Rediscovering Alexander McCall Smith

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the storytelling and narrative voice of Alexander McCall Smith. When his exceptionally popular series The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency first appeared in 2002, I was enamored with his style and with his characters. While my interests have branched off over the years, I still scour the book sales for this author with my dad, who remains an avid devotee.

I stumbled into a more recent series of his, The Perfect Passion Company, on it’s second installment Looking for You. I realized quickly that I had missed the first, but was not deterred. Though I may have missed out on some wonderful story progression, it was not hard to quickly pick up the nuance and flow of the Scottish world created for these characters.

Katie Donald has “temporarily” taken over her cousin’s matchmaking business in Edinburgh, while cousin Ness is in Canada finding herself. Inheriting a business, a delicious neighbor, and the lovelorn of this bustling and quirky city.

Leaving behind her previous life and lack of love in London, Katie seems to have reluctantly taken a great affinity to her new role. Her ability to read people and set aside personal prejudice would be well suited to a legal career, but is wonderfully paired here with finding love for the interesting, uninteresting and sometimes downright odd people who cross her threshold looking to cross the marital threshold.

The love lives of those around her, while interesting, pale in comparison to her own growing love for her neighbor William. An Australian whose own love story played out in the first volume, William is described as being distractingly attractive, but also kind, loving, artistic, and all round wonderful. He is an artist sojourning on the British Isles, and takes a keen, often very involved, interest in the matchmaking world. He is quicker to jump to conclusions about clients than Katie, but otherwise proves to have some very keen instincts.

The story spends much of its time in Edinburgh, but does not forget erstwhile traveler Ness, proprietor of The Perfect Passion Dating Company, who is taking an adult gap year in Canada. Ness is a perfect foil to Katie, as they are both on similar journeys of discovery.  Ness is learning all kinds of things about herself, the people she meets, and about North America’s tick borne diseases! The communication between the cousins makes me envious of how little I see my own cousins across the Atlantic and reminds me of how I enjoyed them all as a child. Being the youngest, I had seven older cousins to torment and bother, but I adored them. I moved from England when I was 22 so never really got to know them as an adult. I expect I will forever be that little cousin in their minds!

While the dulcet tones of Morgan Freeman are the soundtrack to the ultimate voice over, were my life to be narrated, I would want Alexander McCall Smith to write the script. His turn of phrase and descriptive brilliance are at play whether describing a work of art or a piece of toast. While it is not necessarily the natural cadence of everyday life, much as Joss Whedon’s teenagers were not typically spoken, it is the style, speed, and substance that I would aspire to (and yearn for) in my own day to day.

McCall Smith a highly prolific author, having penned 25 volumes in The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series, 15 in The Sunday Philosophy Club, 17 in The 44 Scotland Street Series, and many more, with no signs of slowing down. Only the extended Star Wars Universe is harder to keep up with.

Looking for You is a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging read. I will certainly be seeking out the first volume and waiting for more from the residents of Mouse Street. Time passes easily when you are in the company of the words of Alexander McCall Smith making his stories the perfect read on winters night or while watching waves on the Beach.

GeekMom received a copy of this book for review purposes