Alexander McCall Smith (or Sandy as he is often known) has written and contributed to over a hundred books including fiction, non-fiction and more than thirty children’s books but he is best known for his No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series set in Botswana which has sold over twenty million copies worldwide.
(AKA The Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries)
If you’re looking for something that echoes McCall Smith’s unusual take on detective fiction, there are several series to try, including Shamini Flint’s Inspector Singh mysteries which feature a dishevelled, asthmatic detective with some unconventional methods. Similarly, Colin Cotteril’s Dr Siri series (featuring an investigative coroner in Laos) and Vaseem Khan’s Inspector Chopra mysteries are an intriguing blend of local colour and character-driven investigation. If it’s McCall Smith’s brand of quirky, wry humour that interests you, we suggest trying The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, a novel with a gently humorous philosophy and seemingly endless twists and turns.
For children’s writing about Africa, we recommend Lauren St John’s White Giraffe series (which features an intrepid heroine not unlike the young Precious Ramotswe) for more experienced readers and the classic, Handa’s Surprise, for younger children.
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