Corduroy Mansions is the nickname given to a building in London's vibrant Pimlico neighborhood, home to a captivating collection of quirky characters. The author traces their amusing foibles and interactions through the ins and outs of neighborliness in all its unexpected variations.

"Angus Lordie is approached in the park by a shadowy, Deep Throat like figure with government secrets to share, who mistakes him for a journalist. Now Angus is privy to some controversial plans of the Scottish Parliament -- but just what is he meant to do about it? Elsewhere, Big Lou's husband Bob hires a personal trainer who changes his entire outlook on life, much to Lou's dismay. At the schoolhouse, young Bertie Pollock's class has a new ringleader,...

"From the beloved author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series comes a delightful compendium of very short fiction and comics that celebrate the joy and absurdity of the human experience. It is often said that the best things in life come in small packages--anyone in search of proof need look no further than the stories in this collection: brief, utterly engaging tales that offer lasting surprise and delight. From the original Greek financial...

Things are looking up for seven-year-old Bertie Pollock. The arrival of his spirited grandmother and the absence of his meddlesome mother-who is currently running a book club in a Bedouin harem (don't ask)-bring unforeseen blessings: no psychotherapy, no Italian lessons, and no yoga classes. Meanwhile, surprises await Scotland Street's grown-ups. Matthew makes a discovery that could be a major windfall for his family, but also presents a worrisome...

The sequel to 44 Scotland Street continues to follow the residents of the converted Edinburgh townhouse, as young Bertie prepares for kindergarten, former surveyor Bruce contemplates a new career, and Pat embarks on a new life at the university.

Before becoming the first female private investigator in Botswana, eight-year-old Precious Ramotswe tracks down a thief who has been stealing her classmates' snacks.

Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld despairs over an academic rival's undeserved acclaim and stumbles into a haphazard romance with a charming widow before a mountaineering accident catapults him into unwanted fame.

Pat, 21, is on her second "gap year" (her first yearlong break from her studies was such a flop she refuses to discuss it), employed at a minor art gallery and newly settled at the eponymous address, where she admires vain flatmate Bruce and befriends neighbor Domenica. A low-level mystery develops about a possibly valuable painting that Pat discovers, proceeds to lose and then finds in the unlikely possession of Ian Rankin, whose bestselling mysteries...

Professor Dr. von Igelfeld gets caught up in a nasty case of academic intrigue while on sabbatical at Cambridge. When he returns to Regensburg he is confronted with the thrilling news that someone from a foreign embassy has actually checked his masterwork, "Portuguese Irregular Verbs", out of the Institute's Library. As a result, he gets caught up in intrigue of a different sort on a visit to Bogota, Columbia.

"Newlywed painter and sometime somnambulist Angus Lordie might be sleepwalking his way into trouble with Animal Welfare when he lets his dog Cyril drink a bit too much lager at the local bar. The longsuffering Bertie, on the cusp of his seventh birthday party, has taken to dreaming about his eighteenth, a time when he will be able to avoid the indignity of unwanted girl attendees and the looming threat of a gender-neutral doll from his domineering...