Customer Reviews:
 Another great book by Alexander McCall Smith October 28, 2008
I had the pleasure of meeting the author this year at a talk at a local university and he is just as charming as you would think. Another great story from this super-creative guy!
Another delightful book October 21, 2008
This is yet another delightful read about our favorite "traditional" lady of Botswana. She continues to solve her clients' problems with simple common sense and a belief in the goodness of people. The characters in this series of books are so endearing, and Alexander McCall Smith makes you long for the simplicity of life that he portrays so well. I recommend the 'No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' series to anyone, and look forward to many more.
 It's About People, Not Plot September 26, 2008
I loved the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency series when it first appeared, but like so many things in life, as I read further entries in the series, they grew progressively less enchanting. Perfectly fun and readable, but somewhat familiar and no longer greatly anticipated, until I stopped after the fifth. Needing something fairly simple for short a car ride, I picked up the audio version of this eighth in the series, and revisited the familiar characters and their beloved Botswana.
This installment features three separate cases for the detective agency, all of which underscore the book's (and series') main theme: personal relationships. Mma. Ramotswe is asked by a distant relative to investigate the mysterious deaths of three patients at the hospital he works at. Mma. Makutsi is assigned a case in which the owner of a printing company suspects one of their employees of theft. Finally, Rra.Matekoni even gets in the act, and takes up a case which involves tailing a suspected wayward husband.
However, these cases act more as subplots than anything else, as the real focus is on the family of main characters. There's Mma. Makutsi's impending marriage and financial security, which leads her to question the need for her job. There's Rra. Matekoni's insecurity about his marriage to Mma. Ramotswe. There's even apprentice Charley, seeking to leave the garage to embark on grand schemes of his own. Smith seems a lot more interested in how close friends and family relate to each other and allow for periods of growth and change, as well as the benefits and pitfalls of trusting one another. It's a little striking then, that Mma. Ramotswe's children barely show up at all.
Nonetheless, the personal interactions are well-drawn and handled with Smith's usual gentle touch, and fans of the series will be pleased by them. However, the "crime" sections are rather forgettable. The hospital case is based on a famous disproven urban legend from South Africa, and thus rather predictable. The theft case is completely underwhelming and barely resolved. And the adultery case is marred by Rra. Matakoni's abandoning his methodical nature, which makes the whole enterprise somewhat silly. On the whole, the book feels somewhat flat and tired, and I'm reminded why I stopped reading the series.
 Coincidence? September 23, 2008
The first word that springs to mind when describing AM Smith's books is "gentle" and this is especially so with the Mma Ramotswe works. I enjoyed this the way I have enjoyed the others in the series. (I like the Dalhousie works too but had to give up on Portuguese Irregular Verbs)
My only concern was that the degree of coincidence between the plot thread involving deaths at the Mochudi hospital and an episode of "A Touch of Frost" that aired in 2001. Unless, of course, this is a common plot like philandering husbands and pilfering workers.
The series September 3, 2008
I like a book that I can read in two or three nights, one that has good clean writing. This is my fifth book in the series, another feel good, amusing story. Pretty soon I will have a shelf full of his works. Next.....
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