Hilary Neville

The story revolves around the comings and goings at No. 44 Scotland Street, a fictitious building in a real street in Edinburgh. Immediately recognisable are the Edinburgh chartered surveyor, stalwart of the Conservative Association, who dreams of membership of Scotland's most exclusive golf club. We have the pushy Stockbridge mother, and her prodigiously talented five-year-old son, who is making good progress with the saxophone and with his Italian. Then there is Domenica Macdonald who is that type of Edinburgh lady who sees herself as a citizen of a broader intellectual world.

In McCall Smith's hands such characters retain charm and novelty, simultaneously arousing both mirth and empathy. 44 Scotland Street is vintage McCall Smith, tackling issues of trust and honesty, snobbery and hypocrisy, love and loss, but all with great lightness of touch. Clever, elegant and funny, this is a novel that provides huge entertainment but which is underpinned by the moral dilemmas of everyday life and the characters' struggles to resolve them.  Book 1 of series.

Kate was one of the young overseas volunteers who helped to rescue the treasures of Florence after a terrible flood in 1966. When her friend Francesca died she left Italy vowing never to return. Thirty years later someone sends her a priceless painting, but why? Her search for answers puts her life in danger.

More cases for Mma Ramotswe and her assistant, Mma Makutsi. Plus there is trouble when Mma Makutsi's greedy uncles demand an extra-large bride price from her fiance. Book 7 of series.

Young Libby Pringle has inherited her parents love of the Scottish glens and through it strikes up a special friendship with Billy Lennox, the Lairds illegitimate grandson. When tragedy strikes, Billy blames himself, and moves to Yorkshire to start a new life, but can he stay away from the glens and from the friends of his childhood . . .

When Rose McQuinn discovers the body of a woman in the ruins of St Anthony's Chapel, she is astonished that on returning to the scene, there is no evidence of either the victim or the local constable who had taken down Rose's story. Convinced of what she saw Rose pursues discreet investigations that soon turn into a more dangerous pursuit.

The autumn of 1897 began well, but Rose McQuinn's stubborn refusal to give up her job as Lady Detective cost her the man she loved. Then when Rose is called upon to discover the identity of a blackmailer and thief, her search for the truth plunges her into dangerous waters.

After her brother's death, Megan Oliphant continued writing to his best friend, Steven Caraford. Now the war is over, Steven has longed for the day when he can return to Scotland and continue farming with his family, but then a crisis almost tears his world apart.

More challenges for the residents of 44 Scotland street.  Book 2 of series.

Mma Ramotswe is engaged to Mr JLB Matekoni and wonders when a day for the wedding will be named. But she is anxious to avoid putting too much pressure on her fiancé, for he has weighty matters to address. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe is approached by a wealthy lady and asked to check up on several suitors. Are these men just interested in her money? Book 5 of series.

In 1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie evaded capture by the English redcoats because a young woman called Flora Macdonald guided him across Skye to where he was able to board a French ship and escape. They never met again but the twelve days they spent together determined the rest of the course of their lives.

Now married to Mr JLB Matekoni, Mma Ramotswe finds that the work of her Detective Agency still keeps her very busy. She also has to intervene in a serious disagreement between Mma Makutsi and one of the garage mechanics. Book 6 of series.

Precious Ramotswe faces competition from the new 'Satisfaction Guarantee Detective Agency' set up by Cephas Buthelezi. Meanwhile Mma Makutsi sets up a typing school for men and finds romance. Book 4 of series.

The complicated lives of the denizens of 44 Scotland Street are becoming no simpler. Domenica Macdonald has left for the Malacca Straits to conduct a perilous anthropological study of pirate households. Meanwhile, Angus Lordie's dog, Cyril, has been stolen, and is facing an uncertain future wandering the streets.  Book 3 of series.

Mma Ramotswe and her assistant, Mma Makutsi, are asked to investigate the contestants at a local beauty pageant. Meanwhile Mr JLB Matekoni seems to be losing interest in his business and Mma tries to find the reason.  Book 3 of series.

Rose McQuinn is visiting her childhood home on Orkney when an archaeological team stumbles across a body, which is identified as the corpse of a local woman, brutally murdered. Realising that she probably knows the identity of the killer, Rose is all too aware that she could destroy the happiness of those closest to her.

When the circus arrives in Edinburgh, Rose McQuinn is delighted. However, the festivities are overshadowed by the murder of a clerk during a bank robbery and within hours of each other, the identical suicides of two young women. Are these deaths as straightforward as the police claim or could they all be linked to one killer?

When crofter's daughter Shona MacInnes qualifies as a vet, she meets prejudice not only from her father and brother, but also from handsome Ross MacMaster, an islander who is to become a vet himself. Armed with only the support of her mother, Shona is determined to succeed and prove the men wrong.

Alice Lightfoot was too young to be a wife, and is now to young to be a widow and a grandmother. Now, two years after her husband's death, she is at a turning point and has to make far-reaching choices and face the seriously unexpected.

A night of passion in a student house. Twenty years later Rosy and her partner, Tom, visit Paris after the death of their child. In a café Rosy briefly meets her ex-lover who then disappears. Has she just imagined the meeting!

Amateur sleuth Isabel Dalhousie is a philosopher who uses her training to solve unusual mysteries. She also hosts The Sunday Philosophy Club at her house in Edinburgh. Behind the city's Georgian facades its moral compasses are spinning with greed, dishonesty and murderous intent. Instinct tells Isabel that the young man who tumbled to his death in front of her eyes at a concert in the Usher Hall didn't fall. He was pushed.  Book 1 of series.

As a newly engaged person, Precious Ramotswe continues the work of her detective agency whilst trying to decide with Mr JLB Matekoni about their future life together. But why is Mr JLB Matekoni's maid trying to frame Mma Ramotswe?  Book 2 of series.

Following the death of her brother Victoria Pringle has lost touch with his fiancée so it is a surprise to learn that she has a nephew, Peter. In spite of his upbringing he has inherited his ancestor’s love of the land but he faces fierce opposition if he follows his dream.