The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002)

Maybe 3.5 stars. Mma Ramotswe is still charming, but the story is flat. Too much thinking about life and too little of any actual doing. The conflicts were minimal, almost unimportant, and there was little to no actual mystery in the "mysteries." I'm quickly losing interest in this series as the novels lose substance. ( )

It's strange -- on one hand, I really enjoyed reading this book as well as its predecessor, Morality for Beautiful Girls, yet there's also something that I am beginning to find unsatisfying about them. Sometimes plot points seem wrapped up too abruptly. And the same themes are repeated over and over -- how much the characters love Botswana and how the traditional ways they love are disappearing. I'm sure I'll read more from this series in the future, but I'm definitely ready to move on to something else. ( )

Not a series I can read one right after the other, but each one is a pleasant read when it comes along. ( )

Another "eh" installment, suffering the lack of an adequate editor. What happened to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's depression? It's alluded to, but functionally gone. What about Mma Makutsi's excellent work at the garage? It just seems to disappear, as does the work ethic she appeared to have instilled in the apprentices? Why does Mma Makutsi give up on her love interest for no particular reason? And I could swear that in the second book she said she didn't like bush tea, yet she's drinking it constantly. It would be very easy to make this hang together more tightly, but I don't see that happening in this series. ( )

You don't have to read the first three Mma Ramotswe books in order to enjoy Kalahair Typing School for Men but I think you would enjoy them better if you did. In the fourth installment of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency the plot continues to move away from solving mysteries (as it had been in Morality for Beautiful Girls) and the emphasis is placed more on character development. To bring you up to speed: Mma Precious Ramotswe is Botswana's only female detective. She is engaged to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni and together they have adopted two children, a brother and sister, but still haven't set a wedding date. It seems Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is content to stay engaged for an indeterminate amount of time. Mma Ramotswe has two cases of interest. One is a gentleman wishing to repair his not so sterling past. He wants to make amends for a series of wrongs he has done as a youth. The other mystery is a typical marital woe of a woman thinking her man is cheating on her. The title of the story comes from Mma Matakutsi's side business of starting a typing school for men. ( )