Alexander McCall Smith
2) The Private Life of Spies and the Exquisite Art of Getting Even: Stories of Espionage and Revenge
Author
Publisher
Pantheon Books
Pub. Date
[2023]
Language
English
Description
"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 himself--quite...
Author
Publisher
Pantheon Books
Pub. Date
[2020]
Language
English
Description
"In Pianos and Flowers we are invited, through the medium of sepia images, to glimpse a world long departed. In these stories, inspired by long-lost photographs, the lives of the people in the frame are imagined and then explored, layer by layer. What must it have been like to be them? We hold our breath for them. Our heart beats faster for them. We look again at the photograph in a new light, and say Yes, it might have happened just like that. This...
Author
Pub. Date
[2015]
Language
English
Formats
Description
Emma Woodhouse arrives home in Norfolk ready to embark on adult life. Not only has her sister, Isabella, been whisked away on a motorcycle up to London, but her astute governess, Miss Taylor is at a loose end, abandoned in the giant family pile, Hartfield, alongside Emma's anxiety-ridden father. Someone is needed to rule the roost and young Emma is more than happy to oblige. But there is only one person who can play with Emma's indestructible confidence,...
Author
Series
44 Scotland Street volume 9
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Newlywed painter and sometime somnambulist Angus Lordie might be sleepwalking his way into trouble with Animal Welfare when he lets his dog Cyril drink a bit too much lager at the local bar. The longsuffering Bertie, on the cusp of his seventh birthday party, has taken to dreaming about his eighteenth, a time when he will be able to avoid the indignity of unwanted girl attendees and the looming threat of a gender-neutral doll from his domineering...
Author
Series
44 Scotland Street volume 7
Language
English
Formats
Description
The continuing adventures of Edinburgh's beloved characters, many of whom are in the midst of new beginnings, including Bertie, who's been thinking that he might want to start over with a new family and so puts himself up for adoption on eBay.
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
It is 1939. Lavender--La to her friends--decides to flee London, not only to avoid German bombs but also to escape the memories of her shattered marriage. Settling in as small town, she organizes an amateur orchestra from the village and the local RAF base and falls in love with one of her prized recruits.
Author
Series
Corduroy mansions volume 3
Pub. Date
[2012]
Language
English
Formats
Description
"It's back to Corduroy Mansions--the slightly dilapidated but well-lived-in mansion block in London's hip Pimlico neighborhood--for the third installment in Alexander McCall Smith's newest popular series. There's never a dull moment for the residents of Corduroy Mansions: Berthea Snark is still at work on her scathing biography of the only loathsome Liberal Democrat member of Parliament--her own son, Oedipus; literary agents Rupert Porter and Barbara...
Author
Series
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Formats
Description
Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld and his colleagues at the University of Regensburg's Institute of Romance Philology pride themselves on their unwavering commitment to intellectual excellence. They know it is their job to protect a certain civilized approach to the scholarly arts. So when a new deputy librarian, Dr. Hilda Schreiber-Ziegler, threatens to drag them all down a path of progressive inclusivity, they are determined to stop her in...
Author
Series
44 Scotland Street volume 8
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Scotland Street witnesses the wedding of the century of Angus Lordie to Domenica Macdonald, but as the newlyweds depart on their honeymoon, Edinburgh is in disarray. While recovering from the trauma of being best man, Matthew is taken up by a Dane called Bo. Cyril eludes his dog-sitter and embarks on an odyssey involving fox holes and the official residence of a cardinal. Narcissist Bruce meets his match in the form of a sinister doppelganger. Bertie,...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
From the beloved author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series comes a delightful compendium of very short fiction and comics that celebrate the joy and absurdity of the human experience. It is often said that the best things in life come in small packages--anyone in search of proof need look no further than the stories in this collection: brief, utterly engaging tales that offer lasting surprise and delight. From the original Greek financial...
Author
Series
Corduroy mansions volume 1
Publisher
Pantheon Books
Pub. Date
[2009]
Language
English
Description
Corduroy Mansions is the affectionate nickname given to a genteel, crumbling mansion block in London's vibrant Pimlico neighborhood and the home turf of a captivating collection of quirky and altogether McCall-Smithian characters. There's the middle-aged wine merchant William, who's trying to convince his reluctant twenty-four-year-old son, Eddie, to leave the nest; and Marcia, the boutique caterer who has her sights set on William. There's also the...
Author
Series
44 Scotland Street volume 14
Publisher
Anchor Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
Summer has come to Scotland Street. The long days have prompted its denizens to engage in flights of fancy. Some, like the Duke of Johannesburg's plan to create a microlite seaplane, are literal flights, and some, like the vain Bruce Anderson's idea of settling down with one of his many admirers, are more metaphorical. With the domineering Irene off pursuing academic challenges, Stuart and Bertie are free to indulge in summer fun. Stuart reconnects...
Author
Series
Portuguese irregular verbs series volume 4
Publisher
Anchor Books
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld despairs over an academic rival's undeserved acclaim and stumbles into a haphazard romance with a charming widow before a mountaineering accident catapults him into unwanted fame.
Author
Series
44 Scotland Street volume 12
Publisher
Anchor Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
When Pat accepts her narcissistic ex-boyfriend Bruce's invitation for coffee, she has no idea of the complications in her romantic and professional life that will follow. Meanwhile, Matthew, her boss at the art gallery, attracts the attention of the police after a misunderstanding at the local bookstore. Whether caused by small things such as a cup of coffee and a book, or major events such as Stuart's application for promotion and his wife Irene's...
Author
Series
Portuguese irregular verbs series volume 2
Publisher
Anchor Books
Pub. Date
2005.
Language
English
Author
Series
Publisher
Pantheon Books
Pub. Date
[2019]
Language
English
Description
Renowned Scottish cookbook writer Paul Stuart is hard at work on his new book, The Philosophy of Food, but complicated domestic circumstances, and two clingy cats, are making that difficult. So when Paul's eccentric cousin Chloe suggests that he join her at the house she's rented in the French countryside, he jumps at the chance. The two quickly befriend the locals, including their twin-sister landladies, who also own the infamous local restaurant...
18) Espresso tales
Author
Series
44 Scotland Street volume 2
Publisher
Anchor Books
Pub. Date
2006.
Language
English
Description
Fans will welcome the second installment in the bestselling 44 Scotland Street series. Full of McCall Smith's gentle humor and sympathy for his characters, "Espresso Tales" is also an affectionate portrait of a city and its people who, in the author's own words, "make Edinburgh one of the most vibrant and interesting places in the world."
Author
Publisher
Pantheon Books
Pub. Date
[2013]
Language
English
Description
In the words of Alexander McCall Smith: 'You feel the rocking of the train, you hear the sound of its wheels on the rails; you are in the world rather than suspended somewhere above it. And sometimes there are conversations to be had, which is what the overarching story in this collection is all about. It is a simple device: people brought together entertain one another with tales of what happened to them on trains. It takes place on a journey I frequently...
20) The forever girl
Author
Publisher
Pantheon Books
Pub. Date
c2014.
Language
English
Description
"From the author of the best-selling and universally adored No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series--a stand-alone, big-hearted, and often heartbreaking novel about unrequited love and the unexpected places it takes us. At age 4, Thursday chooses her own name. At age 6, she falls in love with her best friend, James, with whom she happily spends all her time. But in the adult world, things are not so simple: at the same time that Thursday's mother finds...
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