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The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
- An Isabel Dalhousie Novel
- Series: Isabel Dalhousie Series, Book 5
The fifth novel in the beloved Isabel Dalhousie series by New York Times bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith, whose moral problem-solver from Edinburgh seeks comfort in places uncertain.
If you were hoping that Isabel and Jamie would get married in this book, don’t hold your breath. She was still too insecure, afraid that one day his handsomeness would make him lose interest in her. But all the while, their relationship deepens, and the book ends happily. Before that note hits, however, Isabel finds herself envious of Jamie’s relationship with an American composer, Nick Smart. She fears he might convince Jamie to leave Edinburgh to continue her career as a classical bassist, leaving her and their toddler Charlie in dire straits.
However, while she pondered that possibility, another mystery came to her. Dr. Marcus Moncrieff is a doctor disgraced by scandal. Did he falsify data on an antibiotic during a clinical trial, only to get it to market and lead to the death of a patient? Or did his nephew and assistant trap him for personal gain? Perhaps it was the pharmaceutical company that took the blame. Moncrieff’s wife reaches out to Isabel, hoping to justify him and lift him from the despair he’s fallen into since being forced to give up his career. As is typical with McCall Smith, the ending isn’t what you’d expect.
But reading this series isn’t for the plot, which only serves as a backdrop to Isabel’s good intentions, moral thinking, and multifaceted relationships – all of which are worth pondering. Read it for a chance to catch a glimpse of Scotland.
