Winter is well and truly here with the arrival of December, and we have a particularly fitting poem to share this month. ‘Winter’ from Alexander McCall Smith’s debut poetry collection In A Time of Distance muses on the opportunities this season provides to re-evaluate the important things in life.   Winter   That there should […]

With The 44 Scotland Street Cookbook, readers can immerse themselves in the world of Edinburgh’s New Town and recreate some of their favourite characters’ signature dishes: enjoy Bertie’s much-loved Panforte di Siena, Angus Lordie’s famous cheese scones or host your own Scotland Street supper. This month you can savour the delicious Venison Cassoulet that the characters of […]

A poem written by Alexander to mark the late summer sunshine on the west coast of Scotland. Late summer Summer seemed to pass us by this year in Scotland, Until now, in September, unexpected In its generous showing of light and warmth, It invites us into its curtilage; Here we live beside a mountain, And […]

The following is an extract from Alexander’s latest novel in the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, The Great Hippopotamus Hotel. Mma Ramotswe had always understood that people who are one thing may at the same time be another. This insight, although not entirely original, is undoubtedly quite true. Embodying more than one identity is part of […]

Alexander has written a new poem about one of his favourite places to walk in Edinburgh, Craiglockhart Hill. The Friends of East Craiglockhart Hill have displayed the poem on their ‘Poets Post’ inside the Craiglockhart Nature Reserve. Craiglockhart Hill in 2024 Summer again on Craiglockhart Hill: The tumbling topography is clothed once more In the […]

‘Modesty,’ said Isabel Dalhousie, as she spread thick-cut Dundee marmalade over her slice of toast, ‘is not quite the same thing as humility.’ This was not the sort of remark one would hear at every kitchen table, but Isabel was, after all, a philosopher, and if there are any breakfast tables at which such statements […]

The Private Life of Spies is a collection of stories from the world of espionage by Alexander McCall Smith, available in paperback this month. This extract is taken from the story ‘Donald and Yevgeni’. The man with the scholarly air opened the photograph album. He handled it gently, in the way of a porter in […]

Below is a message from Alexander about a poem he wrote last month: ‘This is a poem I started yesterday and finished this morning. It is about friendship and loss. It refers to the work of Chinese poets of the sort I have always liked – Tang poets such as Po.Chu-i and Li Po (translated […]

Alexander wrote this poem ‘Only One Home’ for the World Wildlife Fund Scotland to mark Earth Hour, which will take place this year on 23rd March. ‘Only One Home’ It’s always useful, we’re told, To ensure a spare is ready to hand: About the house an extra pair Of spectacles may come in useful, A […]

This poem, perfect for the month of love, is the seventh sonnet in Alexander’s collection In A Time of Distance. In his introduction, Alexander writes ‘The conclusion in the final two lines of the following poem is that we will never get another to love us by revealing to the one we love that we are […]

In the following extract from The Perfect Passion Company, Katie has agreed to take over her cousin’s matchmaking bureau in Edinburgh while Ness goes travelling. Katie made her way along the back lane with its neat progression of mews houses. It was not a street that she was familiar with, being tucked away at the […]

Dear Readers, I think we might all be forgiven for thinking that the world at the moment is a somewhat difficult place. And there are many, I suspect, who would feel that is putting it mildly! This year has not been the most peaceful year for many, but – and this is an important but […]