“. . . there was something that Isabel had said that always stuck in his mind. Remember what you have and the other person doesn't. It was simple--almost too simple--advice and yet, like all such home advice, it expressed a profound truth.”

Rhodesian, Zimbabwean, and Scottish legal scholar and novelist

Sir Alexander McCall Smith is a Rhodesian, Zimbabwean, and Scottish legal scholar and writer of fiction. Born and raised in Southern Rhodesia, he taught medical law at the University of Edinburgh and built a career in law and bioethics before becoming widely known as a novelist. He became an expert in medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees in those fields. He is best known as the creator of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, and his fiction has sold widely in English and been translated into many languages.