Alexander McCall Smith Books in Order

In a village in Gambia, an unusual white hippo becomes a target for an outsider who wants to claim her. The villagers try to protect the animal, and the story explores courage, community, and what it means to do the right thing.

Alix is pulled into an adventure involving tigers and a situation that needs bravery more than bluster. Written for young readers, the story moves quickly and keeps the focus on problem-solving, courage, and doing what feels right.

Prem lives in Bombay and loves the movies, dreaming of the glamorous world on screen. When he gets a chance to meet a famous film star, he has to learn what fame looks like up close, and what it really costs.

A collection of African folk tales retold for children, filled with memorable characters and clear moral choices. The stories blend humor and warning, showing how cleverness and kindness can matter as much as strength.

A child’s ordinary life is disrupted when an uncle with a dubious reputation arrives and everything becomes uncertain. The story plays with fear and humor, as the young protagonist tries to work out what is true, and what is just talk.

Suzy wants a place at Professor Cadabra’s famous magic school, but she will need real skill to earn it. As she tries to learn tricks and prove herself, the story becomes a funny, fast children’s tale about confidence and persistence.

Harriet Bean’s already unusual family gets even stranger when her aunts become the center of an unexpected problem. Harriet tries to untangle what happened and what to do next, in a fast, funny children’s mystery full of mishaps.

A child discovers that a clever invention meant for fun can create unexpected trouble. As jokes spiral beyond control, the story becomes a light mystery about responsibility, friendship, and what happens when a good idea is taken too far.

Tim lives with his very house-proud aunt until Uncle George makes him a tin dog and everything changes. A trip to the circus turns the simple gift into a chain of mishaps, in a lively story about curiosity and unintended consequences.

Harriet Bean runs into a new problem where someone is bending the rules and getting away with it. Determined to set things right, she follows clues through family chaos and schoolyard drama, in a brisk, funny kids’ mystery.

Max learns to make marzipan and discovers he has a gift for turning sweets into art. As he improves, he faces the challenge of proving himself and protecting what he loves doing, in a warm story about craft and confidence.

Emily finds an old weather map at a TV station and discovers something startling: when she predicts the weather, it changes to match her forecast. The power feels exciting at first, but she soon learns that controlling nature has consequences.

Akimbo lives near a game reserve, and his father’s work as a ranger brings him close to wild animals. When lions are threatened, Akimbo has to be brave and clever, learning how protection and respect go together.

Annie is hopeless at maths until she falls asleep with a calculator under her pillow and wakes up transformed. Suddenly she can solve problems at lightning speed, and she has to figure out what to do with her strange new talent.

Jane is different, she has springs in her knees and can bounce everywhere. When a terrible flood puts someone in danger, Jane’s unusual gift becomes the key to helping, in a bright, accessible story about courage and using what you have.

Akimbo’s life on the reserve brings him face to face with danger tied to crocodiles and human greed. With his father’s work in the background, he has to rely on courage and quick thinking to help protect the animals.

Having an uncle who changes color like a chameleon sounds fun until you cannot find him when you need to. This playful story follows a child dealing with a very unusual relative, and the misunderstandings that follow.

Harriet Bean’s world flips again when an aunt arrives with a bold new persona and a knack for trouble. Harriet tries to keep things under control while chasing the truth behind the latest chaos, in a playful, fast-paced kids’ story.

A simple question turns into a surprising quest, as a young character tries to track down an answer that seems obvious but is not. The story mixes curiosity, humor, and a light mystery about how ideas, and inventions, really happen.

When a ratcatcher clears the rats from town, the grown-ups disappear too, leaving Paddy and his friend in charge. Running a town sounds fun until money and responsibility become real problems, and the kids must find a solution.

Patty lives on a small banana plantation in Jamaica, and the family is struggling to compete. She comes up with a wild plan to invent a banana machine, hoping one clever idea can save their home and future.

When a school janitor needs help after a loss, Jim decides to raise money by selling doughnuts. The plan works too well, creating a shortage and a new problem to solve, in a quick, funny story about good intentions.

Twins Katy and Bella receive a birthday gift each year that comes with expectations, and they decide to change the pattern. A small trick becomes a bigger lesson about fairness and family, in a short, funny story for young readers.

Billy is fed up with his town’s mess, especially after it wins an award for being the worst. He launches a plan to change things, organizing competitions and convincing others to care, in a funny story about recycling and determination.

A short story collection about romance, awkward encounters, and small turning points in ordinary lives. McCall Smith mixes gentle humor with sharp observation, showing how a single decision or conversation can shift everything.

A collection of children’s stories that mixes humor, mischief, and a touch of seasonal chaos. Each tale is short and clear, built around a simple problem that spirals, and the small cleverness it takes to put things right.

Billy, Nicola, and Mr Gopal travel to India to solve the mystery of missing bubblegum tree sap. Without it, Mr Gopal’s gum business cannot survive, and the kids must follow clues, face danger, and think their way out.

Ma Rosie grows the best watermelons, but she can no longer make it to market. A group of children steps in to help sell the fruit, learning about teamwork, money, and responsibility in a warm Botswana set story.

Max and Maddy stumble into a mystery when a celebration goes wrong and nobody can explain why. They follow clues with kid logic and persistence, turning a small problem into a satisfying case that rewards paying attention.

After inheriting her father’s cattle, Precious Ramotswe sells them to open Botswana’s first ladies’ detective agency. Her early cases establish her quiet methods, patience, observation, and a firm belief that decency matters.

Something odd is happening with money, and Max and Maddy cannot resist investigating. As they compare notes and chase down suspicious details, they learn how easy it is for a clever trick to fool people who are not watching closely.

On the Popcorn Islands, pirates steal a precious harvest and the adults need help to stop them. Lucy, Hermione, and Sam join Captain Foster and his dog to face danger at sea and outsmart thieves with quick thinking.

Professor Frederick J. Dodd believes George O’Tang is the perfect helper for a mission to protect rare monkeys. George is pulled into an over-the-top adventure involving danger and villains, in a fast, funny children’s story.

Jenny is tall for her age, and on her first day at a new school she is mistaken for a teacher and left in charge. Trying to keep up the act turns into a comic disaster, as she faces real classroom chaos and a scary headmistress.

Mma Ramotswe takes on new clients whose problems hide deeper family truths. While she investigates with calm persistence, her life with mechanic J.L.B. Matekoni and her growing office routine face their own gentle tests.

A fresh set of mysteries lands on Mma Ramotswe’s desk, mixing everyday troubles with questions of honesty and reputation. As she follows the clues, she also keeps an eye on the people she cares about most.

A collection of three food-themed children’s stories where small problems turn into big adventures. From saving a favorite hamburger shop to a spaghetti obsession and a doughnut scheme, the book mixes humor, heart, and clever solutions.

Mma Ramotswe faces new cases and new competition, all while trying to protect what she has built. In Botswana, small misunderstandings can spread quickly, and her calm methods are tested by pride, rumor, and ambition.

Von Igelfeld’s life takes another turn into farce as he gets tangled in status worries and questionable opportunities. The book leans into gentle comedy, showing how easily a pompous man can misunderstand the world, and himself.

Professor Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld takes his academic reputation very seriously, which is exactly why trouble finds him. This is a gentle, absurd comedy of scholarship, rivalry, and misadventure, where status games matter far too much.

Professor von Igelfeld returns for another round of academic mishap, pride, and unlikely travel. His careful plans unravel in the face of other people’s behavior and his own vanity, in a calm, funny satire of scholarly life.

As the detective agency’s work continues, Mma Ramotswe takes on cases that reveal the private pressures inside families. Her investigations remain gentle in style but serious in purpose, and her relationships keep growing alongside them.

Mma Ramotswe and her assistant, Mma Makutsi, juggle multiple cases that hinge on trust and small lies. The story mixes office life, community ties, and the kind of practical kindness that keeps the agency running.

Professor von Igelfeld is once again certain he is destined for greatness, and once again life has other plans. This installment continues the mild campus satire and travel mishaps, where ambition, jealousy, and pride do most of the damage.

A collection of retold African folk tales filled with clever characters, surprising turns, and clear lessons about choices. The stories mix humor and warning, showing how bravery and wit can matter more than power.

Edinburgh philosopher Isabel Dalhousie witnesses an incident she cannot explain and starts asking careful questions. Her search for answers becomes a gentle mystery shaped by ethics, friendship, and the complicated pull of love and family.

A newcomer rents a flat at 44 Scotland Street and steps into an Edinburgh building full of memorable neighbors. Told in short, serial-like scenes, the book mixes friendship, romance, and mild misbehavior with a steady comic touch.

Akimbo’s life on a game reserve brings him close to elephants and the dangers they face. When trouble threatens the animals, he has to act with courage and care, learning how responsibility can be bigger than fear.

Life continues at 44 Scotland Street as relationships shift, careers wobble, and new secrets surface in ordinary conversations. The story moves in quick episodes, full of Edinburgh atmosphere, neighborly drama, and gently sharp humor.

Isabel Dalhousie is drawn into a friend’s relationship worries while her own feelings stay tangled. Set in Edinburgh, this is a quiet mystery where small clues and moral choices matter as much as the final answer.

Three Edinburgh-set short stories by Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin, and Irvine Welsh, introduced by J. K. Rowling. Created to benefit the One City Trust, the collection connects contrasting fictional voices to the city and its social-exclusion challenges.

John and Nicky dream of chips and cake, but their aunt insists on strict healthy eating. After they taste spaghetti, they become obsessed, and a competition leads them into a hilarious food adventure that changes their meals for good.

On the reserve, snakes and human fear can create dangerous misunderstandings. Akimbo has to face real risk while learning to stay calm and think clearly, in a fast children’s adventure that keeps wildlife and responsibility at its center.

New clients arrive with worries that look simple until Mma Ramotswe starts asking the right questions. Alongside the cases, she navigates family responsibilities and the daily challenges of keeping her Botswana agency steady and respected.

A gentle, dreamlike book that reimagines the Celtic god of dreams through linked stories. The result is part fable, part modern reflection, where the boundary between myth and ordinary life stays pleasantly blurred.

The residents of 44 Scotland Street navigate new romantic entanglements and fresh misunderstandings. McCall Smith keeps the focus on character and community, letting small choices ripple across the building in funny, human ways.

A playful, folktale-style story built around baboons, choices, and the consequences of taking the easy path. Told for younger readers, it uses humor and simple structure to show how decisions, and stubbornness, can change a whole day.

An anthology of personal essays in which writers and public figures describe a book that shaped who they became. The result is a wide-ranging celebration of reading, memory, and the strange ways one story can redirect a life.

Gordon is tired of being pushed around by a bully, so he orders something called Mr World’s Muscle Machine. The results are not as simple as he expects, and he has to learn what strength really means, and what it costs.

Isabel’s sense of duty pulls her into another knot of questions that is part personal, part philosophical. As she follows a trail of inconsistencies around Edinburgh, she has to decide what truth is worth, and what it costs.

A new puzzle arrives in Isabel Dalhousie’s orbit, and curiosity quickly turns into investigation. The case threads through Edinburgh’s social circles, with Isabel weighing motives, loyalties, and the fine line between help and interference.

Mma Ramotswe investigates cases rooted in marriage, loyalty, and the stories people tell to protect themselves. As she works, she also tries to balance the demands of home and the expectations that come with being the person others trust.

Edinburgh’s 44 Scotland Street world turns again, with special attention on young Bertie and the adults determined to shape him. The series blends domestic comedy, social observation, and small dramas that feel both ridiculous and real.

Akimbo runs into trouble involving baboons and the human problems that follow animals around. He must act quickly and thoughtfully, using knowledge of the reserve to prevent harm and to prove he can handle responsibility.

During World War II in rural England, a woman named La finds a way to keep people connected by creating an orchestra. As music brings the village together, secrets and personal choices surface, in a warm novel about community and resilience.

Isabel Dalhousie cannot ignore a situation that feels morally off, even when it looks simple at first glance. Her patient digging uncovers a deeper story, while her own relationships and responsibilities continue to shift at home.

Everyday mysteries keep coming to the agency, and Mma Ramotswe’s calm approach proves as useful as ever. Meanwhile, the lives tied to Speedy Motors and the wider community bring their own complications and surprises.

Neighbors, friends, and family members tangle themselves up in new plans at 44 Scotland Street. In short, addictive episodes, the book serves up Edinburgh life, warm humor, and the kind of everyday complications that never stay small.

In a Pimlico apartment building, a group of London neighbors get tangled in love, ambition, and petty grudges. Told in short scenes, the book is a social comedy where small misunderstandings become community-wide entertainment.

Mma Ramotswe handles new cases that turn on honesty and reputation, not brute force. The book continues the series’ focus on community and character, with the detective’s steady sense of right and wrong guiding her through.

Life at Corduroy Mansions continues as residents face new romantic complications and small crises of pride. A dog, and the people who care about him, helps pull threads together in another warm, gently satirical London installment.

Young Precious Ramotswe takes on a mystery when something important goes missing and the adults’ explanations do not satisfy her. With careful observation and persistence, she follows clues through school and home life in Botswana.

When questions of obligation and thankfulness turn sharp, Isabel finds herself pulled into a new tangle of suspicion. She investigates with conversation and careful listening, balancing her private life with the need to set something right.

At Corduroy Mansions, friendships and rivalries tighten as neighbors try to manage love, work, and reputation. The story is a light social comedy where plots and counterplots rarely go as intended, and kindness still matters.

This illustrated National Portrait Gallery book pairs portraits of unidentified Tudor and Jacobean sitters with fictional biographies and character sketches by eight writers, including Joanna Trollope and John Banville. The stories imaginatively fill gaps left by disputed identities and sparse historical records.

Young Precious Ramotswe notices something suspicious and decides to investigate, even when adults shrug it off. Set in Botswana, this early-case adventure mixes school life and local color with a mystery that rewards careful observation.

Isabel Dalhousie follows a case that begins with a small worry and grows into a wider question of trust. As she moves through Edinburgh’s galleries, cafés, and living rooms, she finds that motives can be as puzzling as facts.

A new round of clients brings Mma Ramotswe into situations where small clues matter and feelings run deep. As she investigates, she also tends to the relationships and responsibilities that make her life in Botswana feel full.

As Bertie grows older, the pressures and expectations around him grow too, and the adults around 44 Scotland Street keep making choices that complicate everything. The story is funny, gentle, and full of character-driven surprises.

Mma Ramotswe’s cases overlap with the social life of Gaborone, where celebrations can hide private troubles. With help from her circle, she follows the truth carefully, aiming to solve problems without breaking what is already fragile.

Life in the Edinburgh building keeps unfolding in quick scenes, with Bertie trying to claim a little independence. Around him, neighbors juggle romances, careers, and rivalries, and the smallest misunderstanding can start a new mini-crisis.

A collaborative thriller that starts with a murder that looks solved, until a wife refuses to accept the easy answer. As different investigators and suspects take the stage, the story keeps changing shape. Each new revelation adds pressure, and nobody's motives are as clean as they seem.

A problem from the past resurfaces, and Isabel cannot resist trying to understand it. Her investigation is quiet but persistent, mixing moral reflection with everyday Edinburgh life as she weighs what people owe one another over time.

A short Isabel Dalhousie story that turns an everyday moment into a small mystery with moral overtones. Isabel’s curiosity and calm persistence lead her to ask the question others avoid, and to see what that question changes.

The residents of Corduroy Mansions continue their everyday dramas, from romance to ambition to mild scandal. McCall Smith follows multiple storylines in quick scenes, showing how a community forms, and frays, over small things.

Young Precious Ramotswe follows her instincts when something feels wrong, and her questions uncover a mystery hidden in everyday life. The story is bright and approachable, with Botswana setting details and a kid-sized case to solve.

The 44 Scotland Street cast returns for another round of friendship, awkwardness, and gentle satire. The book’s pleasures are in the details, overheard conversations, impulsive decisions, and the way one person’s plan becomes everyone’s problem.

Five short tales spotlight women solving problems with intelligence and grit, including a story set in the world of Mma Ramotswe. The collection is quick and approachable, mixing warmth, humor, and small moral turns rather than big twists.

Mma Ramotswe faces mysteries that test her confidence and her sense of fairness. As she works, she also reflects on what it means to be a good detective, and a good person, in a community where everyone seems connected.

Isabel Dalhousie becomes involved in another puzzle where appearances and intentions do not match. The mystery unfolds through conversation and small observations, with Edinburgh’s atmosphere and Isabel’s ethical instincts shaping every step.

London life at Corduroy Mansions brings fresh complications, including travel, temptation, and the kind of misunderstanding that spreads through gossip. The book keeps its light touch, balancing satire with genuine affection for its characters.

Bertie’s struggle for breathing room continues as the adults around him keep meddling with confidence. Meanwhile, Edinburgh neighbors deal with their own dramas, and the serial format keeps everything brisk, funny, and strangely comforting.

When a problem involving a missing lion rattles the community, Precious refuses to accept easy answers. She investigates with patience and cleverness, learning how to ask the right questions and how to keep going when adults doubt her.

New cases arrive at the agency, and Mma Ramotswe handles them with her usual blend of patience and practical wisdom. The book mixes investigations with the ongoing rhythms of work, love, and daily life in Botswana.

Ulf Varg returns with new sensitive cases and a personal life that refuses to stay simple. Balancing compassion with detective work, he follows clues through Malmo while trying to understand what love and loyalty mean in practice.

A friendly, practical look at W. H. Auden’s poems as guides to everyday life. McCall Smith uses the poet’s work to talk about love, work, politics, and private fears, keeping the tone conversational rather than academic.

A young art world operator tries to build status through connections, sales, and confident talk, but the plan keeps slipping. This is a lightly satirical novel about ambition and taste, where schemes backfire and small decencies still count.

A modern reimagining of Jane Austen’s Emma, following a confident matchmaker who believes she understands everyone’s love life. As her schemes backfire, she is forced to recognize her own blind spots, in a witty, contemporary take.

After a major change in circumstances, a family must start over in a new place and learn new rules of belonging. A dinner party becomes a focal point for the village’s social currents, in a warm, lightly comic novel about community.

Lion is a good dog who wants to do the right thing, even when the world around him is confusing. In this short, illustrated story, his loyalty and courage are tested by trouble he cannot ignore.