For example, Mma Ramotswe takes her employee, part-time detective Charlie, to the dentist; Mma Makutsi goes to the supermarket with her husband Phuti; Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi visit their friend Mma Potokwane at the orphan farm; and more. There is no end to the pleasure that may be extracted from these . . . books.” —Janet Malcolm, The New York Review of Books

Mma Ramotswe discusses this with her husband, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, during the special half-hour when the sun is setting and the spouses are relaxing on their verandah. Charlie continues as a part-time detective in training and half-time as a mechanic in Precious's husband's car repair shop. He is still subject to taunts and insults from Grace, who contends this is sarcastic joking.In this latest installment in the beloved No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, Grace Makutsi encounters a pair of quandaries that will require all of her and Mma Ramotswe’s cleverness and generosity to resolve. Mr. Matekoni suggests Mma Makutsi is trying to make herself more important because she's insecure. Mr. Matekoni heard that Mma Makutsi's husband, Mr. Phuti Radiphuti, who owns the Double Comfort Furniture Store - is being driven out of business. The furniture store's best selling items are chairs..... I like the main character PI Mma Precious Ramotswe’s formal and polite speech and kind treatment of others. Her pragmatic way of approaching a problem makes her an excellent detective. She has worked with Grace Makutsi for several years. Grace can grate on the nerves with her attempts to appear to be in charge, but Precious has more patience than I ever would with the whole Grace situation!

And one that we all learned to read without ever being specifically taught to do so. How many parents sat their children down and told them what these things meant? Very few, or none, she thought. I appreciated this chance to hang out with good friends Precious Ramotswe, Grace Makutsi, and Mr J.L.B Matekoni and catch up on what has been happening in Botswana. I read about a furniture company that puts profit before quality and attempts to undercut Grace’s husband (Phuti) and drive him towards bankruptcy. I also read about Grace’s friend who has a troubled son. Both cases were solved with kindness, generosity and cleverness - the founding corners of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.Meanwhile, Mma Makutsi is approached by an old friend who has a troubled son. Grace and Phuti agree to lend a hand, but the boy proves difficult to reach, and the situation is more than they can handle on their own. It will require not only all of their patience and dedication, but also the help of Mma Ramotswe and the formidable Mma Potokwani. EXCERPT: Mma Ramotswe sighed. There was so much wrong with the world. There were so many cases of people behaving badly in one way or another, of people doing things that they should not do, and the more we scrutinised what was going on around us, the more we discovered of just this sort of thing. Under every stone, she sometimes thought, there is bound to be a scorpion. The real art in going through life with dignity and with a modicum of happiness was to accept what you were, and, at the same time, to accept others and to love them all equally. That was hard, and for some people it was impossible, but you had to try.’ In this latest installment in the beloved No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, Grace Makutsi encounters a pair of quandaries that will require all of her and Mma Ramotswe’s cleverness and generosity to resolve Meanwhile, Grace is approached by an old friend who has a troubled son. She and Phuti agree to take Patience and Modise in and lend a hand, but things don’t work out quite as intended, and the situation proves difficult for them to handle. It will require not only all of their persistence and dedication but also help from an unexpected quarter to find a solution that will make everyone happy.

The book has a good dose of social commentary but doesn’t overdo it at any point. Mma Ramotswe’s calm acceptance of whatever life throws at her helps ground the narration. That idea means that Orphan Farm matron, Mma Potokwani gets to star in an ad campaign and the photo shoot attracts not only staff of the Detective Agency and the Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, but also a large support crew from the Orphan Farm. That was the problem, she reflected; that was the source of so much unhappiness - there were people who made it their business to stop other people from being themselves; who tried to make people be something they did not want to be. That led to swathes of unhappiness as wide as the Kalahari itself.’ The narration is relaxed and takes time to gather momentum. Even then, it is languid and lingers here and there before coming to the main point. The writing has a semi-stream-of-consciousness style (an incident happens/ new info is revealed, and one of the leading ladies thinks about something relevant from the past). Once I got used to this, I could sync my reading style with the narration. Human nature is so predictable….even in a little corner of Botswana. I shook my head when I read about the seemingly petty jealousy Precious had to deal with. As is always the case, the world over, there’s a reason for a behaviour…and Precious graciously waits and finds it out. I could learn from her. I’m a reactor rather than a responder. I need to change that. Now.Precious and Grace come up with a scheme that would temporarily move the woman and her unruly son into Grace and Phuti's home. Physical punishment is forbidden in any attempt to discipline him for his bad behaviour. Their plan includes an undercover actor visiting the home and interacting with the antagonistic, hostile teenager. However, the plan is not working as the son shows no sign of changes in his attitude or behaviour. Suddenly, he is much calmer and wants to return to the previous home, apologize, and get along with his mother's new boyfriend. It seems he received a secret visit from Charlie, which improved the boy's outlook considerably. Of course, Grace cannot accept or credit Charlie's unorthodox methods of solving the case, now concluded with a happy ending.

These scenarios make up the 'detective' parts of the book. The remainder of the novel is mostly about Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi going about their business; Mma Ramotswe's inner musings; and the characters drinking tea and having rambling conversations. Patience is visibly troubled, and the detectives learn that Patience recently escaped from a horrible abusive man in her home town. Patience and her 14-year-old-son Modise are now living with a nice man in Gaborone, but Modise's rebellious sullen behavior may get them ejected. So Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi hatch a devious plan to try to rectify the situation. In a world where there aren’t always answers and at a time when we are all looking for answers, this is a fabulous read. I know any book in this series will end well and that Precious and Grace will solve the cases. For a few hours, all is right with the world and my worries are set aside. We could all do with a little Botswana wisdom in our life. Followers of this series are in it for the long haul as it’s like catching up with old friends. More often than not, it’s not the gentle story/investigation unfurling that draws you in, but rather the keen observations that make you smile, the pearls of wisdom that cause you to pause and ponder. Alexander McCall Smith has managed once again to write another wonderful tale where our leading lady, Precious, encourages us to slow down and express gratitude. To many it might seem simplistic, yet truly speaking, it is the superb craftsmanship of Alexander that provides devoted readers with a gentle reminder to be more open minded and extend warmth to those around us.Most people longed for the day when they might tune into a news broadcast and hear the announcer say, 'I'm sorry, everybody, but nothing has happened. There is no news today none at all.' That day had never come to pass, as far as she knew, but you could still hope. That was what you could always do - no matter how bad things seemed to be - you could hope.’ To summarize, A Song of Comfortable Chairs is the kind of book you want to sit with on cold noon and warm your heart. It isn’t a typical cozy mystery or drama. It’s a comfort read that’ll make you think and smile at the same time.