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We don’t go to Alexander McCall Smith’s novels, either his Number 1 Detective Agency series or the Isabel Dalhousie series, for  complicated plots but rather for the Scottish atmosphere (or the evocation of Botswana) and the pleasant wallow in a bath of human decency and generosity.

The Lost Art of Gratitude is no exception. Isabel is deeply attached to her small son, Charlie, and to his musician father, Jamie. A chance meeting with her old foe Minty Auchterlonie leads to an invitation, for Charlie, to two-year old Roderick’s birthday party and to an appeal for help from Minty.

Isabel can never resist the urge to help fellow humans but it is not her involvement in Minty’s manoeuvring, but rather the Edinburgh setting, the salmon Jamie cooks, the songs he sings and Isabel’s ability to retain her integrity, while extricating herself from Minty’s devious web that appeal to readers.

Isabel’s niece, Cat, is in the story as usual, now involved with a tight-rope walker and we, with Isabel, throw our hands up in despair. However, the expected solution of that problem amuses readers.

This gentle novel reminds us how kind people can be – even if Minty is not skilled in the ‘Lost Art of Gratitude’.

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