Reading Order
28 series · 219 books| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency | 1998 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Tears of the Giraffe | 2000 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | Morality for Beautiful Girls | 2001 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | The Kalahari Typing School for Men | 2002 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | The Full Cupboard of Life | 2003 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 6 | In the Company of Cheerful Ladies | 2004 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 7 | Blue Shoes and Happiness | 2006 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 8 | The Good Husband of Zebra Drive | 2007 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 9 | The Miracle at Speedy Motors | 2008 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 10 | Tea Time for the Traditionally Built | 2009 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 11 | The Double Comfort Safari Club | 2010 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 12 | The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party | 2010 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 13 | The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection | 2012 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 14 | The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon | 2013 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 15 | The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café | 2014 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 16 | The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine | 2015 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 17 | Precious and Grace | 2016 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 18 | The House of Unexpected Sisters | 2017 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 19 | The Colors of All the Cattle | 2018 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 20 | To the Land of Long Lost Friends | 2019 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 21 | How to Raise an Elephant | 2020 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 22 | The Joy and Light Bus Company | 2021 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 23 | A Song of Comfortable Chairs | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 24 | From a Far and Lovely Country | 2023 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 25 | The Great Hippopotamus Hotel | 2024 | Buy from Amazon |
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Collections
0 of 1 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Cleverness of Ladies | 2012 | Buy from Amazon |
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portuguese Irregular Verbs | 2003 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs | 2003 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances | 2003 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | Unusual Uses for Olive Oil | 2011 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | Your Inner Hedgehog | 2021 | Buy from Amazon |
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Sunday Philosophy Club | 2004 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Friends, Lovers, Chocolate | 2005 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | The Right Attitude to Rain | 2006 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | The Careful Use of Compliments | 2007 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday / The Comfort Of Saturdays | 2008 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 6 | The Lost Art of Gratitude | 2009 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 7 | The Charming Quirks of Others | 2010 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 8 | The Forgotten Affairs of Youth | 2011 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 9 | The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds | 2012 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 10 | The Novel Habits of Happiness | 2015 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 11 | A Distant View of Everything | 2017 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 12 | The Quiet Side of Passion | 2018 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 13 | The Geometry of Holding Hands | 2020 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 14 | The Sweet Remnants of Summer | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 15 | The Conditions of Unconditional Love | 2024 | Buy from Amazon |
Isabel Dalhousie Short Stories/Novellas
0 of 3 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Perils of Morning Coffee (Short Story) | 2011 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | At the Reunion Buffet | 2015 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | Sweet, Thoughtful Valentine (Short Story) | 2016 | Buy from Amazon |
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 Scotland Street | 2005 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Espresso Tales | 2005 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | Love Over Scotland | 2006 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | The World According to Bertie | 2007 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | The Unbearable Lightness Of Scones | 2008 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 6 | The Importance of Being Seven | 2010 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 7 | Bertie Plays the Blues | 2011 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 8 | Sunshine on Scotland Street | 2012 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 9 | Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers | 2013 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 10 | The Revolving Door of Life | 2015 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 11 | The Bertie Project | 2017 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 12 | A Time of Love and Tartan | 2017 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 13 | The Peppermint Tea Chronicles | 2019 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 14 | A Promise of Ankles | 2020 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 15 | Love in the Time of Bertie | 2021 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 16 | The Enigma of Garlic | 2023 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 17 | The Stellar Debut of Galactica Macfee | 2024 | Buy from Amazon |
Myths Series
0 of 2 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams | 2006 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | The Fire Gospel ( By: Michel Faber) | 2006 | Buy from Amazon |
Corduroy Mansions Series
0 of 3 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corduroy Mansions | 2009 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | The Dog Who Came in from the Cold | 2009 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | A Conspiracy of Friends | 2010 | Buy from Amazon |
The School Ship Tobermory Series
0 of 4 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | School Ship Tobermory | 2015 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | The Sands of Shark Island | 2016 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | The Race to Kangaroo Cliff | 2019 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | The Secret of the Dark Waterfall ( With: Iain Mcintosh) | 2019 | Buy from Amazon |
The Perfect Passion Company Series
0 of 3 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cook For Me | 2023 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | A Laborer in the Vineyard of Love | 2023 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | The Girl From Melbourne | 2024 | Buy from Amazon |
Paul Stuart Series
0 of 2 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | My Italian Bulldozer | 2017 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | The Second-Worst Restaurant in France | 2019 | Buy from Amazon |
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Varg in Love (Short Story) | 2013 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | The Department of Sensitive Crimes | 2019 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | The Talented Mr. Varg | 2020 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | The Man with the Silver Saab | 2021 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | The Discreet Charm of the Big Bad Wolf | 2023 | Buy from Amazon |
Detective Varg Short Stories/Novellas
0 of 1 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Strange Case of the Moderate Extremists (Short Story) | 2019 | Buy from Amazon |
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akimbo and the Lions (Short Story) | 1992 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Akimbo and the Crocodile Man | 1993 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | Akimbo and the Elephants | 2005 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | Akimbo and the Snakes | 2006 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | Akimbo and the Baboons (Short Story) | 2008 | Buy from Amazon |
Harriet Bean Series
0 of 3 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean | 1990 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Harriet Bean and the League of Cheats | 1991 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | The Cowgirl Aunt of Harriet Bean | 1993 | Buy from Amazon |
Max & Maddy Series
0 of 2 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max & Maddy and the Bursting Balloons Mystery | 1997 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Max & Maddy and the Chocolate Money Mystery (Short Story) | 1999 | Buy from Amazon |
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Great Cake Mystery | 2009 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Precious and the Monkeys | 2010 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill (Short Story) | 2012 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | Precious and the Mystery of the Missing Lion | 2013 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | Precious and the Zebra Necklace | 2015 | Buy from Amazon |
Young Corgi Series
0 of 3 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alix and the Tigers | 1988 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Suzy Magician | 1990 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | The Tin Dog | 1990 | Buy from Amazon |
The Big-Top Mysteries Series
0 of 1 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Big-Top Mysteries – The Case of the Vanishing Granny (Short Story) ( With: Sam Usher) | 2020 | Buy from Amazon |
Alexander McCall Smith Other Novels
0 of 8 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uncle Gangster | 1989 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | La's Orchestra Saves the World | 2008 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party | 2014 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | The Forever Girl | 2014 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | The Good Pilot, Peter Woodhouse | 2017 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 6 | The Pavilion in the Clouds | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 7 | The Perfect Passion Company | 2024 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 8 | Looking for You | 2025 | Buy from Amazon |
Alexander McCall Smith Children's Books
0 of 27 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | White Hippo | 1980 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Film Boy | 1988 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | The Joke Machine | 1990 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | Marzipan Max | 1991 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | The Girl Who Changed the Weather | 1991 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 6 | Calculator Annie | 1992 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 7 | Springy Jane | 1992 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 8 | Who Invented Peanut Butter? | 1993 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 9 | My Chameleon Uncle | 1993 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 10 | The Doughnut Ring | 1994 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 11 | The Princess Trick | 1994 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 12 | Paddy and the Ratcatcher | 1994 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 13 | The Banana Machine | 1994 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 14 | Billy Rubbish | 1995 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 15 | The Bubblegum Tree | 1996 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 16 | The Watermelon Boys | 1996 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 17 | The Popcorn Pirates | 1999 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 18 | Monkey Boy | 2000 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 19 | Teacher Trouble | 2000 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 20 | The Spaghetti Tangle | 2005 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 21 | The Muscle Machine | 2006 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 22 | Boing Boing | 2016 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 23 | Hari & His Electric Feet | 2017 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 24 | Max Champion and the Great Race Car Robbery | 2018 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 25 | Freddie Mole (Short Story) | 2018 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 26 | The Great Clown Conundrum (Short Story) | 2019 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 27 | Noah Wild and the Floating Zoo | 2020 | Buy from Amazon |
Alexander McCall Smith Short Story Collections
0 of 14 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Children of Wax: African Folk Tales | 1989 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations | 1995 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | "Trouble at the North Pole" and Other Stories | 1996 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | The Perfect Hamburger and Other Delicious Stories | 2001 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa | 2004 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 6 | The Baboons Who Went This Way and That: Folktales from Africa | 2006 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 7 | The Book That Changed My Life | 2006 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 8 | Trains and Lovers | 2012 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 9 | Chance Developments | 2016 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 10 | Pianos and Flowers | 2019 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 11 | Marvellous Mix-ups | 2020 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 12 | In a Time of Distance and Other Poems | 2020 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 13 | Tiny Tales: Stories of Romance, Ambition, Kindness, and Happiness | 2021 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 14 | The Private Life of Spies and the Exquisite Art of Getting Even | 2023 | Buy from Amazon |
Alexander McCall Smith Non-Fiction Books
0 of 2 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Work of Beauty: Alexander McCall Smith's Edinburgh | 2014 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Who Built Scotland ( With: Kathleen Jamie, James Robertson, James Crawford, Alistair Moffat) | 2017 | Buy from Amazon |
Alexander McCall Smith Short Stories/Novellas
0 of 2 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Good Dog Lion ( With: David Dean) | 2014 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Freddie Mole, Lion Tamer ( With: Kate Hindley) | 2017 | Buy from Amazon |
Austen Project Series
0 of 4 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sense & Sensibility ( By: Joanna Trollope) | 2013 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Northanger Abbey ( By: Val McDermid) | 2014 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | Emma | 2014 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | Eligible ( By: Curtis Sittenfeld) | 2016 | Buy from Amazon |
Mysterious Profiles Series
0 of 32 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rambo ( By: David Morrell) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | Elvis Cole and Joe Pike ( By: Robert Crais) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | Jack Taylor ( By: Ken Bruen) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | Jack Reacher ( By: Lee Child) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | Charlie Parker ( By: John Connolly) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 6 | Hieronymus Bosch ( By: Michael Connelly) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 7 | Lincoln Rhyme ( By: Jeffery Deaver) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 8 | Alex Delaware ( By: Jonathan Kellerman) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 9 | Tess Monaghan ( By: Laura Lippman) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 10 | Charlie Resnick ( By: John Harvey) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 11 | Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus ( By: Faye Kellerman) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 12 | Inspector Morse ( By: Colin Dexter) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 13 | Dismas Hardy ( By: John Lescroart) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 14 | Bob Lee Swagger ( By: Stephen Hunter) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 15 | Aloysius X. L. Pendergast ( By: Douglas Preston) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 16 | Lou Boldt (Short Story) ( By: Ridley Pearson) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 17 | Spenser ( By: Robert B. Parker) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 18 | Charlotte and Thomas Pitt ( By: Anne Perry) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 19 | John Rebus ( By: Ian Rankin) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 20 | Mallory ( By: Carol O'Connell) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 21 | Jane Whitefield (Short Story) ( By: Thomas Perry) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 22 | Ian Rutledge (Short Story) ( By: Charles Todd) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 23 | Amos Walker (Short Story) ( By: Loren D. Estleman) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 24 | Precious Ramotswe (Short Story) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 25 | Maisie Dobbs (Short Story) ( By: Jacqueline Winspear) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 26 | The Lincoln Lawyer (Short Story) ( By: Michael Connelly) | 2022 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 27 | Condor (Short Story) ( By: James Grady) | 2023 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 28 | Ben Kincaid (Short Story) ( By: William Bernhardt) | 2023 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 29 | Repairman Jack (Short Story) ( By: F. Paul Wilson) | 2023 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 30 | Joe Pickett (Short Story) ( By: C.J. Box) | 2024 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 31 | Peter Diamond (Short Story) ( By: Peter Lovesey) | 2024 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 32 | Nathan Heller (Short Story) ( By: Max Allan Collins) | 2024 | Buy from Amazon |
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notes on Sontag ( By: Phillip Lopate) | 2009 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | On Whitman ( By: C.K. Williams) | 2010 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | On Conan Doyle ( By: Michael Dirda) | 2011 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | What W. H. Auden Can Do for You | 2013 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | On Elizabeth Bishop ( By: Colm Tóibín) | 2015 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 6 | On Empson ( By: Michael Wood) | 2017 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 7 | On Henry Miller: Or, How to Be an Anarchist ( By: John Burnside) | 2018 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 8 | On Seamus Heaney ( By: Roy Foster) | 2020 | Buy from Amazon |
Alexander McCall Smith Anthologies
0 of 17 read
| # | Title | Year | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Treasury of Five-Minute Stories | 2000 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 2 | One City | 2005 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 3 | A New Omnibus of Crime | 2005 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 4 | The Sunday Night Book Club | 2006 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 5 | The Best British Mysteries IV | 2007 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 6 | Midsummer Nights | 2009 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 7 | Ox-Tales | 2009 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 8 | Crimespotting | 2009 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 9 | The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 7 | 2010 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 10 | Imagined Lives | 2010 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 11 | No Rest for the Dead | 2011 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 12 | The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 8 | 2011 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 13 | What You Wish For | 2011 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 14 | Better Than Fiction: True Travel Tales From Great Fiction Writers | 2012 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 15 | How Rude! Modern Manners Defined | 2012 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 16 | OxCrimes: 27 Killer Stories from the Cream of Crimewriters | 2014 | Buy from Amazon | |
| 17 | Who Built Scotland | 2017 | Buy from Amazon |
About the Author
Alexander McCall Smith is a British author, best known for his series of novels set in Botswana featuring the character Precious Ramotswe, the proprietor of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. He was born in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) in 1948 and studied law in Edinburgh, Scotland. After working as a lawyer and then a university professor for many years, he began writing fiction in the 1990s. Smith's novels have been translated into over 40 languages and have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. He has also written several other series of novels, including the Isabel Dalhousie mysteries and the 44 Scotland Street series. Smith has received numerous awards for his writing, including the British Book Awards Author of the Year Award in 2005 and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book in 2006. He has also been awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for his services to literature. Smith's novels have been praised for their humor, warmth, and insight into human nature. He is considered one of the most popular and successful contemporary British authors.