The editor of The Review of Applied Ethics and an irrepressibly curious lover of puzzles, Isabel Dalhousie decides to investigate when she witnesses the fatal fall of a young man and discovers that he had been probing misdeeds at his brokerage firm, in the first in a new series by the creator of The[...]

When Professor Dr. Mortiz-Maria von Igelfeld of The Institute of Romance Philology is mistaken for a veterinarian, he ends up practicing veterinary medicine without a license, operating on a friend's dachshund with unfortunate results; transports relics for a Coptic prelate; and is pursued by lovesi[...]

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency consists of one woman, the engaging and sassy Precious Ramotswe, who sets up shop in Gaborone, Botswana. A cross between Kinsey Millhone and Miss Marple, this unlikely heroine specialises in missing husbands, wayward daughters, con men and imposters. When she sets [...]

There's a hungry lion stealing cattle, and Akimbo's father has to catch it! But instead, he traps a cub. The cub won't survive for long without its mother. Can Akimbo help save it? The second Akimbo adventure from Alexander McCall Smith.[...]

THE NO.1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY introduced the world to the one and only Precious Ramotswe - the engaging and sassy owner of Botswana's only detective agency. TEARS OF THE GIRAFFE, McCall Smith's second audiobook, takes us further into this world as we follow Mama Ramotswe into more daring situati[...]

In this second novel in the Sunday Philosophy Club, Isabel Dalhousie's niece, Cat (she of the unsuitable boyfriends) is invited to a wedding in Italy. This means that Isabel is left in charge of Cat's delicatessen - a task to which the redoutable moral philosopher proves more than equal. She is intr[...]

For philosophically minded Isabel Dalhousie, editor of the Review of Applied Ethics, getting through life with a clear conscience requires careful thought. And with the arrival of baby Charlie, not to mention a passionate relationship with his father Jamie, fourteen years her junior, Isabel enters d[...]

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[...]

Isabel Dalhousie is a new mother and a connoisseur of philosophy; she'd rather not be a sleuth. But when a chance conversation at a dinner party draws her into the case of a doctor whose career has been ruined, she cannot ignore what may be a miscarriage of justice. Because for Isabel ethics are not[...]

Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are called to a safari lodge in Botswana's Okavango Delta to carry out a delicate mission on behalf of a former guest. The Okavango makes Precious appreciate once again the beauty of her homeland: it is a paradise of teeming wildlife, majestic grasslands and sparkling wa[...]

Isabel Dalhousie, Edinburgh philosopher and curious observer of the behaviour of her fellow man, is approached by a friend at a local boarding school that is planning to appoint a new headmaster; an anonymous letter has arrived suggesting that one of the shortlisted candidates has a compromising pas[...]

Contemporary / British English
Precious Ramotswe is a kind, warm-hearted and large African lady. She is also the only female private detective in Botswana. Her agency – the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency – is the best in the country. With help of her secretary, Mma Makutsi, and her [...]