Isabel Dalhousie once again sets out to solve an unlikely problem laid before her when a distraught mother seeks answers to her son’s apparent obsessive belief that he has lived a former life. He describes in detail a cottage next to a lighthouse on a remote point of land in Northern Scotland. Isabel is a philosopher, grounded in determining the facts based on science. But when the boy’s mother tells her that he wants to die again so he can return to his former life, she feels compelled to help her.

Isabel consults an old friend familiar with lighthouses and discovers that there is a place that closely resembles the locale. So she and her husband, Jamie, pack up her three-year-old son, Charlie, and set off on a journey of startling and possibly disturbing discoveries.

"As thought-provoking as the plot line regarding incarnation may be, and it surely is, THE NOVEL HABITS OF HAPPINESS would be as satisfying for fans of one of Smith’s most popular characters just to sit back and explore her musings on a wide variety of life’s conundrums."

Meanwhile, Isabel polishes the final details of a commemorative edition of her magazine, Review of Applied Ethics, and learns that her old nemeses, the fusty academics Lettuce and Dove, have arrived from London with an eye toward a permanent position with the Scottish Philosophical Society through which she and other philosophers ponder the imponderables of life. 

As thought-provoking as the plot line regarding incarnation may be, and it surely is, THE NOVEL HABITS OF HAPPINESS would be as satisfying for fans of one of Smith’s most popular characters just to sit back and explore her musings on a wide variety of life’s conundrums. She mulls the ethics of pigeon-holing people by speech patterns, physical appearances and job descriptions (she skeptically misconstrues the qualities of her troublesome niece’s newest romantic interest based on what she believes to be his profession), and such esoteric questions of the ancient diaspora of Celts and Picts fleeing the Vikings, while comparing them to modern-day immigrants fleeing Northern Africa into Europe. Isabel is as quick to recognize her own failings in labeling people as she is for others, which leads the careful reader to a bit of self-analysis.

I’ve always suspected that Isabel Dalhousie is the alter-ego of Alexander McCall Smith. A professor of medical law and bioethics, Smith’s professional career has been dedicated to studying and teaching medical ethics, and he is now Professor Emeritus of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. His writing career rocketed him to the bestseller list when he introduced the world to Mma Precious Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Isabel runs a close second, if not neck and neck, in popularity to the “traditionally built” Mma Ramotswe.

Back in the days of cocktail parties, there was a popular question: “Who, living or dead, real or fictional, would be on your dream dinner party list?” My list would break my bankbook and fill a banquet hall, but if it were possible to seat me between Isabel Dalhousie and Precious Ramotswe, with Alexander McCall Smith beaming at me from across the table during the dessert course, my plate would be full. Not so much because these books and characters fall into the category of great works of literature, but because they are consistently thought-provoking, entertaining and satisfying. However, I reserve the right to table hop from the hors d'oeuvres through the salad and main course. After all, it's my party, and the rest of my list is too long.