Professor of law-turned novelist Alexander McCall Smith exploded onto the literary scene with his gentle The Ladies No.1 Detective Agency series. NEETA DUTTA talks to the writer ahead of his appearance in Barnet next week.

Despite spending years as a professor of medical law at Edinburgh University and advising countries around the world on bioethics, Alexander McCall Smith says he has always been a writer.

"You are born a writer, I have always been one. You know you are one," he says in an English accent that offers no hint of either his African childhood or his later life in Scotland. "But I think it is important to have a career in a profession which provides life experience, you cannot write without experience."

The 58-year-old grew up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), but it is Botswana that has inspired the setting for his famous novels about a detective agency in a small village. He has a great affection and respect for the southern African country: "It is a remarkable and very interesting country. The people are very courteous and polite. I am always going back to visit," he said.

The novels' central character, Mama Precious Ramotswe, the voluptuous founder of the Ladies Detective Agency, has delighted many readers with her warmth and wisdom as she romps through adventures under the hot African sun.

Trying to explain her enduring appeal, Mr McCall Smith says: "She is a very decent woman, she is very kind and, in a sense, very pleasant. She is not based on any one person but is a mixture of many that I have met in Botswana. I know people who have gone there and come back and said I met Mama Precious' because there are so many like her there."

While some have been entranced by tales of crocodiles and cows, others have been cynical of the sweet and almost idealistic world the books inhabit, where morality is always celebrated. However Mr McCall Smith believes novels that offer escapism should be no less respected.

"One can talk about poignant issues through humour. One can make serious points through humour," he says in his softly cultivated voice.

Humour is not something that is apparent in this interview. He is polite but not forthcoming, and he doesn't seem to find the funny side when he mentions playing saxophone in an amateur band called The Really Terrible Orchestra.

"Yes, that is what it is called," he says in a rather indignant tone.

And when asked which actress he would like to see playing his heroine in a likely film adaptation, he replies in guarded tones: "Well, that would not be my decision, it would be up to the casting director."

Despite this sometimes abrupt exterior, he does exude a certain warmth and is both surprised by the success of his work and understandably proud.

"They the books have sold 11 million copies worldwide and been translated into more than 30 languages; the film rights have also been bought. I had no idea this would happen. Every author, or almost every author, struggles to get that initial publishing deal and it can be really hard."

The seventh book in the series, Blue Shoes and Happiness, is published today and includes an encounter with a cobra, a sinister blackmail plot, and a rather tight-fitting pair of shoes, all of which should delight his loyal fans.

Mr McCall Smith will be giving a talk at the Bull Theatre, High Street, Barnet on March 8, at 7pm, where he will be answering questions from his fans. Tickets cost £3 and are available from event organisers Ottakars, the bookshop in The Spires Shopping Centre in High Street, Barnet, or by calling 020 8449 8229.