Order of Alexander McCall Smith Books
Alexander McCall Smith is a Scottish author (though born in Rhodesia) of crime fiction and children’s books. He is the author of several series, including the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Professor Dr. Von Igelfeld Entertainment, Isabel Dalhousie, 44 Scotland Street and more. Aside from being a novelist, he also writes medical law and bioethics non-fiction books.
Though his non-fiction writings and children’s books date back to 1978, Alexander McCall Smith became a novelist when he published The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency in 1999. Below is a list of all of McCall Smith’s fiction books in order of when they were originally published (which is also their chronological order):
Publication Order of No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Books
| The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency | (1999) |
  
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| Tears of the Giraffe | (2000) |
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| Mortality for Beautiful Girls | (2001) |
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| The Kalahari Typing School for Men | (2002) |
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| The Full Cupboard of Life | (2003) |
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| In the Company of Cheerful Ladies | (2004) |
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| Blue Shoes and Happiness | (2006) |
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| The Good Husband of Zebra Drive | (2007) |
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| The Miracle at Speedy Motors | (2008) |
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| Tea Time for the Traditionally Built | (2009) |
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| The Double Comfort Safari Club | (2010) |
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| The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party | (2011) |
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| The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection | (2012) |
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| The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon | (2013) |
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| Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe | (2014) |
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| The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine | (2015) |
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| Precious and Grace | (2016) |
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| The House of Unexpected Sisters | (2017) |
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| The Colors of All The Cattle | (2018) |
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Publication Order of No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Collections
| The Cleverness of Ladies | (2012) |
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Publication Order of Professor Dr. Von Igelfeld Entertainment Books
| Portuguese Irregular Verbs | (2003) |
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| The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs | (2003) |
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| At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances | (2003) |
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| Unusual Uses for Olive Oil | (2011) |
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Publication Order of Isabel Dalhousie Books
| The Sunday Philosophy Club | (2004) |
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| Friends, Lovers, Chocolate | (2005) |
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| The Right Attitude to Rain | (2006) |
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| The Careful Use of Compliments | (2007) |
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| The Comfort of Saturdays | (2008) |
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| The Lost Art of Gratitude | (2009) |
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| The Charming Quirks of Others | (2010) |
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| The Forgotten Affairs of Youth | (2011) |
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| The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds | (2012) |
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| The Novel Habits of Happiness | (2015) |
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| A Distant View of Everything | (2017) |
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| The Quiet Side of Passion | (2018) |
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Publication Order of Isabel Dalhousie Short Stories
| The Perils of Morning Coffee | (2011) |
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| At the Reunion Buffet | (2015) |
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| Sweet, Thoughtful Valentine | (2016) |
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Publication Order of 44 Scotland Street Books
| 44 Scotland Street | (2005) |
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| Espresso Tales | (2005) |
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| Love Over Scotland | (2006) |
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| The World According to Bertie | (2007) |
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| The Unbearable Lightness of Scones | (2008) |
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| The Importance of Being Seven | (2010) |
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| Bertie Plays the Blues | (2011) |
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| Sunshine on Scotland Street | (2012) |
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| Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers | (2012) |
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| The Revolving Door of Life | (2015) |
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| The Bertie Project | (2016) |
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| A Time of Love and Tartan | (2017) |
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Publication Order of Myths Books
| Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams | (2006) |
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Publication Order of Corduroy Mansions Books
| Cordurory Mansions | (2009) |
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| The Dog Who Came in From the Cold | (2009) |
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| A Conspiracy of Friends | (2011) |
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Publication Order of School Ship Tobermory Books
| School Ship Tobermory | (2015) |
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| The Sands of Shark Island | (2016) |
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| The Race to Kangaroo Cliff | (2019) |
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Publication Order of Paul Stuart Books
| My Italian Bulldozer | (2016) |
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| The Second Worst Restaurant in France | (2019) |
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Publication Order of Detective Varg Books
| The Department of Sensitive Crimes | (2019) |
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Publication Order of Detective Varg Short Stories/Novellas
| The Strange Case of the Moderate Extremists | (2019) |
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Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| La's Orchestra Saves the World | (2008) |
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| No Rest for the Dead | (2011) |
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| The Forever Girl | (2014) |
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| Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party | (2014) |
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| Hari and His Electric Feet | (2017) |
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| The Good Pilot, Peter Woodhouse | (2017) |
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Publication Order of Akimbo Children’s Books
| Akimbo and the Lions | (1992) |
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| Akimbo and the Crocodile Man | (1993) |
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| Akimbo and the Elephants | (2005) |
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| Akimbo and the Snakes | (2006) |
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| Akimbo and the Baboons | (2008) |
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Publication Order of Harriet Bean Children’s Books
| The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean | (1990) |
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| Harriet Bean and the League of Cheats | (1991) |
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| The Cowgirl Aunt of Harriet Bean | (2006) |
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Publication Order of Max & Maddy Children’s Books
| Bursting Balloons Mystery | (1997) |
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| Chocolate Money Mystery | (1999) |
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Publication Order of Precious Ramotswe Children’s Books
| Precious and the Monkeys | (2010) |
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| Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill | (2012) |
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| The Great Cake Mystery | (2012) |
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| Precious and the Mystery of the Missing Lion | (2013) |
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| Precious and the Zebra Necklace | (2015) |
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Chronological Order of Precious Ramotswe Children’s Books
The Great Cake Mystery tells the story of Precious Ramotswe’s first case.
Publication Order of Standalone Children’s Books
| The White Hippo | (1980) |
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| The Perfect Hamburger | (1984) |
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| Alix and the Tigers | (1988) |
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| The Tin Dog | (1990) |
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| Calculator Annie | (1991) |
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| The Popcorn Pirates | (1991) |
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| The Doughnut Ring | (1992) |
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| Paddy and the Ratcatcher | (1994) |
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| The Muscle Machine | (1995) |
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| The Bubblegum Tree | (1996) |
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| Teacher Trouble | (2000) |
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Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations | (1995) |
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| Trouble at the North Pole and Other Stories | (1996) |
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| The Girl Who Married a Lion and Other Tales from Africa | (2004) |
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| One City | (2006) |
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| Ox-Tales: Air | (2009) |
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| The Book That Changed My Life | (2010) |
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| What You Wish For: A Book for Darfur | (2011) |
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| Imagined Lives: Portraits of Unknown People | (2011) |
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| Trains and Lovers | (2012) |
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Publication Order of Anthologies
| Children of Wax: African Folk Tales | (1989) |
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Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| Better Than Fiction: True Travel Tales From Great Fiction Writers | (2012) |
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| What W.H. Auden Can Do For You | (2013) |
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| Who Built Scotland | (2017) |
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Notes: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies is also known as The Night-Time Dancer. The Great Cake Mystery was also published as Precious and the Puggies (Scots language version) and Precious and the Monkeys in English. The Comfort of Saturdays is the UK title of The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday. Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill was published in Scots as Precious and the Mischief at Meerkat Brae.
No Rest for the Dead is a collaborative novel that contains contributions from many different authors. Trouble At the North Pole and Other Stories also contains stories by Lisa Bruce, Berlie Doherty and Effin Older. One City is a collaboration with Ian Rankin and Irvine Welsh.The Books That Changed My Life, Ox-Tales: Air, What You Wish For: A Book for Darfur and Imagined Lives: Portraits of Unknown People each contain contributions from many other authors. The non-fiction book Better Than Fiction is co-authored with Joyce Carol Oates and D.B.C. Pierre.
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