Amateur sleuth Isabel Dalhousie is a philosopher who also uses her training to solve unusual mysteries. Isabel is Editor of the "Review of Applied Ethics, which addresses such issues as "truth telling in sexual relationships," and she also hosts The Sunday Philosophy Club at her house in Edinburgh. In this first book in McCall Smith's new series Isbel investigates how a young man could have fallen to his death from the top balcony of the Usher Hall. She is aided by her beautiful niece Cat, Cat's ex boyfriend Hugo (whose own good looks Isabel is tantalised by), and her strict housekeeper Grace. Isabel is drawn into the heart of Edinburgh's well heeled, if somewhat shady, business community as she sets out to discover the truth.
