Love Over Scotland - Alexander McCall Smith

The author of 'The Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' series, also does other books. Some are less successful than others. I rather enjoy the series (of which this is one) set in Scotland Street Edinburgh. This is the third in the series. It is a very episodic book, as you expect as (like Armistead Maupin's 'Tales of the City' books) it originated in articles written as a newspaper serial. This has plenty of advantages, each chapter is short, but full of incident, the writing is spare and uncluttered. Alexander McCall Smith has this genre down to a tee, and you really care about what happens to the central characters, whether it be Bertie and his impossible mother, the fate of Big Lou the cafe owner, the anthropologist with the pirates of Malacca, the artist (who rarely paints) or the gallery owner (who never sells any paintings). Light, enjoyable, rather like having coffe and cake at a genteel tea shop - and that kind of life suits me down to the ground. Rating: 8/10