44 Scotland Street

By: Alexander McCall Smith

Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie

Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

The brilliant Alexander McCall Smith became an international sensation with his New York Times best-selling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels. His award-winning wit, made famous through that series, is fully on display in 44 Scotland Street.

When Pat rents a room in Edinburgh, she acquires some interesting neighbors, including a pushy Stockbridge mother and her talented, sax-playing, 5-year-old son. Pat's job at an art gallery hardly keeps her busy, until she suspects one painting in the collection may be an undiscovered work from a Scottish master. As Pat handles the mystery of the painting, she and the people surrounding her confront issues of trust, love, and loss.

Chalk up another winner for McCall Smith, whose endlessly entertaining and perceptive novel is filled with delightfully authentic sketches of all the archetypes of Edinburgh society.

©2005 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Readers needn't possess plaid clothes or a brogue to savor this wise, witty send-up of Edinburgh rogues." (Booklist)
"The possibility of romance, the ongoing ups and downs of the large, well-drawn cast of characters, the intricate plot, and the way Smith nimbly jumps from situation to situation and POV to POV...works beautifully." (Publishers Weekly)

I am disappointed

What would have made 44 Scotland Street better?

After greatly enjoying the "Number One Detective Agency" I expected more of the same. There just doesn't seem to be any pizzas to the story of performance. I was quite disappointed. Oscar DeVries

A jolly good tale

MacKenzie provides the most marvelous Scottish brogues giving each charactor their own breath of life and personality. Agnus and Dominica were my favorites. as well as Ceril the winking Collie. a jolly good tale

My new favorite author

Loved it, a witty author who excels at character building and whimsy. Enjoying the whole series.

enjoyable story

A little slow for my taste but gets interesting. A nice listen when you want something a little slower.

Good read

Interesting story about everyday life. Love, friendship , disappointment and hope. The book is well written and entertaining, no boring parts.

The Characters

I really enjoyed this book. The characters and the indight about the different "types" was just fantastic. The author didn't evolve into simple stereotyping in each character had their positives and negatives, just like real life thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

Excellent narrating

Slow but very detailed. Top notch character development. You can clearly visualize and understand each character, which could be very difficult given there are so many different characters in this book.

oddly absorbing and addicitive

I didn't expect to like this, don't know why I downloaded it, and had it in my library for a year before I even tried to listen. Once I started, I finished it within 48 hrs, sneeking on my iPod at every chance.

McCall Smith gives us wisdom masked in simple, curious tales of characters like those found in any coffee shop - inside Scotland or out- improbable but believable once inside the story.

The tales were first serialized in a newspaper - in the introduction McCall Smith reminds that Dickens spun most of his tales in that manner - but 44 Scotand put me in mind more of Trollope.

This is another example of a good read made better in audio by excellent narrration.

Yawn

Not much humor and no mystery, unless it came at the end, which I didn't listen to.

It deserves a million stars!

I have never heard a story like this before. On the surface, it seems rather simplistic, but as the story continues one sees how intricate the characters are developed and interwoven. I told my Husband that it reminded me of a Seinfeld episode where what seemed to be an arbitrary incident would cause a domino to fall in one of the characters lives thus moving the sequence of all the characters lives forward in unexpected ways. This story is HYSTERICALLY funny and I had to apologize to my Husband a few times for lol in our quiet, dark bedroom at three in the morning (I listen to audible to help me sleep.)Much to my astonishment, he answered me a few times with a "No problem. I was listening, too." That has NEVER happened before. He really liked the book and both of us agreed the narrator is FABULOUS! He only added to the hilarity. His interpretation of the text is spot on. Get this book. It's absolutely wonderful.