The World is full of suffering: I am writing this on Sunday evening, after a day of sun here in Edinburgh. Spring is knocking on the door – just – although the air is still a bit cold. This afternoon at three o’clock, I wrote the final sentence of the new No 1 Ladies’ Detective […]

In celebration of World Book Day and recognition of those suffering in Eastern Europe, Alexander shares this new poem: In troubled times A poem for World Book Day, 2022 Somewhere as I write these lines Armies clash, the speechless innocent flee, The rumbling armour and the fire, And skies, once clear and optimistic, Darken with […]

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency author can turn out five novels a year – but there’s one piece of kit he needs, he tells the Penguin Podcast. Few authors are as prolific as Alexander McCall Smith. The creator of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, he has written dozens of novels across eight series, along with children’s […]