Poor Bertie. Poor Stuart. Poor Big Lou. (In that order.)
And then another round of sympathy for Bertie and Stuart. And a little bit for Cyril. ( )

I wish things would work out for Stuart and Irene (can't she PLEASE go back to the Middle East???). ( )

In this 11th installment of AMS 44 Scotland Street series, Irene has unfortunately returned from Dubai. Bertie’s wonderful grandmother, however, has decided to stay in Scotland and this gives poor Bertie some relief from Irene’s tedious regimen of yoga, psychoanalysis, saxophone lessons and conversational Italian. Bertie’s long-suffering father, Stuart, also seems to have found something outside his marriage to brighten his life. Matthew and Elspeth find they have to relieve themselves of their overbearing Danish au pairs, and Bruce the narcissist falls for someone as self-centered and vapid as he is. The defenestration of Angus from his kitchen window, then appears to be just icing on the cake.

A little more happens in this volume than is usual with these books, but the humor her, while very real, is kind and gentle, and I usually end up wishing that I could be living among these wonderful characters…. I hope this series never ends. ( )

I enjoy Smith's books very much, but Stuart is starting to feel like a metaphorical piñata at this point. ( )

The Bertie Project focuses more on the serious issues between Stuart and Irene forcing Stuart to behave unwisely, introduces Australian Clare, wonder woman, but spends a tad too much time on the Scottish Association of Nudists, and their power struggle.

Wonderful to read about Big Lou, oh dear, so naively hopeful. And sweet Bertie. But why would he have looked in his father's jacket pocket? I thought for sure Irene would do that on her own.

All in all, another delightful read in the 44 Scotland Street series.