She is smiling, the young woman perched on the cross-bar; she is smiling broadly as they follow the tram lines. Behind them, the morning mist is lifting slowly, although the figures within it are ghost-like and the trees still harbour lingering pockets of darkness. She did not know what possessed her to accept a ride […]

Rose first saw Colin at the thirtieth birthday party of her vivacious, redhead friend, Vicky. It was a large party, held in Edinburgh, at Vicky’s father’s golf club. “Vicky has countless friends,” somebody once said to Rose. “It’s something to do with being a redhead. You speak to virtually anybody – anybody – and they’ll […]

An extract from the latest novel in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.

This is an excerpt from a new children’s book that Alexander is currently writing.

Something slightly different this month, a performance of a song written by Alexander to celebrate the Great Tapestry of Scotland.

Alexander McCall Smith joined the Cyrenians charity last week, along with patients and volunteers, at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital for a book reading, where he presented a new poem written for the occasion and gifted books to hospital patients and staff. Here is that poem.   In a Garden   The Community Gardens   The human soul […]