Alexander McCall Smith is like a warm comforter in a chilly
room. The last books I’ve tackled, in particular Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon
Copperhead, have been stuffed with so much negativity, violence and despair
that I was starting to cry “enough already.” I know the world is a nasty place, but I also
need a lighter lift once in a while and McCall Smith is the author who can
deliver that. This is not another edition of one of his wonderful series like
the Mma Ramotswe No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books. This is a group of droll short
stories that illustrate the catch-all title of espionage and revenge. The
heroes are pretty kind and the villains more often puffed up with themselves than
sinister. As always the vignettes teem with philosophy, history, humor and
spot-on character development.
Section one features five stories about espionage. “Nuns and
Spies”, for instance, deals with a male German spy in WWII who parachutes into England
and ends up disguising himself as a Catholic Nun. It is based on a real but
unproved rumor and McCall Smith re-makes the story into a delightfully absurd adventure.
In “Filioque” a young theology student
in Rome is recruited by a Cardinal into the dark and secretive Vatican Secret
Service—again with some unusual results.
The second half of the book has four stories about various
types of comeuppance. My favorite was “The Principles of Soap” a story of an
actor/waiter in Australia who manages to strike it reasonably rich with a
continuing role in a TV soap opera. Along the way he survives an attempt by a
former nemesis and classmate from his old acting school to derail his career
and replace him with her lover. The story is filled with fun, coincidences, and
plenty of ironic humor about actor training and the theatre business. I liked that one for obvious reasons.
If you feel the need to escape for a time from the horrors
of today’s news, I suggest you try a dance in the sunshine with this Alexander
McCall Smith collection. It will surely lift your heart and tickle your
funnybone. I give this collection a solid 4 out of 5 stars.
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