| Author | Alexander McCall Smith |
| Copyright Holder | Alexander McCall Smith |
| Author photo/portrait | Graham Clark (2) |
| Copyright Holder (Photos) | Graham Clark (2) |
| Illustrator | Hannah Firmin |
| Publisher | Abacus |
| First Published by | Polygon |
| Typeset by | M Rules |
| Printed and Bound by | Clays Ltd, St Ives plc |
| Series | The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency |
| Format | Paperback |
| Language | English |
| Location | Great Britain |
| Copyright | 2000 |
| First Published In Paperback | 2003 |
| Reprinted | 2003-02-04 |
| This Edition Published | 2008 |
| Pages / Font | 233 pages / Galliard |
| ISBN | 978-0-349-11665-5 |
| Barcode | 9 780349 116655 |
| Notes | No2. in the series Reprinted in 2003 (eight times), 2004 (ten times), 2005 (four times), 2006, 2007 |