Series ✦ Penny’s Take 🎧 Audiobook
The Lost Art of Gratitude (Isabel Dalhousie)
Alexander McCall Smith · 2009
🎙 Narrated by Davina Porter (most-cited on Audible/retail listings; one secondary source names a different narrator for a UK edition, so treat narrator credit as good-but-not-airtight)
72/100
👍 Worth It
This one is classic Isabel Dalhousie: witty, thoughtful, and steeped in Edinburgh charm, even though the actual mystery takes a back seat to her musings on gratitude and everyday ethics. If you love character and philosophical digression more than plot twists, this delivers; if you want a tight mystery, it may drag. The narration is reportedly warm and literary, though I'd double-check the narrator credit before buying since sources don't fully agree on who reads it.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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🎙 Narration: good Likely Davina Porter (known for a measured, literary style) but one secondary source names a different narrator for a UK edition -- treat the credit as good, not airtight.
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Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety85
Substance / usefulness65
Craft & writing80
Originality60
Evidence & accuracy70
Hype vs delivers70
Age-fit78
Human-eye read72
Penny’s verdict72
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