Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most prolific and popular authors. His career has been a varied one: for many years he was a professor of medical law and worked in universities in the United Kingdom and abroad. After the publication of his highly successful No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over twenty million copies, he devoted his time to writing fiction and has seen his various series translated into over forty languages and become bestsellers through the world.

McCall Smith won the prestigious The Dagger in the Library Award in 2004, an award bestowed by the Crime Writers' Association.