The man behind 'Ladies' Detective'
From CNN Correspondent Robyn Curnow
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- A professor of medical law at Edinburgh University has penned a global literary phenomenon -- charming African stories about the "No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency."
Scotsman Alexander McCall Smith has hit best-seller lists around the world by creating Mma Ramotswe, Botswana's first lady detective.
McCall Smith is sitting in his Edinburgh kitchen reading from his latest novel, called the "Full Cupboard of Life." It is the fifth in McCall Smith's widely acclaimed "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series.
One hand clutching a cup of coffee, McCall Smith reads his own words: "A miniaturized Botswana, cattle like ants and roads of twisting strips of brown thread. Oh, it was so beautiful to look down on the land."
This is standard fare for McCall Smith, who waxes lyrical about the beauty of Botswana and the goodness of its people. Readers love the leisurely stories about the simple life in Africa.
McCall Smith acknowledges that although he writes so-called "crime novels" there is very little crime or violence in the stories.
"There's nothing very serious or too unhappy that takes place in the books. The books are about the mundane day-to-day affairs of people," he says.
In fact, he concedes, there is a "great deal of drinking of tea and eating of cake. That is very important."
McCall Smith felt it was very important that he depicted an Africa that was not just about war, famine or HIV/AIDS.
"People sometimes say to me that these books show a rosy view of Africa, and in a sense that is true because they do talk about the positive. But the problem is nobody really has been talking about the positive features of life in Africa," he says.
Adoring readers relish this other side of the continent.
His morality tales about the adventures of a warm, dignified lady detective called Mma Ramotswe have made him the darling of book clubs.
Mma Ramotswe runs Botswana's only detective agency, helped by a mixture of feminine sass, a steadfast sense of morality and an odd assortment of charming characters.
Her sidekicks include her fiancé J.L.B Matekoni, owner of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, and her secretary Mma Makutsi, who is soon promoted to the dizzy heights of assistant detective.
McCall Smith is clearly as enamored with his characters as readers are. He delights in telling a ladies' luncheon held in his honor at Edinburgh's Royal College of Surgeon's that: "Something terribly nice is going to happen to Mma Makutsi, Mma Ramotswe's assistant.
"Mma Makutsi is great lady. A wonderful woman. She got 97 percent at the Botswana Secretarial College. A fact I never tire of telling readers!"
Readers can expect much more from McCall Smith. His academic work at Edinburgh University is now taking a back seat to his literary commitments. Eight "Detective" novels are planned and a TV series is in the works.
But he is slightly concerned about who will be cast as his female Sherlock Holmes.
Adjusting his bow tie, McCall Smith says: "I hope they get somebody who is like the character in the book.
"A traditionally built lady, which means a substantially built lady, who is capable of getting across what it is to be a substantially built lady from Botswana."
