The Author of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series will be interviewed by Greenwich Police Detective Christy Girard at Dogwood Books & Gifts, 254 East Putnam Avenue (inside Christ Church) in Greenwich, CT.
Who better to interview the creator of one of literature’s most beloved detectives than a real-life homicide and cold case detective?
This conversation promises an unusual meeting of two very different investigative minds: one who has spent decades imagining mysteries and the other who has spent decades solving them. What does a novelist understand about human behavior that helps him create a great detective? What does a real detective notice that the rest of us miss?
McCall Smith will discuss The Big Cats Dance Party, the latest installment in his enormously popular series featuring Botswana’s incomparable Mma Precious Ramotswe and her steadfast colleague, Mma Grace Makutsi.
Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most beloved and prolific authors, best known as the creator of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, the internationally bestselling series featuring Botswana’s incomparable Mma Precious Ramotswe. Now 27 books strong, the series has sold more than 20 million copies in English alone and made McCall Smith a household name around the world.
Before turning to fiction full-time, McCall Smith was a distinguished professor of Medical Law, teaching at universities in the UK and abroad. He has written or contributed to more than 100 books, from novels and short stories to children’s books, poetry, and academic works. Many of his series, including 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie novels, have been translated into 46 languages.
McCall Smith has received numerous international honors, including 12 honorary doctorates and a CBE for services to literature. In 2011, the President of Botswana honored him for his literary contributions to the country, and in 2022 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at Scotland’s Saltire Literary Awards.
The event is Friday, September 18 at 6:00 pm
Tickets: $40, includes his newest book, wine and charcuterie.
“The breadth of his body of work vividly evokes places and characters who are infused with humanity, decency, wit and humour” –The National Arts Club citation
Detective First Grade Christy Girard is an acclaimed cold-case investigator currently assigned to an FBI violent crimes task force.
She has served with the Greenwich Police Department for more than 27 years, including 21 years as a detective specializing in sexual assault investigations, homicides and cold cases. She is currently assigned to an FBI violent crimes task force, where she assists with cold cases nationwide using DNA and Investigative Genetic Genealogy.
Her career includes solving a 35-year-old Greenwich homicide, for which she was named the 2021 Greenwich Police Officer of the Year, as well as recognition from the U.S. Department of Justice, the University of New Haven’s Arnold Markle Symposium, and the Greenwich Bar Association, which presented her with its 2025 Liberty Bell Award. Girard holds degrees in Criminal Justice and Public Administration and a graduate certificate in Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy. She is also the founder of the Triumph Fund, a nonprofit helping local girls in need participate in volleyball.