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I’m always excited for the next Alexander McCall-Smith novel; some more than others. I enjoy his No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, but his newest series is even more fun. Corduroy Mansions was published about a year ago, and now I’ve just finished The Dog Who Came in from the Cold, his second in the Corduroy Mansion series.

His international settings are one reason I enjoy his books. We need to learn how others all over the world think, and McCall-Smith certainly wants to have us contemplate why we do as we do and think as we think. He always has a philosophical discussion that challenges me.

A pimlico terrier named Freddie de la Hay, stars again. This time he is recruited to be a spy for Scotland’s espionage group, M16. The evil cigar-smelly Russians are not Freddie’s favorite people. Soon they discover that Freddie has an extra heavy collar and his hidden mic is discovered. What is to be the fate of Freddie?