The Novel Habits of Happiness (Isabel Dalhousie Series)

McCall Smith touches at the heart of life once again. Through the musings and matters of Isabel Dalhousie he reminds of life's simplicities; of the beauty in words, experiences, and connections with others.

I feel a bit disloyal giving this book three stars, hence I've given it four, although that's a stretch. I have read all nine books in the series and somewhere along the way I moved from loving them to just kind of liking them. Having said that, this is one of the best in some time, even if it does take until Chapter 5 before anything of consequence happens.

Isabel Dalhousie is the editor of a philosophical magazine who lives in Edinburgh with her handsome husband Jamie (that's only mentioned about, oh! 100 times) and their three year old son Charlie. She has an active mind and she is always musing about topics as varied as the failings of lions, whether one can be pure of heart without being boring and the reliability of the Swiss railway system.

There are two main storylines in this book. The first concerns Isabel being asked to investigate a child who is convinced that they have had a previous life. His descriptions of where he lived are so vivid that his mother asks Isabel to find out whether it is possible that such a place exists. The second storyline concerns her old nemeses Professors Lettuce and Dove, who turn up unexpectedly in Edinburgh. While both storylines take some time to develop, they are well developed and largely resolved, which is something that hasn't always happened with this series in the past.

The main point of this book seems to me to make you think about kindness. Again and again different characters remind us of the need to be kind to others, to open oneself to goodness "as one opens a door to allow a friend to come in". And ultimately, because you can't read a book in this series without thinking about being a better person, I rate it four stars.