The Conditions of Unconditional Love

Isabel Dalhousie, Book 15

By: Alexander McCall Smith

Narrated by: Sally Masterson

Everyone’s favorite moral philosopher and amateur sleuth, Isabel Dalhousie, is back and once again finds herself facing a number of tricky situations and philosophical questions, both public and private.

Isabel’s life has fallen into a comfortable and tidy rhythm. Well, as tidy as things can be with two small boys wreaking havoc around the house. But when her husband, Jamie, invites a woman named Dawn—recently embroiled in a contentious affair with a member of Jamie’s orchestra—to stay with them, things begin to go awry. Strange noises can be heard from the upper floor, even when Dawn is supposedly at work, and the couple wonders whether something more nefarious may be afoot.

If that weren’t enough, Professor Robert Lettuce is staging an academic conference and has asked Isabel to publish the conference papers in a special issue of the Review of Applied Ethics. But something is definitely suspect about the funding, and it will be up to Isabel to sort it out. As the truth comes to light, Isabel must once more rely on her kindness, powers of deduction and philosophical expertise to navigate these sensitive matters.

©2024 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2024 Recorded Books

New narrator

I am so happy for Davina Porter in her retirement, but it's really difficult to get used to new narrators in the stories she has brought to life. This book by Alexander McCall Smith, The Conditions of Unconditional Love, is true to the rest of the series and very enjoyable, and Sally Masterson is a good narrator. But throughout the entire book she mispronounced the main character's name, and it was really distracting. The character's name is Isobel, and it was pronounced Izable, ironically rhyming with risable, instead of Iz-o-bell. I miss Davina!

Everything you want in a book.

Both story and reader were fabulous. They made me wish to be more erudite . I will continue to read the author’s writing.

Makes one think

“The Conditions of Unconditional Love” is book fifteen in the Isabel Dalhousie Series by Alexander McCall Smith. Isabel is a philosopher so the book has lots of musings about odd situations. I have found that readers either love or hate Smith. I happen to love several of his series including this one. He makes one stop and think about odd but important things.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is eight hours and twenty-nine minutes. Sally Masterson does a good job narrating the book.

Change in narrator is unfortunate

After relishing the previous 14 volumes with Davina Porter as the narrator, I have to say the new voice actor is jarring. Not only are certain words and names pronounced oddly - the characters - Grace, Jamie, Cat - just don’t sound like themselves and in fact all sound the same. I would pay again for this if we could get a Davina Porter version. As it is - the pleasure has gone out of listening to this series for me.

I love the continuing saga of Isabel and Jamie

Of all of the Isabel and Jamie Saga this was probably the one I liked the least. It lacked a real core story as others did. and sometimes Isabel’s ramblings without a course story can become draining that’s it but I will continue with every book that comes out. Thank you, Alexander.

Philosophy

Charming and surprisingly current issues addressed by our favorite characters, I never tire of Isabell’s dilemmas
and their creative solutions.

Monotonous

The writing is fine as usual, but the characters are no longer growing and there are no great challenges. Several words are mispronounced (such as Betty Boop). And the denouement is short and flat.

I miss Davina Porter

I miss Davina Porter! She was a brilliant narrator! I miss her so much, especially how she brought Jamie, Isabel, and Grace to life. I loved the unique voices she developed for each character.

The terrible narration

I pre-ordered this book back in April, 2024. I was so happy when it dropped into my Audible library August 20th. My delight was short lived because I could not stomach listening to the horrible narration. So even though I could not bear to listen to even 10% of the book, I have given the story a five star rating based on the history of McCall Smith's excellent writing. I have no doubt this is a good book, but I will have to get the hardcopy to finish the story. Such a shame that a better narrator could not be found!

Try the hard copy instead

As a fan of McCall Smith and the Isabel Dalhousie series, I was so looking forward to this release. I saw that the narrator had changed from the one that read the previous 14 books and I was prepared to having to get used to a new voice. Sadly, it was not possible. She pronounces Isabel as "Iss uh bull" throughout the narration, and has little inflection to her tone. And, I never imagined that the Greek word "agape" could be pronounced "a gap pee". Her narration made a somewhat dull story unbearable. I have listened to each of the previous Dalhousie novels multiple times over and I love the characters and story lines... but this one is getting returned. I'm going to read the hard copy to see if it is more enjoyable.