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Alexander McCall Smith’s The Miracle at Speedy Motors, number 9 in The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, is out this week. The Scottish author talks about Anthony Minghella adaptation of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which stars Grammy winner Jill Scott and aired on BBC as a two-hour film.

Chris Wat / USA Today

USA Today’s Carol Memmott interviews Alexander McCall Smith:

How did you like the TV dramatization of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency?
It’s absolutely wonderful. Anthony Minghella was such a wonderful director, and he’s made the most marvelous movie. It’s a lovely film, full of humor, and so beautiful to look at. It’s so sad that it’s Minghella’s last film.

How is Jill Scott as Mma Precious Ramotswe?
She’s remarkably good. She had to play a woman from Botswana, which involved a certain amount of acting within another culture, and she did that beautifully.

Does she look like how you picture Mma Ramotswe?
I don’t tend to have a strong idea of the physical appearance of my characters. I don’t see their faces, that’s just the way I work. With Mma Ramotswe, all I knew was that she was traditionally built and had a nice smile. Lo and behold, Miss Scott has that lovely smile.

Anthony Mingella’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency film will air on HBO stateside in 2009.

Benedicte Kurzen/The New York Times

Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, best-selling novel, is coming to the screen and starring Jill Scott as Mma Ramotswe; Anthony Minghella and Richard Curtis adapted the novel, and it’s currently shooting on location in Botswana (Africa). There’s a New York Times article on the journey of Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novel to the screen.