Alexander McCall Smith in conversation, a snippet

Alexander McCall Smith, often referred to as Sandy, is one of the world’s most-loved authors. For many years he was a professor of Medical Law and worked in universities in the UK and abroad before turning his hand to writing fiction. Since then he has written more than 100 books including specialist academic titles, short story collections, and a number of immensely popular children’s books. His novels have sold tens of millions of copies and been translated into 46 languages. Some of his best-known are, of course, his The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, but also the popular 44 Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in the Scotsman newspaper and now the longest-running serial novel in the world. He is also the author of the Corduroy Mansions series, which started life as an engaging cross-media serial written for the Telegraph online. More recently he launched the Ulf Varg series of Scandi blanc novels set in Sweden.