Book: The Charming Quirks of Others by Alexander McCall Smith

This is another Isabel Dalhousie novel. Isabel is a woman who lives in Edinburgh in Scotland and Alexander McCall Smith has written a series of novels starring Isabel. They are all somewhat the same, although her life does move forward chronologically as the series progresses. Isabel has her much younger boyfriend / fiance, Jamie, who is a bassoonist; she has their young son Charlie, her edgy niece Cat (who owns a delicatessen and always pops up as a minor character) and similarly her housekeeper Grace, and Eddie, a socially awkward, rather mysterious young man who works for Cat. The stories are light and mostly sweet but seldom saccharine. McCall obviously loves Scotland and this is a way he showcases his country, and more specifically, Edinburgh.

The bones of The Charming Quirks.... are that Isabel is asked to quietly poke around in the private lives of the three candidates for principal of a boys' school. It seems one of them might have a past that could be problematic should be become the new principal. Of course, Isabel, after a bit of initial hesitation, agrees to take this on. And that is the story. We follow along through her life and her thoughts for a few weeks as she works on this. There is always much of her personal life in these novels, especially her relationships with Jamie, Charlie and Cat.

It is refreshing to read of an older woman and younger man and their child and how it works (mostly) for them. Again, the Isabel Dalhousie series is a comfortable ramble through the life of an intelligent, thoughtful, charming woman. She muses a lot, being a philosopher, but her musings are usually triggered by what happens to her day after day.

I like this series better than the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series which also has a female protagonist but is set in Botswana where the author also lived for several years.