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 | (1998) |    |
| Tears of the Giraffe | (2000) | |
| Morality for Beautiful Girls | (2001) | |
| The Kalahari Typing School for Men | (2002) | |
| The Full Cupboard of Life | (2003) | |
| In the Company of Cheerful Ladies | (2004) | |
| Blue Shoes and Happiness | (2006) | |
| The Good Husband of Zebra Drive | (2007) | |
| The Miracle at Speedy Motors | (2008) | |
| Tea Time for the Traditionally Built | (2009) | |
| The Double Comfort Safari Club | (2010) | |
| The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party | (2010) | |
| The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection | (2012) | |
| The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon | (2013) | |
| The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café | (2014) | |
| The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine | (2015) | |
| Precious and Grace | (2016) | |
| The House of Unexpected Sisters | (2017) | |
| The Colors of all the Cattle | (2018) | |
| To the Land of Long Lost Friends | (2019) | |
| How to Raise an Elephant | (2020) | |
Publication Order of No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Collections
| The Cleverness of Ladies | (2012) | |
Publication Order of Professor Dr von Igelfeld Books
| Portuguese Irregular Verbs | (2003) | |
| The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs | (2003) | |
| At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances | (2003) | |
| Unusual Uses for Olive Oil | (2011) | |
| Your Inner Hedgehog | (2021) | |
Publication Order of Isabel Dalhousie Books
| The Sunday Philosophy Club | (2004) | |
| Friends, Lovers, Chocolate | (2005) | |
| The Right Attitude to Rain | (2006) | |
| The Careful Use of Compliments | (2007) | |
| The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday | (2008) | |
| The Lost Art of Gratitude | (2009) | |
| The Charming Quirks of Others | (2010) | |
| The Forgotten Affairs of Youth | (2011) | |
| The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds | (2012) | |
| The Novel Habits of Happiness | (2015) | |
| A Distant View of Everything | (2017) | |
| The Quiet Side of Passion | (2018) | |
| The Geometry of Holding Hands | (2020) | |
Publication Order of Isabel Dalhousie Short Stories/Novellas
| The Perils of Morning Coffee | (2011) | |
| At the Reunion Buffet | (2015) | |
| Sweet, Thoughtful Valentine | (2016) | |
Publication Order of 44 Scotland Street Books
| 44 Scotland Street | (2005) | |
| Espresso Tales | (2005) | |
| Love Over Scotland | (2006) | |
| The World According to Bertie | (2007) | |
| The Unbearable Lightness Of Scones | (2008) | |
| The Importance of Being Seven | (2010) | |
| Bertie Plays the Blues | (2011) | |
| Sunshine on Scotland Street | (2012) | |
| Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers | (2013) | |
| The Revolving Door of Life | (2015) | |
| The Bertie Project | (2017) | |
| A Time of Love and Tartan | (2017) | |
| The Peppermint Tea Chronicles | (2019) | |
| A Promise of Ankles | (2020) | |
Publication Order of Myths Books
| Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams | (2006) | |
| The Fire Gospel | (2006) | |
Publication Order of Corduroy Mansions Books
| Corduroy Mansions | (2009) | |
| The Dog Who Came in from the Cold | (2009) | |
| A Conspiracy of Friends | (2010) | |
Publication Order of The School Ship Tobermory Books
| School Ship Tobermory | (2015) | |
| The Sands of Shark Island | (2016) | |
| The Race to Kangaroo Cliff | (2019) | |
Publication Order of Paul Stuart Books
| My Italian Bulldozer | (2017) | |
| The Second-Worst Restaurant in France | (2019) | |
Publication Order of Detective Varg Books
| The Department of Sensitive Crimes | (2019) | |
| The Talented Mr. Varg | (2020) | |
Publication Order of Detective Varg Short Stories/Novellas
| The Strange Case of the Moderate Extremists | (2019) | |
Publication Order of Akimbo Books
| Akimbo and the Lions | (1992) | |
| Akimbo and the Crocodile Man | (1993) | |
| Akimbo and the Elephants | (2005) | |
| Akimbo and the Snakes | (2006) | |
| Akimbo and the Baboons | (2008) | |
Publication Order of Harriet Bean Books
| The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean | (1990) | |
| Harriet Bean and the League of Cheats | (1991) | |
| The Cowgirl Aunt of Harriet Bean | (1993) | |
Publication Order of Max & Maddy Books
| Max & Maddy and the Bursting Balloons Mystery | (1997) | |
| Max & Maddy and the Chocolate Money Mystery | (1999) | |
Publication Order of Precious Ramotswe's Very First Cases Books
| The Great Cake Mystery | (2009) | |
| Precious and the Monkeys | (2010) | |
| Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill | (2012) | |
| Precious and the Mystery of the Missing Lion | (2013) | |
| Precious and the Zebra Necklace | (2015) | |
Publication Order of Young Corgi Books
| Alix and the Tigers | (1988) | |
| Suzy Magician | (1990) | |
| The Tin Dog | (1990) | |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Uncle Gangster | (1989) | |
| La's Orchestra Saves the World | (2008) | |
| The Forever Girl | (2014) | |
| Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party | (2014) | |
| Emma: A Modern Retelling | (2014) | |
| Hari & His Electric Feet | (2017) | |
| Good Pilot, Peter Woodhouse | (2017) | |
| Max Champion and the Great Race Car Robbery | (2018) | |
Publication Order of Children's Books
| White Hippo | (1980) | |
| Film Boy | (1988) | |
| The Joke Machine | (1990) | |
| The girl who changed the weather | (1991) | |
| Marzipan Max | (1991) | |
| Calculator Annie | (1992) | |
| Springy Jane | (1992) | |
| Who Invented Peanut Butter? | (1993) | |
| My Chameleon Uncle | (1993) | |
| The Doughnut Ring | (1994) | |
| The Princess Trick | (1994) | |
| Paddy and the Ratcatcher | (1994) | |
| The Banana Machine | (1994) | |
| Billy Rubbish | (1995) | |
| The Bubblegum Tree | (1996) | |
| The Watermelon Boys | (1996) | |
| The Popcorn Pirates | (1999) | |
| Monkey Boy | (2000) | |
| Teacher Trouble | (2000) | |
| The Spaghetti Tangle | (2005) | |
| The Muscle Machine | (2006) | |
| Boing Boing | (2016) | |
| Freddie Mole | (2018) | |
| The Great Clown Conundrum | (2019) | |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| Children of Wax: African Folk Tales | (1989) | |
| Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations | (1995) | |
| "Trouble at the North Pole" and Other Stories | (1996) | |
| The Perfect Hamburger and Other Delicious Stories | (2001) | |
| The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa | (2004) | |
| The Baboons Who Went This Way and That: Folktales from Africa | (2006) | |
| The Book That Changed My Life | (2006) | |
| Trains and Lovers | (2012) | |
| Chance Developments | (2016) | |
| Pianos and Flowers | (2019) | |
| Marvellous Mix-ups | (2020) | |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| What W. H. Auden Can Do for You | (2013) | |
| A Work of Beauty: Alexander McCall Smith's Edinburgh | (2014) | |
| Who Built Scotland | (2017) | |
Publication Order of Austen Project Books
| Sense & Sensibility | (2013) | |
| Northanger Abbey | (2014) | |
| Emma | (2014) | |
| Eligible | (2016) | |
Publication Order of Anthologies
| One City | (2005) | |
| A New Omnibus of Crime | (2005) | |
| The Best British Mysteries IV | (2007) | |
| Ox-Tales | (2009) | |
| Crimespotting | (2009) | |
| Imagined Lives | (2010) | |
| No Rest for the Dead | (2011) | |
| What You Wish For: A Book for Darfur | (2011) | |
| Better Than Fiction: True Travel Tales From Great Fiction Writers | (2012) | |
| Who Built Scotland | (2017) | |
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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I love Precious Ramotswe and her family and friends. Thank you Alexander McCall Smith for creating this enjoyable world to share with us, your public.
I have just discovered Alexander McCall Smith’s books. Someone left three paperbacks at the women’s locker room at the Y. I have been hooked ever since. I spend much of my free time reading about Precious and her life.
What a great author..so sensitive and insightful into people and the sweet, gentle people of Africa…Botswana to be specific.
I thank him and recommend his books.