Yet another wonderful entry in this series. But there was an outstanding question: How did T.K. Molefi know who Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi were? (There is one other related loose end, but it would be a spoiler.) Smith usually explains everything and ties up all loose ends, so I found this a bit disconcerting. As always, the setting of this latest in the #1 Ladies Detective series in Botswana is an escape for all non-Botswana readers. Seldom has an author made a foreign country and its people sound so attractive.

All of us, Mma Ramotswe thought, wanted something, even if we were unable to tell anybody exactly what it was that we wanted.” AMS, may God continue to bless your mind, your pen, your typewriter, laptop, tablet and any other devices you use to concoct these tales. The whole world loves you, and your wonderful stories.

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In Smith’s leisurely 21st No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novel (after 2019’s To the Land of Long Lost Friends), Blessing Mompati, a distant cousin of Precious Ramotse, the agency’s head, Continue reading » Can you believe it? Twenty-two stories you’ve asked Rra Alexander McCall Smith to share with us over the years! As each one arrives, I wonder, “what new mystery will Mma Ramotswe manage to solve this time?” I wasn’t disappointed. Rra JLB Maketoni wanted to become partners in a bus company. Yo! That was a close shave I think Mma. Mma Ramotswe is horrified by this modern slavery, but the rich family is powerful, so Mma Ramotswe must be creative to deal with them. In another plot line, their client, Mr. Baboloki Mophephu, has come to them because he is concerned that his very wealthy father, Mr. Fidelis Mophephu, has left his farm and farmhouse to his long-time nurse. The son suspects undue influence and wants the agency to investigate. But both Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are wary because of their instinctual dislike of their client. It's a lot of fun to follow their investigation and the creative solution that emerges.

What is the alchemy that makes this series so successful? Certainly at the start, there was the novelty. It’s unusual for an English-language series to be set in Botswana, or at least, it was when this one began. But it takes a lot more than that to sustain a series over so many years.

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The publisher seems to be hunting for a replacement narrator for Lisette Lecat. I think they have succeeded with the narrator of this book, Bianca Amato. She is from South Africa as is Lecat and has that soft lyrical voice and the same pronunciations of names. I cannot wait for the next AMS story with Amato as narrator. Connections with others were what made life bearable…We all need reassurance, she thought. We all need people to tell us that everything is going to be all right, even when it is not, and that we should not worry, even when we clearly need to be concerned about something. We are only human, after all, and that is why reassurance is so important to us. That is undoubtedly well known." We shall change all that...because it is possible to change the world, if one is determined enough, and if one sees with sufficient clarity just what has to be changed.

McCall Smith is a master …. There’s beauty and revelation of one kind or another woven expertly into every line.” — The Christian Science Monitor As the story unfolds we also hear from Mma Makutski's 'talking shoes' which are always good for a laugh. In any case, Mr. Mophephu is concerned about his rich elderly father, whose caregiver may be exerting undue influence - perhaps even planning to marry the old man - for financial gain. This is a delicate situation that requires diplomacy from Mma Ramotswe.and the vestiges of that early feeling were still there, as she could not bring herself to punish the snails or caterpillars for their depredations. They were her fellow creatures, after all. They had not asked to be snails or caterpillars, and they needed to eat, as we all did.”

In this latest installment in the beloved No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, Mma Ramotswe is tempted to put the brakes on a business venture before it even gets rolling. She hoped that was the case, anyway, and that, she supposed, was the way it would always be. You hoped that what you did was for the overall good, but you could never be sure. Sometimes there were doubts, and those doubts could persist, but often you really had no choice. You had to feel your way through the complexities of this life and hope, just hope, that you got it right more often than you got it wrong. And sometimes, of course, you did not have to do anything at all.” Traditional mystery and thriller readers may find the pace too slow with way too much interior, contemplative monologue; however, Alexander McCall Smith in many places is expert at conveying a great deal within a short description. In spite of her limited stature, Mma Pula-Pula had about her a strong confident air of authority. But it was not authority of the sort that one would encounter in a school principal or a magistrate or somebody of that sort: this was the authority of the bully.” Smith’s winning 20th No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novel (after 2018’s The Colors of All the Cattle) opens at a wedding, where Mma Ramotse, “doyenne of private investigators in Botswana Continue reading »to people who are unhappy inside themselves. There is room for everyone. Everyone should be able to find somewhere on this earth to sit down.” As always, the ladies muse on many topics, including what is required to keep men happy, and Mma Makutsi coins an excellent term for those old-fashioned males who still indulge in sexual discrimination: Past Tense Men. Also? There are a lot of us out here that are also “traditionally sized,” and we love seeing lovable, successful characters that look, to some extent, like ourselves. Mma Ramotswe, I don’t want to give too many clues away on the story but do want to congratulate Mma Adjoa Andoh for narrating the book. Goodness me Mma! I felt like I was in the room with her while she read the story and she is so clever – she could imitate you, Mma Makutsi, Rra Maketoni and all the other people exactly so that I felt like I was right there. She is brilliant! Especially with Mma Makutsi. Explaining about her shoes and flashing glasses. I could see them Mma – all the way here in England. Mr JLB Matekoni, husband of Number One Ladies’ Detective agency proprietor Mma Precious Ramotswe, is feeling uncertain about the future of his business, leading to a possible risky course of action. In the meantime, the detective ladies Ramotswe and Makutsi are hired to investigate an issue of the nurse of an elderly man being named to inherit his family home.