Bertie Plays the Blues

Darling Bertie is back! I speak, of course, of the delightful 44 Scotland Street series by Alexander McCall Smith, and my favorite character, seven-year-old Bertie.

Bertie Plays the Blues finds all the denizens of 44 Scotland Street plugging along with their Edinburgh lives. Matthew and Elspeth are newborn parents of newborn triplets. Angus and Domenica are trying to decide where they will live after their wedding, never forgetting that Cyril the winking dog must be considered. Big Lou has taken up Internet dating, and scheming Bruce is up to his old tricks. Meanwhile, Bertie just wants to be a normal little boy, but his mother Irene is making that difficult, so he decides to put himself up for adoption. If you knew Irene, you would do the same.

Written with wit and sympathy for the everyday dilemmas of the everyman, Alexander McCall Smith invites us into the lives of his characters, making us wish we could live at 44 Scotland Street. As long as it isn't with Irene.