Review: My introduction to Isabel Dalhousie and her creator
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 12, 2012
This is the first of the Isabel Dalhousie stories or novels that I've read, and I wondered after I'd read it where I've been.  This short story by Alexander McCall Smith that takes place in Scotland, "The Perils of Morning Coffee" turned out to be an excellent piece of writing, and the character of Isabel Dalhousie is humorous and very likeable.  Isabel is a philosopher and works for the journal "Review of Applied Ethics" as its editor.  I found Isabel's conversations with other characters to be very interesting, but what she thought was true and what was really going on wasn't always the case.The story starts out at a little after 4 in the morning with Isabel watching the wanderings of a fox out her window.  A little later on she receives an invitation by e-mail from Dr. George MacLeod to have coffee with him at the Elephant House.  Dr. MacLeod taught philosophy at the university. Isabel didn't know him, but she accepted his invitation anyway.  A problem with MacLeod's software had mistakenly sent out the invitation, and Isabel received another one saying that coffee was cancelled due to the error, but since she was curious, Isabel asked if they might meet anyway.  MacLeod accepted and before the coffee was cold practically, Isabel found herself being accused of having an affair with Dr. MacLeod by none other than his wife.  Isabel knows that something is very wrong with this accusation, so she sets out to right the wrong and to find out what is really going on.This was very refreshing for me to read since it's the first in the series I've read.  I intend to start at the beginning and catch up on the Isabel Dalhousie novels, so this was a good introduction to this character and to the author.  I enjoyed this very much.