Little monkey business as Precious makes her debut in Scots

Published on Thursday 25 February 2010 21:45

THE tale of how a world-famous fictional detective solves her first mystery was read in Scots for the first time at the launch of Alexander McCall Smith's latest book yesterday.

McCall Smith kept pupils from Bruntsfield primary in Edinburgh enthralled reading extracts from Precious and the Puggies – puggie being the Scots word for monkey.

The latest offering about Precious Ramotswe, who runs the No1 Ladies Detective Agency in Botswana, tells how eight-year-old Precious discovers who has been stealing cakes her classmates bring to school for lunch breaks.

The book has been printed in Scots a year before being translated into any other language.

The No1 Ladies' Detective Agency stories have been translated into 44 languages with sales topping 20 million worldwide.

Publishers are expected to queue up to translate it from Scots.

The tale was translated by award-winning novelist James Robertson, co-founder of Edinburgh-based publisher Itchy Coo.

&#149 Precious and the Puggies 9.99, published by Itchy Coo.