Well written, intellegent voage through the lives of some of the residents of Scotland Street. I can't put my finger on it, but it just seems a bit off the mark as to how people actually live. ( )

Third Scotland Street volume. Read September 2008 ( )

This is the third in the 44 Scotland Street series, and I found it the most enjoyable yet.

Part of its joy is that I now feel I know most of the characters so well, that they seem like old friends. For this reason I would recommend reading the previous instalments in this series before this one, although I'm sure the book will still be a good read for anyone who has not.

In this episode in Edinburgh life Pat starts university, and immediately gets entangled with a somewhat dubious character named Wolf, while Matthew (still holding a torch for her) wonders what to do with his millions. Domenica swans off to study Pirates
in the Malacca straits, leaving Angus Lordie pining. He goes onto to experience more than this loss, adding tinges of sadness to the generally relaxed and unthreatening story. His bond with Cyril is touching (even for me, and I am naturally prejudiced against dogs!) and the letter he writes to Domenica and then tears up - to mention its subject would give too much away - is very moving and quite beautiful.

Meanwhile Eddie, Big Lou's erstwhile fiancé is up to his old tricks and her friends have to call in Glasgow gangster-type Lard O'Connor to resolve the situation. Bertie continues to quietly rebel against Irene, who has not changed one bit despite Stuart's newfound assertiveness in the last book (in fact Stuart has reverted somewhat to his old ways). She forces him to audition for the Edinburgh Teenage Orchestra, despite his being only 6,which a point of acute embarrassment for him!

Bertie is without a doubt the best thing in the book. His adventures with the orchestra (which despite his best efforts he cannot avoid joining) are hilarious. Bertie, without Irene in tow, is a force to be reckoned with and Paris doesn't know what has hit it! The sections written from his POV are delightful as well as funny and I just can't get enough of him. His observations when he speaks to Antonia (A new character introduced in this book - an aspiring historical novelist) near the end are priceless, and as Antonia observes, as interesting anthropologically as anything Domenica has discovered about her pirates.

The narrative somehow manages to be both relaxing and exciting at the same time – I wish I knew how he does it. The episodic format - which comes from the story's original serialization in the Scotsman, helps with the pace and does not disrupt the flow of the story at all. There are constant little cliff-hangers at the end of many of the sections which have the effect of keeping you waiting for the next chunk of each character's story, and unable to put the book down. Events in the lives of these characters are not world changing, but they seem very important nonetheless, although there is never any real menace or threat even from Eddie or the aptly named Wolf.

If anything, McCall Smith's style most resembles a chatty but brilliantly observed letter relating events in the lives of family members or acquaintances, who are much loved but rarely seen. His characters feel like friends and their story is ongoing, not something that can be resolved neatly as you would expect in the average novel. I am already looking forward to reading the next instalment! ( )

cool street

Each 44 Scotland St book I read is better than the last. The action is interesting, but it's the inner thoughts of the characters and McCall Smith's own asides that make it special. He uses the novel to smuggle in interesting facts and homely philosophies - the latter you suspect to be his own as they have the same live and let live attitude mixed in with an old fashioned manner so familiar from the No. 1 Ladies series.
I doubt this is for eveyone, too friendly and not enough 'jeopardy' as is apparently required by TV commissioners, but a great read full of sly humour. ( )