ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH Reading

Alexander McCall Smith, the author of No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, will be reading from his newest book, The Colors of All the Cattle in Iowa City on Monday evening, November 12 at the First United Methodist Church @ 214 Jefferson Street. While this is a ticketed event, (with your ticket you can receive a book to be singed by the author, you can ask questions and take home your book to read that night), but if you can't attend, don't despair, you can find nearly all of his books at the Iowa City Public Library, including The Colors of All the Cattle.  To place a hold on this title or any others, just click on the link below and reserve a copy.

I had the pleasure of meeting Alexander McCall Smith at an earlier author event and, he is, as you might imagine, as charming as the day is lo ng. McCall Smith, a Scotsman, was born in Bulawayo in 1948 in the British colony of Southern Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe). His father worked as a public prosecutor in Bulawayo. McCall Smith was educated at the Christian Brothers College in Bulawayo before moving to Scotland at age 17.   Zimbabwe is adjacent to Botswana and McCall Smith writes knowingly of the urban and rural lands and their people in southern Africa. He earned a PhD in law at the University of Edinburgh.  He returned to southern Africa in 1981 to help co-found the law school and teach law at the University of Botswana. While there, he co-wrote The Criminal Law of Botswana with Kwame Frimpong.

Mma Precious Ramotswe is one of my favorite characters in detective fiction.  Her understated means of detection by learning as much about those involved are more important to her than finding who committed the crime. Mma Grace Makuts, her sole employee, who began work as secretary, first as secretary, then as assistant detective, and then as an associate detective, and finally as a partner in business. They and others in their circle of friends and acquaintances always do solve the mysteries. Obed Ramotswe, Precious's father, figures highly in the stories.  He lived in the rural area of Botswana, and was a keen cattleman with an eye for the best. It was Precious's inheritance, her father's cattle, that allowed her to move to the capital Gabarone, purchase a home and set up her agency.  If you haven't read the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, I suggest you get started tout suite.  There are now 19 books, but each is captivating and you will want to read them all.

If you are already a fan of McCall Smith, he has more series to his name - the 44 Scotland Street series, The Sunday Philosophy Club series, the Corduroy Mansions series, the  Professor Dr von Igelfeld Entertainments series, a good number of children's titles, including several series and many stand alone novels for both children, teens and adults.  He has also authored a number of academic and professional texts on law and medicine.  The library has 181 titles by McCall Smith in print or on compact disc and 60 titles to listen to or to read online.

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