Alexander McCall Smith, página 2 de 11

Long-suffering child genius Bertie Pollock has much to contend with in the latest instalment of life at 44 Scotland Street, not least the birth of his brother Ulysses. Bertie had hoped that caring for a new baby would command all of his mother?s attention, but he quickly sees that his dream of being left to his own devices is not destined to come true. Overprotective Irene bans Bertie from the playground, but then forgets little Ulysses outside the delicatessen, and suffers a deeply embarrassing moment when she unwittingly retrieves the wrong baby. Meanwhile, for the other residents of Scotland Street, all?s fair in love and friendship. Big Lou finds a new man, Matthew and Pat edge their relationship towards something more permanent - although this development is not without complications, when a glimpse of someone who just might be her handsome, caddish ex-flatmate Bruce sets Pat?s pulse racing - and Domenica?s friendship with Antonia is tested to the limit when an assortment of her belongings mysteriously appear in Antonia's new flat.

Includes brilliant baboon facts! Akimbo loves his life in Africa and the animals that live there. In this newest Akimbo story, a lady comes to study the baboons in the game reserve where Akimbo''s father is the head ranger. Akimbo is keen to help and find out all he can about baboons - and in so doing comes closer to a much more dangerous animal

To the casual observer, the great enlightened city of Edinburgh, home of no-nonsense philosophers and cream teas, might appear immune to the rollercoaster of strong emotions. But at 44 Scotland Street, as Matthew and Elspeth embark on the risky enterprise of married love, the raffish portrait painter Angus Lordie has a premonition of disaster. And soon enough Irene Pollock is shocked to learn that her small son Bertie harbours a highly unsuitable ambition; the gloriously vain Bruce discovers a wrinkle and confronts rejection; and Angus finds himself facing the grave consequences of unbridled bliss, not to mention a large Glaswegian gangster bearing gifts ...

The 10th installment of the bestselling The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Novel series finds Precious Ramotswe in personal need of her own formidable detection talents. Alexander Mc Call Smith has contributed to Tea Time for the Traditionally Built: A No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Novel as an author. Alexander McCall Smith is best known for The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, beloved New York Times and international best sellers. A practicing professor of medical law and the author of over fifty books, ranging from children's fiction to folktales to The Criminal Law of Botswana, he lives in Edinburgh.

This novel has the usual combination of light-hearted gentleness and forensic acuity, reminding the reader never to underestimate McCall Smith's fundamental seriousness of purpose * Sydney Morning Herald * This novel has the usual combination of light-hearted gentleness and forensic acuity, reminding the reader never to underestimate McCall Smith's fundamental seriousness of purpose * Sydney Morning Herald * While My Italian Bulldozer certainly advocates a kind, considerate, some might even say old-fashioned approach to resolving affairs of the heart, it also succeeds in subtly, almost imperceptibly ripping up the traditional rules of the romantic comedy and creating something refreshingly original * Scotsman * While My Italian Bulldozer certainly advocates a kind, considerate, some might even say old-fashioned approach to resolving affairs of the heart, it also succeeds in subtly, almost imperceptibly ripping up the traditional rules of the romantic comedy and creating something refreshingly original * Scotsman *

Bertie's respite from his overbearing mother, Irene, is over. She has returned from the middle-east, only to discover that her son has been exposed to the worst evils of cartoons, movies and Irn Bru, and her wrath falls upon her unfortunate husband, Stuart. Meanwhile, Bruce has fallen in love with someone other than himself; Big Lou wants to adopt her beloved Finlay; Matthew and Elspeth host the Duke of Johannesburg for supper and Bertie decides he wants to move out of Scotland Street altogether and live with his grandmother, Nicola.

If only Pat Macgregor had an inkling of the embarrassment romantic, professional, even aesthetic that flowed from accepting narcissistic ex-boyfriend Bruce Anderson''s invitation for coffee, she would never have said yes. And if only Matthew, her boss at the art gallery, hadn''t wandered into his local bookshop and picked up a particular book at a particular time, he would never have knocked over his former English teacher or attracted the attentions of the police.Whether caused by small things such as a cup of coffee and a book, or major events such as Stuart''s application for promotion and his wife Irene''s decision to go off and study for a PhD in Aberdeen, change is coming to serial fiction''s favourite street. But for three seven-year-old boys Bertie Pollock, Ranald Braveheart Macpherson, and Big Lou''s foster son Finlay - it also means a getting a glimpse of perfect happiness.

Precious and Grace is a story about life at Botswana''s leading No. 1 Ladies'' detective agency.One bright morning, Precious Ramotswe - head of Botswana''s No. 1 Ladies'' Detective Agency - receives a visitor: a woman from Australia. This woman asks Precious to take on a case: to find the nursemaid who raised her during her childhood in Botswana. The woman wants to thank her for being such an important part of her life. Precious has a history of successfully solving cases, but this one proves difficult and throws up a number of surprises and challenges.Back in her office, next door to the Speedy Motors Garage on Twokleng Road, Precious also has a team to manage: Mr Polopetsi, a part-time science teacher and new assistant at the agency; she mentors Charlie, a former apprentice and young man too handsome and charming for his own good - a man who has gotten himself in deep water; and then there is Precious''s tumultuous but heart-warming friendship with her co-director, the fiery Grace Makutsi.Precious and Grace is a story about being a detective, the complexities of human nature, as well as lessons about gratitude and obligation.

Isabel Dalhousie is one of Edinburgh''s most generous (but discreet) philanthropists - but should she be more charitable? She wonders, sometimes, if she is too judgmental about her niece''s amorous exploits, too sharp about her housekeeper''s spiritual beliefs, too ready to bristle in battle against her enemies. As the editor of the Review of Applied Ethics, she doesn''t, of course, allow herself actual enemies, but she does feel enmity - especially towards two academics who have just arrived in the city. Isabel feels they''re a highly destabilizing influence; little tremors in the volcanic rock upon which an Enlightened Edinburgh perches. Equally troubling is the situation of the little boy who is convinced he had a previous life. When Isabel is called upon to help, she finds herself questioning her views on reincarnation. And the nature of grief. And - crucially - the positioning of lighthouses. The only questions Isabel doesn''t have to address concern her personal life. With her young son and devoted husband her home life is blissfully content. Which is the best possible launching pad for the next issue of the Review - the Happiness issue. As Isabel is beginning to appreciate, happiness, for most people, is not quite what it seems ...

The fourth novel in the hugely popular Sunday Philosophy Club series

Ben and Fee MacTavish and the rest of the School Ship Tobermory crew head down under to take part in a tall ships race, but after a good start the Tobermory runs aground after it drops out to rescue a local boy, Kimba, stranded on the rocks. When the ships dog Henry disappears, Kimba helps Ben, Fee and their friends find him. But as the trail leads them deeper into the Outback, they begin to realize that a missing dog is the least of their problems. Who are the mysterious couple claiming to be flying doctors, and why are they interested in an abandoned mine?

Mma Ramostwe's friend will persuade her to stand for election to the City Council. 'We need women like her in politics,' Mma Potokwani says, 'instead of having the same old men every time . . .' To be elected, Mma Ramotswe must have a platform and some policies. She will have to canvas opinion. She will have to get Mma Makutsi's views. Her slogan is 'I can't promise anything - but I shall do my best'. Her intention is to halt the construction of the Big Fun Hotel, a dubious, flashy hotel near a graveyard - an act that many consider to be disrespectful. Mma Ramotswe will take the campaign as far as she can, but lurking around the corner, as ever, is the inextinguishable Violet Sephotho.

Isabel Dalhousie is a new mother and a connoisseur of philosophy; she''d rather not be a sleuth But when a chance conversation at a dinner party draws Isabel into the case of a doctor whose career has been ruined, she cannot ignore what may be a miscarriage of justice Because for Isabel ethics are not theoretical at all, but an everyday matter of life and death...Isabel Dalhousie es una nueva madre y buena aficionada a la filosofia: preferiria no ser detective Pero cuando una conversacion escuchada al azar durante una cena lleva a Isabel a encargarse del caso de un medico cuya carrera ha sido arruinada, ella no puede ignorar lo que podria ser un error de la justicia Pues para Isabel la etica no tiene nada de teorico, sino que es un elemento mas de la vida y de la muerte que ella se encuentra cada dia...

En su segunda aventura, la detective Precious Ramotswe deberá poner a prueba toda su intuición y su sensibilidad para resolver su caso más complicado: la desaparición de un americano en los límites del Kalahari Pero, ademas, Precious debe atender a las preocupaciones, mas cercanas, de su propio hogar: la promocion de su secretaria Mma Makutsi a la mareante posicion de detective auxiliar, su inminente boda con el maravilloso J.L.B. Matekoni, el problema causado por la falta de escrupulos de su criada y la llegada inesperada no de una sino de dos adiciones a la familia MatekoniUna trama original para una novela diferente, que nos muestra un continente africano alejado de los cliches.

In the fabulous new installment in the best-selling adventures of Isabel Dalhousie, Isabel is asked to help a doctor who has been disgraced by allegations of scientific fraud concerning a newly marketed drug. Our ever-curious moral philosopher finds her interest piqued. Would a doctor with a stellar reputation make such a simple but grave mistake? If not, what explains the tragic accident that resulted in the death of a patient? Clearly, an investigation is in order, especially since a man''s reputation is in jeopardy. Could he be the victim of someone else''s mistake? Or perhaps he has been willfully deceived by a pharmaceutical company with a great deal to gain.