Billy, Fern and Joe Shortbread are the stars of their family circus, but they also have another talent ... they're experts at solving mysteries! When their circus moves into a new town they soon make friends with a young boy named Tom. But Tom can't enjoy the circus because his granny has disappeared and he's worried he'll never see her again. With the help of their astonishing circus skills can the Shortbread circus stars crack the clues and find Tom's granny? A brilliant McCall Smith adventure story, brimming with wit, wisdom and larger than life characters.

Alexander McCall Smith CBE was born and grew up in Zimbabwe. He was Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh University, and in 1999 became an award-winning author with his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books. He has now written over 60 books. Alexander writes about Africa because "Africa is a special place, very unusual, and I really wanted to say something good about its society and culture."