See More From Book Club Friends

Sign up and log in to post, comment and join the conversation.

Book Club Friends is 100% Canadian 🇨🇦

Alexander McCall Smith
The Careful Use of Compliments
Book #4 of the Isabel Dalhousie series
See the list of Isabel Dalhousie books in order

The Careful Use of Compliments

Nothing captures the charm of Edinburgh like the bestselling Isabel Dalhousie series of novels featuring the insatiably curious philosopher and woman detective. Whether investigating a case or a problem of philosophy, the indefatigable Isabel Dalhousie, one of fiction’s most richly developed amateur detectives, is always ready to pursue the answers to all of life’s questions, large and small.

In the fourth installment of this enchanting, beloved series, Isabel Dalhousie, who is now a mother, returns to investigate an irresistible puzzle in the art world.

Isabel Dalhousie—the nosiest and most sympathetic philosopher you are likely to meet—now has a son, Charlie, whose doting father Jamie has an intriguing idea to pose to Isabel: marriage. But Isabel wonders if Jamie is too young to be serious? And how would Cat respond? On top of these matters, the ambitious Professor Dove has seized Isabel’s position as editor of the Review of Applied Ethics. However, nothing it seems can diminish Isabel’s innate curiosity. And when she recognizes that two paintings attributed to a deceased artist have simultaneously appeared on the market, she can’t help but think that they’re forgeries. So Isabel begins an investigation and soon finds herself diverted from her musings about parenthood and onto a path of inquiry into the soul of an artist.

Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Published: 2007
Page Count: 260

This page may include affiliate links.

Purchase on:

Amazon
Amazon

Book Club Discussion Questions For The Careful Use of Compliments

The Careful Use of Compliments
Discuss The Careful Use of Compliments With Your Book Club Friends

Do you want to take a deeper dive intoThe Careful Use of Compliments? Chat about themes, characters, settings, plots and let’s celebrate this book for our Book of the Month discussion!

Suggest The Careful Use of Compliments

More Book Club Discussions

A Better Man
A Fatal Grace
A Great Reckoning
A Rule Against Murder
A Trick of the Light
A World of Curiosities
All the Devils Are Here
An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s
Beautiful Ugly
Bury Your Dead
Glass Houses
How the Light Gets In
How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future
Iron Lake (20th Anniversary Edition)
Kingdom of the Blind
On Tyranny
State of Terror
Still Life
The Beautiful Mystery
The Boyfriend
The Briar Club
The Brutal Telling
The Crash
The Cruelest Month
The Frozen River
The Grey Wolf
The Housemaid
The Life We Bury
The Long Way Home
The Madness of Crowds
The Mighty Red
The Nature of the Beast
The River We Remember
The Rose Code
The Searcher
The Thursday Murder Club
See All Discussions

Highly Recommended Books by Alexander McCall Smith Book Club Friends

A Silent Death
Curious Minds
The Keys to the Street
The House at Sea's End
An Impartial Witness
Foul Matter
Faith
The Story Teller
Lady in the Lake
The Devil's Bed
Bad Move
The Shape Shifter
The Last Place
The Shadows We Hide
One-way Tickets: A Case For Willows and Lane
His & Hers
A Dying Fall
Lean Mean Thirteen
Silent Night
The Great Hippopotamus Hotel
Careless Love
Escape Clause
Snakebit: A Mike Bowditch Short Mystery
On the Edge
A Grave in the Woods
The Doomsday Decree
Jacket Man
Shattered Silk
The Firemaker
The Pillars of the Earth
The Lewis Man
Our Lady of Pain: An Edwardian Murder Mystery
The Black Tower
Beneath the Surface
Frozen: A Vera Stanhope Short Story
Every Secret Thing
Death at the Sanatorium
The Granite Coast Murders: A Brittany Mystery
Blue Lightning
A Necessary End
The Understudy
The Black Box
The Anodyne Necklace
One Fine Day You're Gonna Die
The Sisters of Glass Ferry
Sand Sharks
Still Dead: A J.P. Beaumont Novella
A Body in the Bathhouse
Bruno and the Carol Singers: A Christmas Mystery of the French Countryside
The Job
Black Diamond
The Girls in the Garden
Lay Down the Law
Lady with the Gun Asks the Questions
Tombland
Asta's Book
In the Presence of the Enemy
Lying in Wait
Spirit Crossing
The Sweet Remnants of Summer
Do You Remember?
Behold a Pale Horse
Rough Cider
The Wife
Dance of Death
Black Notice
Shadow of the Solstice
A New York Christmas: A Novel
Police: A Harry Hole Novel
The Whole Truth
With This Ring: A Deborah Knott Short Story
When the Music's Over
Until Proven Guilty
Means of Evil and Other Stories
No Man's Nightingale
The Tooth Tattoo
The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer
Bone Box: A Decker/Lazarus Novel
A Place of Execution
Death in Darkness
Silent as the Grave
Whiteout
Kiss of the Bees
Death Before Wicket
Long Upon the Land
A Fatal Grace
Backtrack: A Mike Bowditch Short Mystery
Taking the Fifth
A Question of Death
The Body Farm
Hell's Corner
The Reaper
Corpus Christmas
Ruth's First Christmas Tree
The Cost of a Hostage
The Dead Will Tell
One by One
Land of the Living
A Noble Radiance
The Lantern's Dance
The Double Comfort Safari Club
The Prisoner
A Mysterious Season
A Line to Kill
A Christmas Witness
The Child's Child
The Babes in the Wood
The Crack Cocaine Diet
A Simple Murder: A Kate Burkholder Short Story Collection
Breakup
Funeral in Blue: A William Monk Novel
Gallowglass
Hardcore Twenty-Four
Friends in High Places
Hunting Season
The Soul of Discretion
Quantum
Beautiful Ugly
Behind Closed Doors
Love You More
In Dark Company: A Kate Burkholder Short Story
Powers of Detection
Nemesis: A Harry Hole Novel
A Cold Blooded Business
Midnight Cowboy
A Thief of Time
Poseidon's Gold
The Survivors Club
Picture You Dead
A Superior Death
H is for Homicide
Chaos
A More Perfect Union
Nightblind
Identity Unknown
The Travelling Companion
Body Work: A V.I. Warshawski Novel
Naked Once More
Murder 101
A Study in Sherlock
The Headhunters
Rage
I'd Know You Anywhere
All That Is Hidden
Murder on a Midsummer Night
W is for Wasted
Breakdown: An Alex Delaware Novel
B is for Burglar
Bloodlines: Long And Short Stories
A Heart Full of Headstones
The Trees
The Fix
The Charming Quirks of Others
Live Wire
The Price of Love and Other Stories
The List: A Novella
The Wedding Guest
Monster: An Alex Delaware Novel
Uncertain Voyage: A Novel
The Twelve Clues of Christmas
Black and Blue
Ruddy Gore
The Curse of La Fontaine
The Rottweiler
The Perils of Morning Coffee
A Place Called Freedom
A Faint Cold Fear
The House Sitter
The Shifting Tide: A William Monk Novel
Force of Nature
Twisted Prey
Boar Island
Be Buried in the Rain
Reese Witherspoon Harlan Coben Novel
Lay Down My Sword and Shield
Hell and Back: A Longmire Mystery
London Rules
Another Man's Moccasins: A Longmire Mystery
A New Lease of Death
The Madness of Crowds
Into the Darkness
The Deeds of the Disturber
Death of a Poison Pen
A Christmas Secret: A Novel
A Perfect Storm
The Jackal's Head
Alias Grace
Roxanne: A Kings Lake Investigation
Skin and Bones: And Other Mike Bowditch Short Stories
The Convenience Boy: A Short Story
Isle of Dogs
Invitation to Die: A Short Story of Falco's Rome
Nothing More Dangerous
City of Darkness and Light
The Grave Tattoo
A Highland Christmas: A Hamish Macbeth Mystery
Peril in Paris
Murder Being Once Done
Murder on Brittany Shores: A Mystery
Four Aunties and a Wedding
Winter's Child
The Old Silent
The Distant Echo
Spin
Body Double
A Tangled Web
The Scroll
Master of Souls
An Incomplete Revenge
The Heron's Cry
A Certain Justice
The Private Patient
Sinister Graves
Christmas Crumble: An Agatha Raisin Short Story
Damage Control
The Burning Room
The Grey Wolf
The Nesting Dolls
The Housemaid's Wedding: A Short Story
Make Death Love Me
Unfinished Business
Half of Paradise
Alchemist
Wild Crimes
A Simple Deduction
Win
The Breakdown
Out of Range
Cassandra
Hot Six
A Christmas Vanishing: A Novel
Gideon's Corpse
A Serpent's Tooth: A Longmire Mystery
Murder in Montparnasse
The Lost Boys: A Decker/Lazarus Novel
I Know Who You Are
The Camel Club
Home by Nightfall
A Casualty of War
The Order
The Family Upstairs
The Distant Hours
The Wife Upstairs
A Private Investigation: A DC Smith Investigation
Miss Pym Disposes
After That Night: A Will Trent Thriller
Death of a Chimney Sweep
Dolphin Junction: Stories
Evan Help Us
Broken Prey
Death of a Scriptwriter
Dear Penthouse Forum
A Christmas Odyssey
A Noise Downstairs
Purple Cane Road
The Iron Hand of Mars
The Big Kahuna
The Golden Egg
Uncharted Waters
And When She Was Good
The Bride's Kimono
Swing
The Prisoner of Castillac
Parting Shot
Blue on Black
Silken Prey
The Tree of Hands
Seasonal Work
Angels Flight
R is for Ricochet
The Ghost Fields
The Mary Russell Series: Books 2-4
Different for Girls
Silent Prey
Just One Look
The Deer Leap
The Best American Mystery Stories 2018
Milk and Honey: A Decker/Lazarus Novel
High Island Blues
Twisted Twenty-Six
Over the Edge
Innocent Blood
Random Acts: A Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds Novella
The Great Deceiver
Never Saw it Coming
With a Mind to Kill: A James Bond Novel
Winter Study
Call After Midnight
Image in the Lake
The Darkest Evening
The Shape of Night
Precious and Grace
Moscow Rules
Moving Target
A Dedicated Man
Mary Higgins Clark and Elizabeth Peters Present More Malice Domestic
Black Cherry Blues
I Am the Only Running Footman
Hostage to Murder
Magpie Murders