Series: 44 Scotland Street

Immediately recognisable are the Edinburgh chartered surveyor, stalwart of the Conservative Association, who dreams of membership of Scotland's most exclusive golf club. We have the pushy Stockbridge mother, and her prodigiously talented five-year-old son, who is making good progress with the saxophone and with his Italian. Then there is Domenica Macdonald who is that type of Edinburgh lady who sees...

Book 14 in the delightful 44 Scotland Street series, by worldwide bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith At the bottom of a sharply descending street—in the topographical sense—in Edinburgh's Georgian New Town, new residents have moved in to number 44 Scotland Street, joining the already well-known and much-loved denizens of that remarkable building. They appear to be a bit of a...

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...

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...

The latest in the hugely popular 44 Scotland Street series from the worldwide bestselling author, Alexander McCall Smith. Life for Bertie seems to be moving at a pace that is rather out of his control. Upstairs, at 44 Scotland Street, his father Stuart is powerless to stop overbearing Irene and her determination that Bertie will travel to deepest, coldest Aberdeen...

Glasgow for Bertie is the promised land. The city of pies and Irn Bru, far from his controlling mother, Irene—his place of escape. But how will he respond to the news of the proposed merging of Edinburgh and Glasgow? A new member of Bertie's class at school is causing ripples in his social circle. She is called Galactica MacFee and...

Despite inhabiting a great city renowned for its impeccable restraint, the extended family of 44 Scotland Street is trembling on the brink of reckless self-indulgence. Matthew and Elspeth receive startling—and expensive—news on a visit to the Infirmary, Angus and Domenica are contemplating an Italian ménage à trois, and even Big Lou is overheard discussing cosmetic surgery. But when Bertie Pollock—six...

For seven-year-old Bertie Pollock, life in Edinburgh's most celebrated fictional street has just got immeasurably better. The enforced absence of his endlessly pushy mother Irene—currently consciousness-raising in a Bedouin harem (don't ask)—has manifold and immediate blessings: no psychotherapy, no Italian lessons, and no yoga classes. Bliss. For Scotland Street's grown-ups, life throws up some new dilemmas. Matthew makes a discovery...

Book 17 in the hugely popular 44 Scotland Street series by worldwide bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith Glasgow for Bertie is the promised land. The city of pies and Irn Bru, far from his controlling mother, Irene - his place of escape. But how will he respond to the news of the proposed merging of Edinburgh and Glasgow? A new...

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...

To the casual observer, the great enlightened city of Edinburgh, home of no-nonsense philosophers and cream teas, might appear immune to the rollercoaster of strong emotions. But at 44 Scotland Street, as Matthew and Elspeth embark on the risky enterprise of married love, the raffish portrait painter Angus Lordie has a premonition of disaster. And soon enough, Irene Pollock is...

It's like ice cream, Mr Flynn, Bertie continued. When you have ice cream, you need to eat it straight away, otherwise it melts. If there are people who haven't got any, you should share it, if you can. When despair for the world grows, Bertie's theory of ice cream reminds us that it's the simple pleasures in life that we...

The latest in the hugely popular 44 Scotland Street series from the worldwide bestselling author, Alexander McCall Smith 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...

Bertie's Theory of Ice Cream is the 18th book in the hugely popular 44 Scotland Street series by worldwide bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith. "It's like ice cream, Mr Flynn," Bertie continued. "When you have ice cream, you need to eat it straight away, otherwise it melts. If there are people who haven't got any, you should share it, if...

The Peppermint Tea Chronicles is the thirteenth book in the delightful 44 Scotland Street series, by worldwide bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith. It is summer in Scotland Street (as it always is), and for the habitués of Edinburgh's favourite street, some extraordinary adventures lie in waiting. For the impossibly vain Bruce Anderson—he of the clove-scented hair gel—it may finally be...

Even down to its well-set Georgian townhouses, Edinburgh is a hymn to measure and harmony. But on Scotland Street, domestic accord is in short supply. Matthew and Elspeth welcome three new arrivals, though the joys of multiple parenthood are somewhat lost due to sleep deprivation and the difficulties of telling their brood apart. Angus and Domenica are to marry, and...

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,...

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...

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....

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...