Alexander McCall Smith, The Lost Art of Gratitude

In book six of the series, Isabel Dalhousie faces a new series of challenges. Her nemesis, Christopher Dove, is trying to bring her and the philosophy journal she owns and edits into disrepute. And an old acquaintance, Minty Auchterlonie (whom, however, I did not remember at all from her previous appearance), involves Isabel in a pair of her problems. But fixing things this time around is complicated by the difficulty our practical philosopher has in getting the truth out of people. There are also developments on the personal front and the Brother Fox front to be enjoyed. There are no great surprises here for readers of the series, though I did find Minty's machinations a little harder to follow than usual for this series. My only real gripe is this. Isabel's son Charlie is now something like a year and a half old. Somehow, Isabel has two cheerful caretakers—Charlie's father Jamie and Isabel's housekeeper Grace—who together seem to watch Charlie at least 80% of the time, leaving Isabel free to involve herself in other people's problems and take leisurely walks around art galleries. (To say nothing of the kid going to bed before she and Jamie sit down to some lovely dinner that he cooked.) At that stage of parenthood, I was lucky if I could take regular showers. So, yeah, that aspect of the series is beginning to irritate. But we'll see how it continues.