Alexander McCall Smith

From the beloved author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series comes a new short story collection: half spy stories, half tales of revenge, all highlight the kinder, funnier, and gentler side of espionage and retribution.
In this dual collection of short stories, Alexander McCall Smith brings his trademark humor and warmth to inventive tales of spying and vengeance. In one story, a spy dropped deep into enemy territory manages to disguise...

"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series is moving to the fall! In the latest book in the beloved best-selling series of mysteries set in Botswana, Mma Ramotswe is asked to help the proprietor of the Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon, who is having trouble with her business. The salon has suffered some unfortunate events, including face cream that burns the skin. Could someone be trying to put the salon out of business? Meanwhile, on the home front,...

The Okavango makes Precious appreciate once again the beauty of her homeland. However, it is also home to rival safari operators, fearsome crocodiles and disgruntled hippopotamuses. Mma Makutdi still does not have a date for her wedding but Precious knows a wide river will make its way round any obstacle, things will work out for the best.

As the temperature rises in Gaborone, Precious Ramotswe, founder of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, wonders whether the heat could be the reason that business is particularly slow. But then a distant cousin of Mma Ramotswe's comes to the agency with a plea for help and the ladies decide to pursue the issue together. Armed with Mma Ramotswe's circumspection and Mma Makutsi's sharp eye, they proceed with confidence and open hearts. What, after all,...

"The newest addition to the ever-popular, internationally beloved series finds Precious Ramotswe and her friends up to their necks in mysterious trouble. Mma Ramotswe knows she is very lucky indeed. She has a loving family, good friends, and a thriving business doing what she enjoys most: helping people. But the latest mystery she is called upon to solve is distinctly trickier than it initially appears, and, of course, there's plenty to handle in...

If you are the founder and managing director of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, you may expect complete strangers to approach you with their problems when they see you having dinner with your husband in a peri-peri restaurant. And if you are Precious Ramotswe, you are a kind and helpful person who will be willing to take on a quest to find the relatives of a man who, many years ago, left the country for the uncertainties and dangers of a distant...

"The detectives who work in Malmo Police's Department of Sensitive Crimes take their job very seriously. The lead detective, Ulf Varg, prioritizes his cases above even his dog's mental health. Then there are detectives Anna Bengsdotter, who keeps her relationship with Varg professional even as she realizes she's developing feelings for him . . . or at least for his car, and Carl Holgersson, first to arrive in the morning and last to leave, who would...

Fans around the world adore the bestselling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and its proprietor, Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s premier lady detective. In this charming series, Mma  Ramotswe—with help from her loyal associate, Grace Makutsi—navigates her cases and her personal life with wisdom, good humor, and the occasional cup of tea.
Precious is busier than usual at the detective agency when she discovers...

Investigating the theft of a valuable painting that was supposed to be donated to the Scottish National Gallery, Isabel harbors a growing suspicion that the thieves may be close to the painting's wealthy owner.

Now that the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is firmly established, founder Precious Ramotswe faces new challenges at home and at work--from problems with her adopted son to a sexist rival who is opening a detective agency across town.