Synopses & Reviews
The tenth book in this beloved author’s consistently best-selling series featuring his insatiably curious, ever-delightful Edinburgh philosopher and amateur sleuth who now takes on a case like none she’s had before: one with paranormal implications.
From a small town outside Edinburgh comes the news that a young boy has been recounting vivid recollections of a past life: a perfect description of an island off the coast of Scotland which he couldn’t possibly know, and a house there, where he claims to have spent his former life. When the boy’s mother asks Isabel to investigate his claims, she feels she must—of course!—help them learn the truth, and she and Jamie set off for the island. But finding the house the boy described only leads to more complicated questions. And when she learns about the tragic story of the family who lived there, Isabel is suddenly faced with a situation of extraordinary delicacy that will require all of her skills both as sleuth and philosopher. (Meantime, back in Edinburgh: Will an elder lothario take Grace away from Isabel? Would Isabel be able to manage without her stalwart housekeeper, companion, and babysitter?)
Synopsis
ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH is the author of the international phenomenon the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, the 44 Scotland Street series, and the Corduroy Mansions series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served with many national and international organizations concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and was a law professor at the University of Botswana.
Synopsis
The insatiably curious Edinburgh philosopher and amateur sleuth Isabel Dalhousie returns, taking on a case unlike any she s had before this one with paranormal implications in the eagerly anticipated new installment of Alexander McCall Smith s beloved and best-selling series.
Through a mutual acquaintance, Isabel is introduced to a six-year-old boy who has been experiencing vivid recollections of a past life, which include a perfect description of an island off the coast of Scotland and a house on the island where he claims to have lived. When the boy s mother asks Isabel to investigate, Isabel naturally feels inclined to help, and so she, her husband, Jamie, and their son, Charlie, set off for the island. To their great surprise, they actually locate the house that the boy described, which leads to more complicated questions, as Isabel s desire to find rational explanations comes up against the uncanny mystery unfolding before her. It s an extraordinarily delicate situation that will require all of her skills, as both sleuth and philosopher, to solve.
Back home, as she begins to prepare the next issue of the Review of Applied Ethics, Isabel confronts a threat to her professional well-being in the form of two visiting academics Lettuce and Dove who she fears will be a destabilizing influence on her cozy perch in enlightened Edinburgh.
But no matter the trials she faces, Isabel is blissfully content in her personal life, which is centered on her young son and devoted husband. Readers will be filled with happiness as they once again spend time with their beloved heroine and the people she holds dear.
"