The Right Attitude to Rain

An Isabel Dalhousie Novel

By: Alexander McCall Smith

Narrated by: Davina Porter

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith has become a household name through his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Now he continues his equally charming Isabel Dalhousie series with the third mystery starring the highly ethical, plucky protagonist.

Isabel's life is thrown for a few loops when her cousin Mimi arrives from Dallas with her husband Joe. Through Mimi and Joe, Isabel meets Texas hotshot Tom Bruce, who is about to marry someone Isabel suspects of gold-digging. Further complicating matters, Tom seems to have an unusual level of interest in Isabel. Meanwhile, Isabel has her own feelings to deal with, not to mention those of her beloved niece Cat, whose romantic interest may not be up to snuff.

It would all be quite a lot for one person to contend with if that person wasn't Isabel, who is always ready to apply her well-defended sense of ethics to any situation.

Woman of mystery: listen to more in the Isabel Dalhousie series.

©2006 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2006 Recorded Books LLC

Critic reviews

"Charmingly told...Its graceful prose shines, and Isabel's interior monologues - meditations on a variety of moral questions - are bemused, intelligent, and entertaining." (The Seattle Times)
"McCall Smith's assessments of fellow humans are piercing and profound. [His] depictions of Edinburgh are vivid and seamless...His fans are sure to embrace these moral peregrinations among the plaid." (San Francisco Chronicle)

revisiting this series

I love the use of Auden and the small and beautiful moments (hello Brother Fox). I read several books in the series years ago when Isabel seemed ancient to me and now I've surpassed her years. Everything seems different and new. The messages of kindness and morality are wonderful. I listen to these to help me to relax, unwind and to think on life. I wouldn't classify them as mysteries, but rather as ponderings. Davina Porter is lovely and voices the characters precisely as I would imagine them to be.

Always a pleasure to be read to by Davina Porter!

Easy-going tale with lots of charm, as I've found with all these books. And I love Davina Porter's narrations! She's fabulous.

A note, which has nothing to do with the book or the performance: Somehow, whoever engineered the recording, made the end of a chapter and the announcement of the next so close together I'm sometimes confused about what's happening. It was disruptive to the flow of the narration. Was this person trying to save time? I don't know.

Still loved the book!

Not the same caliber

I've been a big fan of Mr. Smith's books. However, I did not enjoy the theme of this book: Isabelle decides to "advance" her relationship with Jamie. There was more than usual amount of second-guessing, indecision, and "prattle" despite being an abridged version. I will consider this book an aberration and continue to look for other books in the mystery series.

Slow, slow, slow

This story moves so glacially that I haven't been able to get through it. The narrator's voice is pleasant enough when she is using her own voice. But some of the voices she has used for a couple of the characters are a bit grating. The main character Isobel isn't particularly likeable. She is nosy, and well frankly a bit insipid.

A bit too repetitive

I love this author, but found myself getting annoyed at the repetition of thought in this one. Rather skimpy on plot. Although I won't give up on the series just yet.

2-for-1 sale purchase

I went for this title because it had better reviews than most titles on the 2-for-1 sale list. It was one of the least enjoyable listens in my 19-year-old Audible library. The writing is self-indulgent and too often goes off on tangents (which are probably meant to reflect the stream of consciousness of the heroine but only contributed to endearing her less to me). The story/plot is nonexistent. This is simply a collection of showoffy literary allusions and very flimsy philosophical musings. The narrator did a decent job with voices, but her mispronouncing of certain words (e.g., chiaroscuro; there may have been other foreign words that simply went over my head or that I just missed because I couldn't stay focused on all the drivel) and the bad editing (the chapter transitions are smooshed together, without any pause in between or change in tone to mark them) were almost on a par with the "story" of this title.

Boring- not a mystery

BORING!!!! Isabel comes off as being self-centered and whiny. I gave up listening. Ms. Porter does an ok job with the different voices. The only mystery is why this is considered a mystery story. Nothing in the story line grabs the attention or holds it. Half way through and no crime has been committed (or attempted). Nothing unusual has occurred. I can usually push through to the end of a story, but I only managed to get halfway through this one before giving up.

Disappointing

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

While I enjoyed listening to the reader and characters ...

What could Alexander McCall Smith have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

...I kept waiting for something to happen. It didn't. I thoroughly enjoy the stories in Smith's other series (Ladies Detective) this story went nowhere.

Which scene was your favorite?

None

Any additional comments?

Very disappointed in this book. After listening to his Ladies Detective series, I was expecting much more. It just went nowhere, The reader was fine; story was not. Boring.

Bored to tears by the denouement

What a disappointment. Isabel is such a great character! Too bad she couldn’t have enjoyed the change of seasons in her life without reaching backward to an affair with a man 14 years her junior. I felt a bit cheated by that. Then. She gets pregnant <giant eye roll>. Didn’t even finish it.

Dull! One star is too much

There is very little that happens in the of story of this book and none of it that makes it an engaging read, if one is looking for more than just reading about the everyday happenings of some dull characters lives. I wasn't following how far along I was getting in the book and was quite surprised that I reached the end with so very little happenging throughout the book!