in McCall Smith's droll series. This time around, anthropologist Domenica Macdonald leaves Edinburgh to study modern-day pirates in the Malacca Straits. Her platonic companionship and spirited views are sorely missed by confirmed bachelor Angus Lordie, who is further vexed by the theft of his loyal hound, Cyril. Smart, affable Pat begins work toward an art history degree at the University of Edinburgh, where she meets a handsome cad, appropriately named Wolf. (Matthew, the kind, if somewhat bland, gallery owner Pat works for, continues to harbor hope Pat will one day fall for him.) Supremely talented young Bertie, who speaks fluent Italian and plays the saxophone like a pro, endures more humiliation at the hands of his pushy mother, who insists he audition for the Edinburgh Teenage Orchestra. (He repeatedly reminds her—to no avail—that's he's only six.) Scotsman McCall Smith, author of more than 50 books, including the best-selling No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels and the Isabel Dalhousie and Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, serves up yet another masterful blend of wisdom, humor, and heart. Is it any wonder his graceful works have won him fans around the world? Copyright 2007 Booklist Reviews.

The irresistible third entry to the 44 Scotland Street series picks up with the residents of 44 Scotland Street where Espresso Tales left off and is as addictive as any book McCall Smith has written. Anthropologist Domenica has flown off to the Straits of Malacca to study modern-day pirates. Back in Edinburgh, Pat moves from 44 Scotland Street and develops a crush on fellow art student Wolf, whose strange ways hint at a darker subplot that involves Pat's flatmate. Pat moves in with gallery owner Matthew, who struggles with both a sudden fortune and a yearning for Pat. Meanwhile, child prodigy saxophonist Bertie becomes a reluctant member of the Edinburgh Teenage Orchestra at age six and later, on a trip to Paris, finds himself wonderfully unsupervised. Poet/portrait painter Angus is tormented by the theft of his beloved dog Cyrus. The proceedings sparkle with McCall Smith's trademark wit ("It was not always fun being a child, just as it had not always been fun being a medieval Scottish saint"), proving once again, he's a true treasure. Illustrations by Iain McIntosh enliven the text. (Nov.)