Alexander McCall Smith is Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He is also the author of over fifty books. These range from adult fiction to specialist titles, such as Forensic Aspects of Sleep, to a wide selection of children's books. In 1999 The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency was published. This book quickly became a bestseller and was voted one of the 'International Books of the Year and the Millennium' by the Times Literary Supplement. In America the success of the series was instant with sales exceeding two million in the USA alone. He is also the winner of three Author of the Year awards in 2004 (British Book Awards, Booksellers' Association and Waterstone's). Bloomsbury have re-issued fourteen of Alexander McCall Smith' s backlist titles for the 7-9 age-range with a cohesive series look. The Akimbo books are beautifully illustrated by Peter Bailey, who has worked with many fine authors over the years, including Philip Pullman, Michael Morpurgo and Jamila Gavin.