Have just discovered The No1 Ladies Detective Agency books!!

[LottieJenkins]

I never saw it on tv. AMS was interviewed on Radio 2 on Sunday, i went into our local second hand bookshop and got the first three volumes brand new for £1 each! I am halfway though the first one and loving it!

I really liked the first few but then read some of his other books and was immediately put off reading anything else ever again.

Loved the Ladies Detective Agency series, there is even an associated cookbook!

then read some of his other books and was immediately put off reading anything else ever again really AKMD, you'll never read anything?

I love these books, easy to read and very enjoyable. If I haven't read anything for a while they are a good way to slip back into reading.

I like the No 1 LDA series but I'm not so keen on the ones set in Edinburgh - the characters in them all seem a bit weird to me!

"I like the No 1 LDA series but I'm not so keen on the ones set in Edinburgh - the characters in them all seem a bit weird to me!"

Same here. I got into the books after watching it on TV. I just love the no 1 LDA books.

Never read any of the Scotland Street ones but have recently started reading Corduroy Mansions which I enjoyed, perhaps not quite so much as No1 LDA though.

Lovely, aren't they? So endearing - and makes me long to visit Botswana.

I've tried to get into some of his other books, but just couldn't. Not sure why.

Have you ever read Anne Tyler? Obviously very different, but they have the same gentle, meandering tone and I can't recommend them highly enough.

I read the first six or so then had enough.

Aw, I loved them for ages too, but I haven't read the more recent ones.

I agree with other posters about the 44 Scotland Street series - some of the characters are difficult to believe, although the books do contain some very funny observations about life in Edinburgh.

I highly recommend The Two and a Half Pillars of Wisdom which AMS also wrote. It's a three part series (which might actually have turned into a four part series IIRC). The books are also available separately as Portuguese Irregular Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, and The Villa of Reduced Circumstances. I loved the first two. I think there's a fourth one now.

AMS plays the bassoon in The Really Terrible Orchestra. I've heard them, they're quite good . He's also a top legal boffin, and has written several very successful academic books. I'd go for a cup of tea with him .