For philosophically-minded Isabel Dalhousie editor of the Review of Applied Ethics getting through life with a clear conscience requires careful thought. And whilst juggling the arrival of baby Charlie a passionate relationship with his father Jamie a truce with her furious niece Cat and struggles for authority over her son with her formidable housekeeper Grace Isabel finds herself drawn into the story of a painter's mysterious death off the island of Jura. A master storyteller in The Careful Use of Compliments Alexander McCall Smith is as witty and wise as his irresistibly spirited heroine.