Pinkerton (detective agency) nationally publicized trial. Orchard received a death sentence, but it was commuted. In 1890, Indiana University hired the Pinkerton Agency to investigate the authorship of a student "bogus" that had been distributed throughout town. While boguses were not uncommon, this particular one attacked IU faculty and students with such graphic language that Bloomington residents complained. The detective arrived in Bloomington on April 26 and spent nearly two weeks conducting interviews and dispatching regular reports back to the home office. In the end, it was town talk that led to the student authors and not the work of the agent. The
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Library award, both for the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. The novels have been adapted for radio by the author and for television. The BBC and American television network HBO filmed a series based on the books that stars Jill Scott as Mma Ramotswe and was shot on location in Botswana. The 109-minute pilot was written by Richard Curtis and Anthony Minghella, who also directed. The six 60-minute episodes were written and directed by others, as Mr Minghella died before the series was filmed. McCall Smith himself dramatised the series for BBC Radio 4. Thirty-three episodes have been broadcast,