A Conspiracy of Friends

Elegantly and without preaching, and with a lot of genuine wit and humor into the bargain, A. McCall Smith manages to bring to the surface moral dilemmas facing our society today. We do need a dose of A.McCall Smith every now and then. We really do. ( I can't even help using his sentence structure, too!...) Most of his books I place under an unassuming tag "just life", but it's not that his characters and events are predictable, far from that: could you ever imagine, for instance, Oedipus Snark changing his character so drastically (even if it involved an unimaginable freak accident) in the latest Corduroy Mansions installment?!...And how about a dog with a hilarious name Freddie de la Hay fastening his own seat belt in a car (just the show more image of that would make you smile!)....Those are just a couple of the examples of the writer's truly vivid imagination coupled with the ability of being totally grounded. show less

The denizens of Corduroy Mansion once again find themselves in interesting situations. William goes to visit his friends Geoffrey and Maggie, only to have Maggie announce her love for him. In the meantime, Freddie goes missing on their farm. Back in the apartments, Caroline is still pining for James and looking for a new roommate when her mother interferes and sets her up with Roland, a childhood friend. This series doesn't have much plot but provides a fly-on-the-wall observation of the various denizens that is oddly engaging.

This is the first I have read in this series; I usually listen. As usual, AMS creates a perfect balance of humor, good writing and memorable canines. The mother/son Snark relationship is deliciously detailed as is Barbara Ragg's love and professional relationships.

A Conspiracy of Friends, is, I think, the third novel in the Corduroy Mansions series by Alexander McCall Smith, although it is the first that I have ever read. There are a number of interesting residents at Corduroy Mansion in Pimlico, London, including Barbara Ragg, a literary agent who discovers that she's part gypsy, and William French, a wine expert who never passed his final examination to receive the precious wine expert title (he got drunk on the wine he was being tested on). Barbara has an ex-lover, Oedipus Snark, a politician so venal that even his own mother doesn't like him, and we also follow Snark about in the course of this episodic novel, along with a number of other characters who come and go in the narrative. Not a show more whole lot happens in the book, but much like his Isabel Dalhousie series, McCall Smith uses gentle humour and a good dose of internal philosophizing to show the reader that ordinary lives are no less heartfelt and meaningful than extraordinary ones. Definitely a cozy read, perfect for grey winter days; recommended. show less

Well, that was....

It was...


Hmm.

I don’t even know how to rate it. Did it keep me up well past midnight, seriously invested in tying up all the loose ends? Yes. Interesting writing as always. I mean, I enjoyed it.

But seriously. Between the yeti, the particle collider, the gigolo, and all the other stuff, I just...

*wanders away muttering and finally decides it’s time for a lie-down*

From the beginning, this book has a different feel to it than the previous two in the series. The narrative is less plot driven and has much more overt moral philosophy, all in McCall Smith's usual warm and humourous style but not quite as subtle. Then the ending just feels very rushed, with several of the plot lines unresolved. I can't help feeling that the author simply got bored with it. 17 April 2016.

A sublime addition to Alexander McCall Smith's CORDUROY MANSIONS series. All of the wonderful characters are here in full force: Oedipus Snark( a name worth the price of the book) is back to his loathsome politicking;Rupert Porter and Barbara Ragg are still battling over the manuscript of THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YETI; Caroline Jarvis finds a new love;Terence Moongrove buys a race-car; William French visits old friends in the country where his Plimlico Terrier, Freddie de la Hay, finds a new adventure.
A book of gentle irony marked by a profoundly wise commentary on modern life.