Date Published: 7th May 2018

Alexander McCall Smith’s event at the Boswell Book Festival at Dumfries House in Ayrshire was a great success thanks to the meticulous planning by Caroline Knox and her team who run the festival. Alexander spoke to readers in the grand surroundings of the Pavilion tent in the gardens of Dumfries House in Scotland. His event was chaired by broadcaster and journalist Sheena McDonald and the two covered many subjects ranging from low carb diets to the impact of WH Auden on Alexander’s life and to Precious Ramotswe and the 20th anniversary of The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. The event took place over the bank holiday weekend here in the UK in a mixture of sunshine and shade. Ayrshire might have been a little cooler than the rest of the UK on Saturday but the sun shone on us and the welcome was certainly very warm. A good time had by all.