Alexander McCall Smith

Love Over Scotland is the third in this series and revolves around the many colourful characters that come and go at No. 44 Scotland Street. McCall Smith handles the characters with his customary charm and deftness: the stalwart Tory chartered surveyor, the pushy mother and, most importantly in this novel, the Italian-speaking prodigy, Bertie.

Bruce, the intolerably vain and perpetually deluded ex-surveyor, is about to embark on a new career as a wine merchant, while his long-suffering flatmate Pat MacGregor, set up by matchmaking Domenica Macdonald, finds herself invited to a nudist picnic in Moray Place in the pursuit of true love. Prodigious six-year-old Bertie Pollock wants a boy's life of fishing and rugby,...

Stories do not have to be long. In the space of a couple of sentences—or even a page or two—we may see the human heart exposed in a way that is more powerful than occurs in many much longer narratives. In Tiny Tales, Alexander McCall Smith explores romance, ambition, kindness, and happiness in thirty short stories that range in length...

Imagine you're on a train. Think about all the other people on the train with you, what their lives are or have been, and the different experiences you've all had. But there is one more thing that you undoubtedly all share: you have all been in love at one time or another. In this surprising and poignant story, four strangers...

During WW2 there was a rumour that German spies were landing by parachute in Britain, dressed as nuns... Conradin Muller was an unusual spy. He was recruited in Hamburg in June 1943, much against his will, and sent on his first, and only, mission in late September that year. He failed to send a single report back to Germany, and...

What really counts in this life? For the writer, Alexander McCall Smith, it is friendship and love—themes that crop up time and again in his novels. And it is these themes that he explores in this collection of poems, with moments that swoop and soar, and descriptions that will make you laugh and realign your view. This collection reminds us...

It is 1938 and the final days of the British Empire. In a bungalow high up in the green hills above the plains of Ceylon, under a vast blue sky, live the Ferguson family: Bella, a precocious eight-year-old; her father Henry, owner of Pitlochry, a tea plantation; and her mother Virginia. The story centres around the Pavilion in the Clouds,...

Catch up with the delightful goings-on in the fictitious 44 Scotland Street from Alexander McCall Smith... A Time of Love and Tartan offers a joyous, charming portrait of city life and human foibles, which moves beyond its setting to deal with deep moral issues and love, desire, and friendship. As the Sunday Express notes, it is truly a delightful experience....

Sunshine on Scotland Street witnesses the wedding of the century as Angus Lordie ties the knot with Domenica Macdonald. However, as the newlyweds depart on their honeymoon, Edinburgh is thrown into disarray. Matthew, still recovering from the trauma of being best man, is unexpectedly taken up by a Dane named Bo. Meanwhile, Cyril, eluding his dog-sitter, embarks on an odyssey...

The Perfect Passion Dating Company at No. 24 Mouse Lane in Edinburgh's New Town is run by Katie Donald who has an innate instinct for bringing people together. She has developed a skill for finding out what it is that people really want. Along the way, Katie learns profound lessons about her own desires as she works at better understanding...

This new collection is a fascinating journey into the heart of each of us, from the author of The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency and the 44 Scotland Street series. In I Think of You, the reader travels through literary Edinburgh in summer, experiences heartbreak in a rain-drenched glen in the Highlands, embarks on a voyage on the Argo in Ancient...

It is said that a picture may be worth a thousand words, but an old photograph can inspire many more. In this beguiling book, Alexander McCall Smith casts his eye over five chanced-upon photographs from the era of black-and-white photography and imagines the stories behind them. Who were those people, what were their stories, why are they smiling, what made...

As well as its advantages, there are drawbacks to the enlightened village that is twenty-first-century Edinburgh, where every Saturday night ears burn at dinner parties across the city, and anyone requiring the investigative abilities of a philosophical soul knows where to find her. Jillian McKinlay—wife of a trustee of an illustrious school—is the latest petitioner; she asks Isabel to look...

As the editor of an applied ethics journal, Isabel Dalhousie is usually tucked away in her editorial office, in the comfortable Edinburgh house she shares with her fiancé and their young son, and does not often meet many fellow philosophers. But while helping in the delicatessen owned by her niece, Cat, she meets Jane Cooper, an Australian philosopher who is...

As summer blooms in Edinburgh's gardens and Bertie Pollock's birthday appears on the horizon, all at 44 Scotland Street is not cake and sunshine. Newlywed Angus Lordie has been booked by his bride into what he must not call the loony bin; Bruce's first encounter with hot wax brings more anguish than he bargained for; and Bertie's birthday dreams of...

What if you met the person you were destined to be with? And what if you never saw them again...?There's a new case for the Perfect Passion Company. After a serendipitous meeting in a supermarket, Clea meets the man of her dreams. But having left suddenly without his phone number, she can't stop thinking about what might have been. Can...

Bertie's respite from his overbearing mother, Irene, is over. She has returned from the Middle East, only to discover that her son has been exposed to the worst evils of cartoons, movies, and Irn Bru, and her wrath falls upon her unfortunate husband, Stuart. Meanwhile, Bruce has fallen in love with someone other than himself; Big Lou wants to adopt...

Long-suffering child genius Bertie Pollock has much to contend with in the latest instalment of life at 44 Scotland Street, not least the birth of his brother Ulysses. Bertie had hoped that caring for a new baby would command all of his mother's attention, but he quickly sees that his dream of being left to his own devices is not...

THE TWENTIETH BOOK IN THE BELOVED NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY SERIES The one with the mysterious reverend . . . At a local wedding, Mma Ramotswe reunites with a friend whose daughter has inexplicably turned away from her. Elsewhere, several ladies in the region fall under the spell of a charismatic self-styled reverend. With little work on at the...

The key to contentment in the Scottish climate is the right attitude to rain — just as in life, the key to happiness lies in making the best of what you have. Bruised in love by her faithless Irish husband, Isabel Dalhousie is a connoisseur of intimate moral issues: she edits a philosophical journal and spends a great deal of...

Amateur sleuth Isabel Dalhousie is a philosopher who also uses her training to solve unusual mysteries. Isabel is Editor of the Review of Applied Ethics – which addresses such questions as 'Truth telling in sexual relationships' – and she also hosts The Sunday Philosophy Club at her house in Edinburgh. Behind the city's Georgian facades, its moral compasses are spinning...

It's the most anticipated event of the decade: Big Lou and Fat Bob's wedding and everyone is invited! After a wonderful day, Big Lou crashes back down to earth and finds that she is a victim of her own success. The lure of those famous bacon rolls is preventing her from leaving hungry customers without their daily dose of deliciousness—even...

Corduroy Mansions, Pimlico, is an oasis of old-fashioned civilisation, its inhabitants considerate and peace-loving. But beneath the polite exterior, seismic change is stirring. Barbara Ragg makes an eye-popping discovery about her stolid Scottish suitor's past, while Oedipus Snark, newly appointed and tirelessly self-interested Government Minister, has a close encounter in Switzerland that leaves him a new man altogether. Then, plucky...

The School Ship Tobermory and its intrepid young crew are back in Hebridean waters. When a violent storm blows them off course to a remote island, they discover a fisherman's journal written a hundred years ago which tells of a mysterious shipwreck crammed with treasure. But without a precise location, where do they start looking? An extraordinary chance encounter gives...

With an authentic Indian backdrop, this is a feel-good story of young kids chasing big dreams that shimmers with all of Alexander McCall Smith’s trademark optimism and joy. It is an outlook on life that makes him one of the world’s best-loved storytellers. Hari and His Electric Feet follows Hari, a dreamer with an unusual talent. He spends the few...

National treasure Alexander McCall Smith joins up-and-coming illustrator Zoe Persico in this utterly adorable story of family, acceptance, and difference. Part of Barrington Stoke's picture book range for all the family, with easy-read font. Jane has always been just a little bit different – she has springs in her knees! She bounce, bounce, bounces all over town and they call...

More than 20 well-known writers and celebrities share the travel experiences that shaped their personalities and changed their lives. Contributors include Dave Eggers, Richard Ford, Pico Iyer, John Berendt, Alexander McCall Smith, and Jane Smiley. About Lonely Planet: Started in 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world’s leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, as...

In the genteel environs of Corduroy Mansions, Pimlico, strange doings are afoot, mostly in the name of love. Lonely William French and his faithful canine Freddie are recruited to the service of MI6 by a beguiling lady operative. William's neighbour Caroline finds her suitor James mysteriously lacking, and Barbara Ragg is tempted to the Highlands by blossoming romance. Meanwhile, sage...

The latest instalment from the beloved THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY series

A beautiful, heartwarming story set in Africa about a young boy and his yearning for a pet dog. From internationally bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith. High quality cream paper and a special easy-to-read font ensure a smooth read for all. A beautiful, heartwarming story set in Africa about a young boy and his yearning for a pet dog. From internationally...

Bestselling novelist Alexander McCall Smith's charming account of how the poet W. H. Auden has helped guide his life - and how he might guide yours too When facing a moral dilemma, Isabel Dalhousie - Edinburgh philosopher, amateur detective, and title character of a series of novels by bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith - often refers to the great twentieth-century...