Alexander McCall Smith

For the past couple of years, I have been reading the books of Alexander McCall Smith. Somehow I stumbled onto the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency at a book store. I have no idea why this appealed to me as I would not ususally find a women's detective agency in Africa a subject matter of interest. But for whatever reason, I bought the book. From there, I discovered the vast collection of this gentleman which includes not only the Mme. Ramotswe series, but also the Isabel Dalhousie series, the 44 Scotland Street Series and the Portuguese Irregular Verbs Series as well as other assorted works. As Mr. McCall himself says, he is a serial novelist!

It's hard for me to say which series I like the best. Although I fell in love with Mme. Ramotswe and Africa, I loved the books set in Scotland even more. At 44 Scotland Street, I love Bertie the most. He keeps me in stitches. The image of a little boy (5 when the series began) playing the tenor saxaphone, speaking Italian and doing yoga is so over the top that it appeals to my off sense of humor. When he began seeing the psycotherapist and quickly decided the man was "mad" I thought it was a stroke of genius.

That's how Alexander McCall Smith writes. His stories are generally a bit of a stretch but that's where the fun lies. I like to dive into a book that's a world away from my own and get lost in the ridiculous for a little while.

Thank you, Mr. McCall Smith!!