Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Audiobook Review: Love Over Scotland by Alexander McCall Smith

Here is a summary of Love Over Scotland from Alexander McCall Smith's website:

The third installment in Alexander McCall Smith’s beloved 44 Scotland Street series is sure to delight his many fans.


This just in from Edinburgh: the complicated lives of the denizens of 44 Scotland Street are becoming no simpler. Domenica Macdonald has left for the Malacca Straits to conduct a perilous anthropological study of pirate households. Angus Lordie’s dog, Cyril, has been stolen, and is facing an uncertain future wandering the streets. Bertie, the prodigiously talented six-year-old, is still enduring psychotherapy, but his burden is lightened by a junior orchestra's trip to Paris, where he makes some interesting new friends. Back in Edinburgh, there is romance for Pat with a handsome young man called Wolf, until she begins to see the attractions of the more prosaically named Matthew.

My Review:
This was another interesting segment of the 44 Scotland Street series as many of our favorite characters return and we are even introduced to a few new ones.  I have always enjoyed Alexander McCall Smith's novels as they are full of delightful elements that never fail to put a smile on my face.  The narration of Robert Ian MacKenzie only enhanced my experience that much more.

In the last novel it seemed to me that Bertie's father was actually stepping up to his wife to loosen the controlling grip on the young boy.  It seemed that she was willing to allow Bertie to enjoy being a young boy for awhile.  In this third installment she seemed to forget her change in parenting methods as the stress of being a child prodigy is placed on Bertie's shoulders once again.  There are a few surprises with this small family though that I won't reveal as they really had quite a shock factor.

Since Pat had to leave Bruce's flat she found a new place to stay with a young gal close to her own age.  Things don't go very well with Pat's new living arrangements as there appears to be a mutual attraction between herself and her roommate's boyfriend.  Pat finds herself needing to find another place to live before the situation gets out of control and surprisingly Matthew offers her a place to lay her head.  All I will say about this is, very interesting indeed!

Angus Lordie is dying of loneliness after Domenica leaves to study the lives of pirates.  An odd young woman is staying in Domenica's flat while she is away and Angus doesn't seem to take a liking to her at all.  Between this new resident of Scotland Street and Cyril's narration within the novel there was not a dull moment to be had.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel as we get to revisit some of our favorite characters from 44 Scotland Street.  Smith is such a talented writer and he throws in a few surprises and some romance to keep us turning the pages in this installment.  I don't hesitate in recommending this novel or even the series for that matter.  I've been listening to these on audiobook but I think they would be just as enjoyable to actually read them.

My Rating:  4/5

Disclosure:  I borrowed this audiobook from my local library for my personal entertainment.

2 comments:

Alyce said...

I have gotten behind in my reading of this series and need to add this one to my wish list pronto. :)

bermudaonion said...

I haven't tried this series, but it sounds charming!