When Pat Macgregor meets her narcissistic ex-boyfriend Bruce for a coffee, the last thing she expects is to be propositioned with the idea of going into business with him. Elsewhere, embarrassment ensues at a bookshop when Pat's boss at the art gallery, Matthew, attempts to shoplift a certain erotic bestseller. Change arrives in Scotland Street as Stuart applies for a promotion and his wife, Irene, decides to study for a PhD in Aberdeen - and Bertie, Stuart's son, realises that the unexpected can sometimes lead to happiness. Alexander McCall Smith's delightfully witty, wise and sometimes surreal comedy spirals out in surprising ways in this new instalment, but its heart remains where it has always been, at the centre of life in Edinburgh's New Town.