With The Sunday Philosophy Club, Alexander McCall Smith, the author of the best-selling and beloved No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels, begins a wonderful new series starring the irrepressibly curious Isabel Dalhousie.

Isabel is fond of problems, and sometimes she becomes interested in problems that are, quite frankly, none of her business. This may be the case when Isabel sees a young man plunge to his death from the upper circle of a concert hall in Edinburgh. Despite the advice of her housekeeper, Grace, who has been raised in the values of traditional Edinburgh, and her niece, Cat, who, if you ask Isabel, is dating the wrong man, Isabel is determined to find the truth — if indeed there is one — behind the man's death. The resulting moral labyrinth might have stymied even Kant. And then there is the unsatisfactory turn of events in Cat's love life that must be attended to.

Filled with thorny characters and a Scottish atmosphere as thick as a highland mist, The Sunday Philosophy Club is irresistible, and Isabel Dalhousie is the most delightful literary sleuth since Precious Ramotswe.

"Murder and moral obligation mingle in this whimsical new series from the author of the smash hit The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. McCall Smith's new heroine is Scottish-American philosopher Isabel Dalhousie, a single woman of independent means who edits the esteemed Review of Applied Ethics and presides over the titular club. When Isabel witnesses fund manager Mark Fraser fall from a balcony after a performance at an Edinburgh concert hall, she feels obliged to investigate the gentleman's demise. 'I was the last person that young man saw,' Dalhousie tells her beloved niece, Cat. 'The last person. And don't you think that the last person you see on this earth owes you something?' Given her affinity for applied ethics, questions of conscience are a daily concern for Isabel, and the more she thinks about Fraser's fall, the less accidental it seems. Among those who might have pushed him: his shifty roommate, his colleague's scheming spouse and a disgruntled broker with a craving for cash. Fans of Botswanan heroine Precious Ramotswe are sure to embrace Scotsman McCall Smith's plucky new protagonist, who leads a cast of delightfully quirky characters that includes Toby, a dapper bachelor with a dubious understanding of fidelity, and Grace, Dalhousie's morally upright housekeeper, who sizes up society's reprobates in two syllables or less. Scotland's climate may be misty and cool, but McCall Smith's charming prose warms every page of this winning series debut. Agent, Robin Strauss. (Sept. 28) Forecast: Fans will quickly be reassured that McCall Smith's latest possesses all the gentle humor and keen insights into human nature that characterized his Mma Ramotswe novels, and they will buy, buy, buy accordingly." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"[A] detective story with charm, warmth, and virtually no detection....[T]his new series...just might fill the bill for patient, literate readers mourning the death of Amanda Cross." Kirkus Reviews

"Scotland's climate may be misty and cool, but the author's gentle humor and keen insights into human nature warm every page of this engaging series debut." Booklist (Starred Review)

"Dalhousie...equals Precious Ramotswe in intelligence and moxie....While the plot takes a few unexpected turns, it is ultimately resolved too quickly and easily, all the while preparing the reader for future installments." Library Journal

"[McCall Smith writes] the best, most charming, honest, hilarious, and life-affirming books to appear in years." The Plain Dealer

"[McCall Smith's] accomplished novels...[are] dependent on small gestures redolent with meaning and main characters blessed with pleasing personalities....Not so much conventional mysteries, [his] novels are gentle probes into the mysteries of human nature." Newsday

"Present-day Edinburgh, Scotland, might seem tame compared with Southern California in the 1960s, but there is plenty going on there to judge by The Sunday Philosophy Club, the first in a new series by Alexander McCall Smith." Wall Street Journal

"Mr. Smith, a fine writer, paints his hometown of Edinburgh as indelibly as he captured the sunniness of Africa. We can almost feel the mists as we tread the cobblestones. Ah, but his heroine." Dallas Morning News

"As in Smith's other books, the crime-solving angle is hardly the heart of the novel. The Sunday Philosophy Club leaves plenty of time for pondering moral conundrums, the drinking of steaming cups of hot brew (coffee, in this case) and fussing over romantic problems." The Oregonian (Portland, OR)

"Once one adjusts to the tone, it is easy to warm to The Sunday Philosophy Club....Fans of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective series should easily be able to take these Scottish characters into their hearts as easily as they did the ones in Botswana." BookReporter

"Genial....Wise....Glows like a rare jewel." Entertainment Weekly

"The literary equivalent of herbal tea and a cozy fire....McCall Smith's Scotland [is] well worth future visits." The New York Times

"In Mma Ramotswe, [McCall Smith] minted one of the most memorable heroines in any modern fiction. Now, with the creation of Isabel Dalhousie...he's done it again....She's such good company, it's hard to believe she's fictional. You finish this installment greedily looking forward to more." Newsweek

"Charmingly told....Its graceful prose shines, and Isabel's interior monologues — meditations on a variety of moral questions — are bemused, intelligent and entertaining." The Seattle Times

"Whimsical....[A] memorable cast of characters....McCall Smith's assessments of fellow humans are piercing and profound....[His] depictions of Edinburgh are vivid and seamless....His fans...are sure to embrace these moral peregrinations among the plaid." San Francisco Chronicle

"Alexander McCall Smith has become one of those commodities, like oil or chocolate or money, where the supply is never sufficient to the demand....[He] is prolific and habit-forming....[His] gift, one of them, is to inspire an eagerness to follow....McCall Smith has done his job. Isabel lives. A series is born." The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

"Like walking down the street with an amazingly literate, thoughtful, witty and self-deprecating friend through a city that friend knows and loves well." The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

"Memorable....The Sunday Philosophy Club will delight McCall Smith's existing fans and win him some new ones." St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Charming....Suspenseful....A pleasant introduction to a woman readers will want to know more about." Detroit Free Press

"A quiet mystery aimed in equal parts at the head and the heart." The Patriot News (Harrisburg, PA)

"Devotees of Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series are certain to enjoy these new people and this new place....To know Isabel Dalhousie is to like and admire her." Chicago Tribune

"Readers will be immediately smitten with the interplay between the philosopher, her tradition-bound housekeeper Grace and her unlucky in-love niece Cat." Ft. Myers News-Press

"An elegant mystery filled not with dead bodies but an air of gentle refinement, intelligence and insight....Isabel is a true original." Orlando Sentinel

Introducing Isabel Dalhousie the heroine of the latest bestselling series from the author of the <'>No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Isabel, the editor of the Review of Applied Ethics and an occasional detective, has been accused of getting involved in problems that are, quite frankly, none of her business.

In this first installment, Isabel is attending a concert in the Usher Hall when she witnesses a man fall from the upper balcony. Isabel can't help wondering whether it was the result of mischance or mischief. Against the best advice of her no-nonsense housekeeper Grace, her bassoon playing friend Jamie, and even her romantically challenged neice Cat, she is morally bound to solve this case. Complete with wonderful Edinburgh atmosphere and characters straight out of a Robert Burns poem, The Sunday Philosophy Club is a delightful treat from one of our most beloved authors.

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland, where he is a professor of medical law at Edinburgh University. In his spare time he is a bassoonist in the RTO (Really Terrible Orchestra).