I've read other McCall Smith series (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Scotland Street and the Igelfeld books) and enjoyed them so I thought I'd give this one a go.

I didn't enjoy it quite as much as some of the others books, but it was very well written and I'll definitely read the next one in the series as I'm interested in where the characters are going. I especially like the way in which AMS gives information on the background of his characters without being too obvious "Here's the backstory!". Sometimes you almost feel that there's been another book before the one you're reading in the series as he almost assumes you know things about the characters and the book just starts in the middle of everyone's lives.

I did notice quite a few similarities of style between this book and the Scotland St series - they are both set in Edinburgh and there was a bit of overlap in vocabulary used (particularly 'en brosse' hair - who says that??) but as I love the Scotland St books I don't really mind.