I can’t imagine there are many people reading this who aren’t familiar with the name Alexander McCall Smith. The jovial, super brainy professor of medical ethics at Edinburgh University who gave up the day job to become a full-time writer in the late 1990s. The confidence to take this very large step came from the amazing success of ‘The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.’ There have now been 25 novels published in this series, the first in 1998, with several spin-offs on radio and television. Alexander McCall Smith built upon his own personal knowledge of the southern part of Africa, particularly Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and Gaborone in Botswana where he grew up before coming to the UK for university.
‘The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency’ was just so utterly different to anything that was in the bookshops at that time that its popularity is understandable. In the beginning I read them avidly, sequels being produced each year, but I then explored other series that the author was moving into. The first Isabel book appeared in 2004.
Isabel Dalhousie lives in Edinburgh. She is a philosopher in her early forties who lives a comfortable life, financed by a private income. She edits ‘The Review of Applied Ethics’, as editor and then as owner. The stories emanate from the fact that she does interfere in other people’s dilemmas and this gives Alexander McCall Smith the opportunity to explore moral problems of the sort that we all experience everyday but on the whole we don’t recognise them as philosophical conundrums. Is it ever right to lie to someone? What happens if an apology sincerely offered is not accepted? Why we shouldn’t make judgements about the relationships of others.
All these books are character driven rather than relying on a plot to move the narrative forward. I can be happy with that. Nothing awful happens and indeed the author has been known to say that he ‘doesn’t do baddies very well.’ So, dear readers, if you are looking for some interesting but comfortable reading at this time when the world feels shaky and quite scary, maybe these books are for you. I also like the fact that his sympathy and indeed empathy for women shines clearly through his writing and this applies to Mma Ramotswe in Botswana as well as Isabel Dalhousie in Edinburgh.
I have to say I am happier in Edinburgh than Africa (!) but it did suddenly strike me as pleasingly ironic that I have just trodden the grimy passageways and housing estates with John Rebus in Ian Rankin’s books and now I am walking on the other side of the road with Isabel as she shops at the delicatessen, goes to concerts with her bassoon playing boyfriend and explores Scottish colourist paintings in the many small galleries. There are so many parallel worlds. There was one surprising clash though when both authors referred to the real-life criminal case where the murderer had become nicknamed ‘Bible John.’ This remains unsolved. Interestingly, well, it is to me, Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin and indeed Kate Atkinson, all live in the same area of Edinburgh: Merchiston. I wonder if they meet for coffee or a drink?
I found I had the first five Isabel Dalhousie novels on my bookshelves and I have enjoyed re-reading them all. They are still in print but would also be widely available second hand … or pre-loved maybe I should say. There are about 15 Isabel novels now…and still counting. I will acquire a few more at some point. The output of Alexander McCall Smith is truly prodigious; one book a year in most of the several series that he writes. Apparently, he produces at least 2-3,000 words a day even when travelling. When at home he can reach 5,000 words a day. I have also read that he has said that he has so many ideas that he won’t be able to use them all before he dies. Gracious, what an incredibly creative mind.
Happy Reading