This was my first foray into Smith's well-regarded novels. I had been warned that they moved slowly, but that is not necessarily a criticism. Many brilliant works move slowly, not only because of the rhythm of the prose, but also because the reader lingers over passages.

This text, on the other hand, is just downright dull. The entire story could be distilled onto one piece of paper, and it's hardly an interesting story at that. The writing is so simple that I began to suspect that Smith thinks his primary audience of readers is either barely literate or brain-damaged.

Maybe people are attracted to these novels because they're the sort of stories that you can read while half asleep or otherwise distracted, and not miss a thing. Or because you could lose your place in the text and start reading many pages later, and still not have missed anything. In that case, however, I do not see the point of reading anything. I've read nutrition labels with more interest.

One other problem is that I'm sure that many people who have never been to Africa are interested in these novels because they take place in Botswana, and it is fun to read about locales we have never visited. However, there seemed to be very little in this novel that gave the reader any insight into Botswanan culture. If you changed the characters' names to more common Anglicized ones, and dropped the practice of referring to dead people as "late", and dropped the minor side story about trading cattle for a bride, you'd have a story that is so generic that it could take place anywhere.

So, the novel is slow, dull, and tells us little about the culture where it takes place. Sorry, Smith, but that's not my idea of a good read. ( )

What's to say that hasn't already been said by me and others? Another installment of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series - wonderfully well written, nice to read, great relaxation. Read (on holidays in Bali) August 2009. ( )

Reading some of the newspaper review blurbs, I find each of the these words: beguiling (Daily Telegraph), gracious (Sunday Telegraph), gentleness...charm (Daily Mail). All these words are infinitely appropriate and can be applied to all of the books in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. The reader meets McCall Smith's own approach to words already on page 1: an ingenious definition of the phrase "care of" (c/o). Besides the inevitable use of the word "late", of course. There are many people in the series who are "late" and clocks have nothing to do with it. Maybe, also, you will notice that there are very few contractions in any of his books. This non-use of contractions in the dialogue gives the reader a feel for the character that no amount of narration could supply. This method also allows you as the reader to maintain the same daily pace as Mma Ramotswe. As always, I enjoyed this book tremendously (although The Full Cupboard of Life remains my favorite). The chapter titles are significantly thoughtful; Charlie is the same outspoken (he thinks) man of the world; Mma Makutsi chastises and is chastised; the tea kettle is always at the boil; and the joke about the 97 cattle is superb. I think Mma Ramotswe is a good example of what I told my English language classes: always keep your words soft and sweet in case you have to eat them. ( )

Once you know the characters, you love them and there can never be enough---I'm always ready for another one of these novels! The audio tapes are very special with Lisette Lecat as the continuing narrator through all of these works of art about Prescious Ramotswe. I feel as though I know the tiny part of Africa that A. McCall Smith describes---the smells, the sounds, the pace of life, the atmosphere. This is another one of the gems of his books---thoroughly rewarding listening. ( )

cool, funny and my fave