Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (by Alexander McCall Smith)

I usually read the latest book from this series - the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series - not long after publication. Took me longer to get to this one. In fact, a new one has come out before I got finished with this one. Well, at least I don't have to wait for the next one now.

It was good to see what our friends in Botswana have been up to since last we heard from them. They do have a way with words and a knack for getting into "situations".

So much going on in this book. Precious and Grace get to meet their hero from America. Is he all they expected him to be? What's all this about the Limpopo Academy of Private Detection?

Fanwell, the good apprentice at Speedy Motors, gets into trouble while helping out a friend. Will the judge believe him innocent? How is it that Mma Ramotswe scares a witness who is about to lie into telling the truth on the witness stand? Fanwell is grateful, but Charlie could have been in big trouble because of it. Charlie's heart was really in the right place though.

Grace and Phuti are building a house. Something's not quite right about the builder though. The bricks tell the story here.

Mma Potokwane, matron of the orphan farm, may have met her match in a Mr. Ditso. Will she really be thrown out of her job? And speaking of Mr. Ditso, he should be careful about where his wife has her nails done.

Speaking of nails, Grace's nemesis from school, Violet Sephotho, has clearly not mended her ways. And she has a brother who is about as bad as she is it seems. How bad can they be? Pretty bad.

Take a look at the book and all this will be explained. Very entertaining too.

And it seems that we will see Mma Soleti again, given the name of the next book in this series. She and her sister were very helpful to Precious in this book.

Hopefully, there will be many more books about our friends from Botswana.