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Review title: meanders briskly, goes down easily
Product review: I've gotten irritated with Smith's Botswana series, because (I think) he spends too much time on the characters' internal musings -- which are not as deep and meaningful as he seems to think they are -- and not enough on anything actually happening. Due to the requirements of the serial format, he was forced to combat that tendency in this book, with a happy result. Yes, it does meander a bit, but each meander is an interesting morsel in its own right, and it ties up into a fairly satisfying whole, if you can overlook a few loose ends.I do agree with the reviewers who pointed out that it must have meant a lot more to residents of Edinburgh than it does to us. Most of the references are clear enough from context (i.e., "the Braids" is obviously some kind of upper-crust district), but the knowing wink will be lost on most American readers.
