About the Author

Alexander McCall Smith lives in Scotland, where he is Professor Emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh. He has a long connection with Botswana, where he once worked and to which he returns each year for a visit of homage to the country of his heroine Mma Ramotswe. He is the author of many other books, including the Isabel Dalhousie series. In his spare time, he plays the contrabassoon in an amateur orchestra called the Really Terrible Orchestra.

Reviews

Praise for "Blue Shoes and Happiness" (Book 7)

National Bestseller

"It is lovely to be in the presence of the wise Mma Ramotswe. . . . How could you not love a friend like [her]?" --"Edmonton Journal"

"The greatest pleasure in reading these books is Ramotswe's view of life. . . . Anybody who needs some gentle reassurance about life would be rewarded by putting on a soft bathrobe and sinking into Blue Shoes and Happiness."
--"The London Free Press"

Praise for the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series
"Delightful . . . The warm humanity infused throughout [McCall Smith's] novels is what brings readers back . . . There is simplicity and lyricism in [the] language that brings out the profound importance of everyday revelations."
--"San Francisco Chronicle "

"There is something so soothing about Precious Ramotswe's adventures. Reading one is like taking a lazy cruise down a slow-moving river on a hot day. And as diverse as the mysteries in each book are, there is always a common thread that draws them together in their solutions. I often wonder how Alexander McCall Smith does it, because I never suspect how everything will turn out, beyond that all will be for the best."
--"New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal"

Praise for "Blue Shoes and Happiness" (Book 7):
National Bestseller
"It is lovely to be in the presence of the wise Mma Ramotswe. . . . How could you not love a friend like [her]?" --"Edmonton Journal"
"The greatest pleasure in reading these books is Ramotswe's view of life. . . . Anybody who needs some gentle reassurance about life would be rewarded by putting on a soft bathrobe and sinking into Blue Shoes and Happiness."
--"The London Free Press"
Praise for the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series:
"Delightful . . . The warm humanity infused throughout [McCall Smith's] novels is what brings readers back . . . There is simplicity and lyricism in [the] language that brings out the profound importance of everyday revelations."
--"San Francisco Chronicle"
"There is something so soothing about Precious Ramotswe's adventures. Reading one is like taking a lazy cruise down a slow-moving river on a hot day. And as diverse as the mysteries in each book are, there is always a common thread that draws them together in their solutions. I often wonder how Alexander McCall Smith does it, because I never suspect how everything will turn out, beyond that all will be for the best."
--"New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal"

Smith once again combines a loving depiction of ordinary life in modern Botswana with memorable characters and an engaging mystery in the eighth installment in his beloved No. 1 Ladies Detective series (after Blue Shoes and Happiness). Dr. Cronje, who's half Xhosa and half Afrikaner, consults Smith's sleuth, the gentle and insightful Precious Ramotswe, because patients at his hospital who have occupied a particular bed have been dying mysteriously at the same time of day. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe's recently engaged assistant, Grace Makutsi, threatens to break their longstanding association. Mma Ramotswe must adjust their relationship in order to retain Mma Makutsi's services. The author's subtlety of touch and humane portrayal of figures at all levels of society will continue to win him new readers even as his deepening of the ties binding the main figures will satisfy those who have followed the lady detectives from their first recorded case. (Apr.)Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Praise for "Blue Shoes and Happiness" (Book 7)

National Bestseller

"It is lovely to be in the presence of the wise Mma Ramotswe. . . . How could you not love a friend like [her]?" --"Edmonton Journal"

"The greatest pleasure in reading these books is Ramotswe's view of life. . . . Anybody who needs some gentle reassurance about life would be rewarded by putting on a soft bathrobe and sinking into Blue Shoes and Happiness."
--"The London Free Press"

Praise for the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series
"Delightful . . . The warm humanity infused throughout [McCall Smith's] novels is what brings readers back . . . There is simplicity and lyricism in [the] language that brings out the profound importance of everyday revelations."
--"San Francisco Chronicle "

"There is something so soothing about Precious Ramotswe's adventures. Reading one is like taking a lazy cruise down a slow-moving river on a hot day. And as diverse as the mysteries in each book are, there is always a common thread that draws them together in their solutions. I often wonder how Alexander McCall Smith does it, because I never suspect how everything will turn out, beyond that all will be for the best."
--"New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal"
Praise for "Blue Shoes and Happiness" (Book 7):
National Bestseller
"It is lovely to be in the presence of the wise Mma Ramotswe. . . . How could you not love a friend like [her]?" --"Edmonton Journal"
"The greatest pleasure in reading these books is Ramotswe's view of life. . . . Anybody who needs some gentle reassurance about life would be rewarded by putting on a soft bathrobe and sinking into Blue Shoes and Happiness."
--"The London Free Press"
Praise for the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series:
"Delightful . . . The warm humanity infused throughout [McCall Smith's] novels is what brings readers back . . . There is simplicity and lyricism in [the] language that brings out the profound importance of everyday revelations."
--"San Francisco Chronicle"
"There is something so soothing about Precious Ramotswe's adventures. Reading one is like taking a lazy cruise down a slow-moving river on a hot day. And as diverse as the mysteries in each book are, there is always a common thread that draws them together in their solutions. I often wonder how Alexander McCall Smith does it, because I never suspect how everything will turn out, beyond that all will be for the best."
--"New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal"