The Dog Who Came in from the Cold Synopsis
The Dog Who Came in from the Cold - utterly enjoyable
The second book in the Corduroy Mansions Series, The Dog Who Came in from the Cold is told in the same intelligent and slightly quirky voice that fans of Alexander McCall Smith have grown to love. Described as a light social commentary by the author, The Dog Who Came in from the Cold is a fun read, a page turner and definitely entertaining.
While the book is part of a series, readers of The Dog Who Came in from the Cold needn't worry if they haven't read the first book. Like the original Corduroy Mansions, The Dog Who Came in from the Cold was first published in serial format and is easily accessible to all readers, whether or not they have prior knowledge of the storylines or characters.
The characters of The Dog Who Came in from the Cold
The story of the Dog Who Came in from the Cold begins by re-introducing us to William French. Readers of the first book will remember him as a middle-aged widower living in a top floor flat of Corduroy Mansions, a somewhat run-down apartment block in the Pimlico area of London.
William is a kind and well-educated man, a wine-merchant by trade and the owner of one Freddie de la Hay, a Pimlico terrier who is described in the title as The Dog Who Came in from the Cold. Of course, as the expert storyteller that he is, Alexander McCall Smith fills the fictional world of The Dog Who Came in from the Cold with a bevy of memorable characters.
These include William's not-too-bright, 28-year-old son, Eddie, and Marcia, a romantic interest of William's in the first book, they're now simply good friends. The Dog Who Came in from the Cold also brings back the characters of Dee and Caroline, two of the lovely young women who live downstairs and the loathsome Oedipus Snark, whose name isn't the only fascinating part of his character. A Liberal Democrat MP, Snark is so despicable that his own mother, Berthea, is slinging the mud in his unauthorised biography.
The Dog Who Came in from the Cold - the plot thickens
For those who know of the 1963 cold war novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (adapted for film in 1965), it won't be a surprise that Alexander McCall Smith's book, The Dog Who Came in from the Cold, includes a bit of espionage. Of course, it's also convenient that Corduroy Mansions is so closely situated to the MI6 headquarters.
So William and Freddie - The Dog Who Came in from the Cold - are recruited to do their part to help queen and country and the rest of the story proceeds with their adventures - sometimes exciting and usually humorous.
Read The Dog Who Came in from the Cold One of the best things about an Alexander McCall Smith book is the author's inclusion of weird and wonderful snippets of trivia that he includes, and The Dog Who Came in From the Cold doesn't fail to deliver. Sometimes these are so incredible that they send readers to investigate for themselves: for instance, did you know that the hedgehog is a symbol of gluttony?
In the end, The Dog Who Came in from the Cold teaches us to enjoy the little things in life and to never underestimate the importance of love - love for a partner, love of friends, love of family and even love of one's country. Because, as the saying goes, those are the things that make life worth living.
