The Sunday Philosophy Club - Alexander McCall Smith

After reading and loving 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith A Devoted Reader recommended another series by the same author, starting with The Sunday Philosophy Club. So, in keeping with my current McCall Smith marathon I picked The Sunday Philosophy Club up the other day and finished it in less than 24 hours.

I am not usually into reading murder mysteries - not really sure why - just not a genre I have ever really branched into, I might have to change that now I think.

The Sunday Philosophy Club centres around the character of Isabel Dalhousie, a single woman in her mid 40's living quite comfortably in Edinburgh. The story starts with Isabel witnessing the tragic, and presumably accidental, death of a young man at the Edinburgh Concert Hall. Of course, Isabel being who she is she finds she needs to explore the story further to get to the truth of the matter.

I found the writing and characterisation in this book very similar to the style of the 44 Scotland Street series so that made me feel quite at home. I thought there were quite a few convenient coincidences that helped the plot along but I was prepared to ignore these because I was enjoying the ride along with the characters so much. I'll definitely be reading the rest of this series to see what happens to Isabel and the rest of the crew.

I am also really keen to pick up some other mystery novels in a similar style so if anyone has any other suggestions I would love to hear about them.