Part of Isabel Dalhousie, book 6
First published 2009
Isabel Dalhousie takes eighteen-month-old Charlie to a birthday party in Edinburgh, where she unexpectedly meets Minty Auchterlonie, a former rival now working as a high-flying financier. Minty once struck Isabel as ruthlessly ambitious, but her true character remained unclear. When Minty confides a personal matter to Isabel, questions multiply. Can Minty be trusted, or is she orchestrating massive financial fraud? Rumors swirl about questionable transactions at her investment bank. Meanwhile, Isabel faces other challenges. She clashes with Professor Dove over plagiarism accusations. Her niece Cat has taken up with yet another unsuitable boyfriend, this time a tightrope walker. The question of marriage to Jamie, Charlie's devoted father, still hangs unresolved. Isabel approaches each dilemma with her characteristic blend of philosophical inquiry and determined investigation, seeking truth through careful observation and relentless curiosity about human nature.
Genres: fiction, romance, literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Edinburgh
Period: 21st-century
262 pages · Hardcover · Pantheon Books