Alexander McCall Smith

When friends from Dallas arrive in Edinburgh and introduce Isabel to Tom Bruce, a bigwig at home in Texas, several confounding situations unfurl at once. Tom's young fiancée's roving eye leads Isabel to believe that money may be the root of her love for Tom. But what, Isabel wonders, is the root of the interest Tom begins to show for Isabel herself? And she can't forget about her niece, Cat, who's busy falling for a man whom Isabel suspects of being...

"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...

Isabel's son, Charlie, is now of an age, eighteen months, to have a social life, and so off they go to a birthday party, where, much to Isabel's surprise, she finds Minty Auchterlonie, the high-flying financier she first encountered in The Sunday Philosophy Club. Minty had seemed to Isabel a woman of ruthless ambition, but the question of her integrity had never truly been answered. Now, when Minty takes Isabel into her confidence about the complicated...

Worrying about her upcoming marriage to J.L.B. Matekoni, Precious Ramotswe is confronted by the challenges of running her No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, a terrifying request from the matron of the Orphan Farm, and a case involving an investigation into the would-be suitors of a wealthy woman to determine if any are fortune hunters.

Mma "Precious" Ramotswe is now engaged to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, the kind owner of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. This new development provokes a hostile reaction from his unscrupulous maid, who begins plotting the disintegration of the engagement. Despite all this, duty calls, and Mma Ramotswe is asked to help find an American woman's son, who has been missing in Africa for 10 years.

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.

"Precious Ramotswe learns valuable lessons about first impressions and forgiveness in this latest installment of the beloved and best-selling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are approached by their part-time colleague, Mr. Polopetsi, with a troubling story: a woman, accused of being rude to a valued customer, has been wrongly dismissed from her job at an office furniture store. Never one to let an act of injustice...

In Morality for Beautiful Girls, Precious Ramotswe, founder and owner of the only detective agency for the concerns of both ladies and others, investigates the alleged poisoning of the brother of an important "Government Man," and the moral character of the four finalists of the Miss Beauty and Integrity Contest, the winner of which will almost certainly be a contestant for the title of Miss Botswana. Yet her business is having money problems, and...

After a patient dies accidentally, an impeccably credentialed doctor is accused of fraudulent involvement with a new drug. Isabel Dalhousie launches an investigation, concerned that a good man's reputation will be ruined. Could the doctor be taking the fall for someone else's mistake? Or did a nefarious pharmaceutical company put its lofty ambitions ahead of safety?

"The ever-delightful, insatiably curious Edinburgh philosopher and amateur sleuth returns to take on a case unlike any she's had before--this one with paranormal implications--in the tenth installment of this beloved author's consistently best-selling series. From a small town outside Edinburgh comes the news that a young boy has been recounting vivid recollections of a past life: a perfect description of an island off the coast of Scotland which...