Abacus The Right Attitude to Rain Макколл-Смит Александр

Long-suffering child genius Bertie Pollock has much to contend with in the latest instalment of life at 44 Scotland Street, not least the birth of his brother Ulysses. Bertie had hoped that caring for a new baby would command all of his mother's attention, but he quickly sees that his dream of being left to his own devices is not destined to come true. Overprotective Irene bans Bertie from the playground, but then forgets little Ulysses outside the delicatessen, and suffers a deeply embarrassing moment when she unwittingly retrieves the wrong baby • Meanwhile, for the other residents of Scotland Street, all's fair in love and friendship. Big Lou finds a new man, Matthew and Pat edge their relationship towards something more permanent - although this development is not without complications, when a glimpse of someone who just might be her handsome, caddish ex-flatmate Bruce sets Pat's pulse racing - and Domenica's friendship with Antonia is tested to the limit when an assortment of her belongings mysteriously appear in Antonia's new flat

The one with the difficult aunt • The no. 1 lady detectives of Botswana travel to a safari lodge in the Okavango Delta to carry out a delicate mission on behalf of a former guest. It is a beautiful place full of dangerous, untamed creatures - some of them human • As Mma Ramotswe investigates, it becomes clearer that there is another mystery right under her nose that needs solving: Mma Makutsi is troubled by her fiance Phuti Radiphuti's reluctance to set a date for their wedding • In such matters at least Mma Ramotswe is on familiar terrain

It is summer in Edinburgh and Isabel Dalhousie is once again caught between 'gossip' and significant rumour. It is none of her business that Patricia, the mother of her son Charlie's little friend Basil, is estranged from Basil's father, or that the woman has a somewhat brazen attitude to childcare. And yet, it is curious • Isabel, however, has much else on her mind as editor of the 'Review of Applied Ethics'. Along with the work involved for its impending next issue, she really needs to get her house in order and tend to the demands of her niece, Cat. Thankfully, the arrival of Antonia, the exuberant Italian au pair, will take care of urgent chores. And the hiring of Claire, a diligent if unsettlingly beautiful new assistant at the 'Review', surely means that Isabel can breathe, at least a little

Неизменно восхитительная, ненасытно любопытная эдинбургский философ и сыщик-любитель возвращается, чтобы взяться за дело, не похожее ни на одно из тех, что у нее были раньше, - на этот раз с паранормальными последствиями - в романе "Привычки счастья", десятой части серии бестселлеров Александра Макколл-Смита • Из маленького городка под Эдинбургом приходит известие о том, что маленький мальчик делится яркими воспоминаниями о прошлой жизни: прекрасное описание острова у берегов Шотландии, который он никак не мог знать, и дома там, где, как он утверждает, провел свою прежнюю жизнь. Когда мать мальчика просит Изабель расследовать его заявления, она чувствует, что должна - конечно! - помочь им узнать правду, и они с мужем Джейми отправляются на остров

To the casual observer, the great enlightened city of Edinburgh, home of no-nonsense philosophers and cream teas, might appear immune to the rollercoaster of strong emotions. But at 44 Scotland Street, as Matthew and Elspeth embark on the risky enterprise of married love, the raffish portrait painter Angus Lordie has a premonition of disaster. And soon enough Irene Pollock is shocked to learn that her small son Bertie harbours a highly unsuitable ambition; the gloriously vain Bruce discovers a wrinkle and confronts rejection; and Angus finds himself facing the grave consequences of unbridled bliss, not to mention a large Glaswegian gangster bearing gifts

The one with the other Mma Ramotswe • The dismissal of an employee at a thriving local business leads to an investigation by Precious Ramotswe and self-appointed Principal Investigating Officer Grace Makutsi. But Mma Ramotswe also has to contend with the re-appearance of her ex-husband, and the arrival of a long-lost relation: another Mma Ramotswe. Can Precious draw on her strength, compassion and powers of detection to manage these surprises from the past?

The wonderful new Isabel Dalhousie • As the editor of an applied ethics journal, Isabel Dalhousie is usually tucked away in her editorial office, in the comfortable Edinburgh house she shares with her fiance and their young son, and does not often meet many fellow philosophers. But while helping in the delicatessen owned by her niece, Cat, she meets Jane Cooper, an Australian philosopher who is spending a sabbatical in Scotland. Isabel learns that Jane needs to find out something about her past. Jane was born in Scotland but taken to Australia as a baby by her adoptive parents. She knows who her mother is, but her father's identity is still a mystery. Can Isabel help Jane unconver this important and potentially unsettling information? And in Isabel's own life, there is the ever-present question of marriage, and also the perennially difficult issue of her relationship with Cat, whose choice of men is as dubious as ever

The one with the poison pen letter • For the first time in her career as Botswana's no. 1 lady detective, Mma Ramotswe suffers a blow to her faith in the goodness of humanity (and of her neighbours in particular) when she receives a threatening letter. But she does not let this swerve her from the sad plight of an orphan who hopes to find her true family • Meanwhile, at Zebra Drive, Mma Ramotswe's beloved husband Mr J. L. B. Matekoni is also searching for an expensive miracle for their own foster daughter Motholeli

As Botswana awaits the familiar blessing of the rains and the resumption of the eternal cycle, seismic upheaval is taking place at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Not only is Mr J. L. B. Matekoni attempting to reform himself into a modern husband, but after her marriage to Phuti Radiphuti, Mma Ramotswe's challenging but irreplaceable associate Mma Makutsi has joyful news • With the arrival of an heir to the Double Comfort furniture empire and Mma Makutsi busy with motherhood, cobras and a senior aunt, Mma Ramotswe must grapple alone with tea-making, detective work and a new uncertainty. Disturbing developments over the will of a local dignitary, Edgar Molapo, point to fraud and a shocking family secret, while tracing the source of a smear campaign against the Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon, in which notorious troublemaker Violet Sephotho may or not have a hand, proves to require a keen eye and an open mind

As well as its advantages, there are drawbacks to the enlightened village that is twenty-first-century Edinburgh, where every Saturday night ears burn at dinner parties across the city, and anyone requiring the investigative abilities of a philosophical soul knows where to find her • Jillian McKinlay - wife of a trustee of an illustrious school - is the latest petitioner; she asks Isabel to look into a poison-pen letter that makes insinuations about applicants for the position of principal. Isabel's niece Cat has another new boyfriend who seems too good to be true. And when a pretty cellist with a tragic story takes a fancy to her husband-to-be, Isabel finds herself contemplating an act of heroic and alarming self-sacrifice

When Isabel Dalhousie and her husband Jamie book a table at an expensive Edinburgh restaurant, she finds herself battling with her conscience. Lately, there has been a lull in work for the Review of Applied Ethics, and the care of their young sons, Charlie and Magnus, is often undertaken by their housekeeper Grace. Is Isabel deserving of such a luxurious dinner? • But Isabel holds herself to impossible moral standards. Not so, the parents of one of Jamie's students, who have no qualms about ensuring their son's place in the school orchestra, despite his mediocre talent. In the restaurant, Isabel witnesses a row between local businessmen; another reminder that thoughtless ambition is too often second nature to others • Compelled to intervene in the aftermath, Isabel's sense of integrity is observed by a fellow diner, Iain Melrose, who seeks out her help

Isabel Dalhousie leads an enviable life in Edinburgh, with time for cloud-gazing, civilised conversation and good coffee from Cat's delicatessen. Alongside these pastimes, she must also keep pace with the varied pursuits of her musician husband and their young son Charlie, who is exhibiting the first, rather worrying signs of mathematical genius • But an unexpected appeal for help from a collector who has been the victim of an important art theft threatens to take her far outside of her comfort zone • As an incorrigible rescuer of others, Isabel can hardly refuse to assist in the collector's negotiations with those holding his beloved painting, however shadowy the circumstances may be