Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith: Biography

Alexander McCall Smith (Rodney Alexander Alasdair McCall Smith ) was born on August 24th, 1948 and is currently 75 years old. Alexander McCall Smith was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. McCall Smith attended University of Edinburgh where he received a Bachelor of Law and Ph.D.

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the Alexander McCall Smith Children's Books series which currently consists of 27 novels. The Alexander McCall Smith Children's Books series started in 1980 with the novel White Hippo. The most recently released novel in the Alexander McCall Smith Children's Books series was Noah Wild and the Floating Zoo which was released in 2020. There are no upcoming novels for the Alexander McCall Smith Children's Books series.

Alexander McCall Smith (Rodney Alexander Alasdair McCall Smith ) has also written the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series which has 25 books including The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and Tears of the Giraffe.

Alexander McCall Smith was inducted into the Nielsen Bestseller Awards' 21st Century Platinum Hall of Fame.

Alexander McCall Smith: Awards & Accolades

Alexander McCall Smith has won multiple awards including: The British Book Awards, UK Author of the Year, in 2004 and the Crime Writer's Association Award, Dagger in the Library Award, in 2004. Alexander McCall Smith was also nominated for the Crime Thriller Awards, ITV3 Writer's Award for Favourite Crime Genre Author, in 2009.

McCall Smith's books have also won multiple awards, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency won the Swedish Crime Writer’s Academy Awards, The Martin Beck Award, in 2004. The Full Cupboard of Life won the Audie Award, Best Female Narrator, in 2005.

Alexander McCall Smith books have also been nominated for multiple awards, Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations was nominated for the Audie Award, Best Short Stories or Collections, in 2005. The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa was nominated for the Audie Award, Best Short Stories or Collections, in 2006. Blue Shoes and Happiness was nominated for Theakston's Old Peculier, Crime Novel of the Year, in 2008. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built was nominated for the Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller, in 2009. The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection was nominated for the Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller, in 2012.

Related Authors

The most common authors followed by users who also follow Alexander McCall Smith are:

1. Louise Penny, author of the Inspector Gamache Series.
2. Michael Connelly, author of the Harry Bosch Series.
3. John Grisham, author of the Jake Brigance Series.
4. Jacqueline Winspear, author of the Maisie Dobbs Series.
5. Richard Osman, author of the Thursday Murder Club Series.

Alexander McCall Smith: F.A.Q

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Austin D.

2 years ago

Alexander writes such refreshing and beautiful tales about the Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency and I have been lucky enough to have read each one of them. And I even loved seeing the series that aired on television, if only for a short time.

You feel such a strong connection to the various characters, most of whom are unbelievably caring and kind. These books are great to pick up and find some old friends when you are feeling down.

Isabel is such a fascinating character since she is pretty conservative, and is an intellectual, and is also kind and trusting of other people.

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Michael K.

2 years ago

Smith fascinates me, not just as an author but as a human being, because I feel like he comes from a bygone era. That isn’t surprising. After all, he was born in 1948. But 1948 is just a number. It doesn’t mean anything until you realize that Smith grew up in Rhodesia, and his father was a public prosecutor in a British Colony.

When I think of his childhood, I always imagine a small, precocious boy running from lions in the distant corners of Africa. It never occurred to me that the Alexander McCall Smith I had read about was the same person responsible for The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.

I thought the author behind the mystery novels simply shared a name with the former medical law professor. Clearly, I was wrong. The man is full of surprises.

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