Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world's most prolific and most popular authors. For many years he was a professor of Medical Law, then, after the publication of his highly successful No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, which has sold over twenty-five million copies, he devoted his time to the writing of fiction and has seen his various series of books translated into over forty-six languages and become bestsellers throughout the world. These include the 44 Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in the Scotsman, the Isabel Dalhousie novels, the Von Igelfeld series and the Corduroy Mansions novels.
'[This book gives] that feeling of pure unadulterated pleasure that a piece of my favourite chocolate gives me when it starts melting in my mouth' - Breakaway Reviewers 'These stories are full of insight and empathy...the first two, Sister Flora's First Day of Freedom and Angels in Italy are works of depth and beauty that would not be shamed in the company of the world's great short stories' - Kerryn Goldsworthy, Fairfax Papers 'The book is vintage McCall Smith and if anyone is looking for an early Christmas gift, they should look no further. A reader may wonder whether if there were no Alexander McCall Smith, he would have to be invented' - Washington Times