If approached at a surface level, this book is excellent light reading - bits of humour, warmly drawn characters, and an unusual language style which I think probably echoes the Botswana way of thinking (not that I'd know really). By that I mean that the language is unusually simple and direct, with a tendency to state straight out, in the most matter-of-fact way, things that Western cultures tend to euphemise and dance around on tiptoe.

I think the relationship between Mma Ramotswe and Mr J.L.B Matekoni is very nicely done, and undergoes some development in this book, after its beginning in The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Mr Matekoni is perhaps the most endearing character I came across in the book, mainly because of his humble opinion of himself and his high opinion of everyone else, Mma Ramotswe in particular.

On a deeper level, I don't quite know what to think, and can only assume it's not meant to be approached deeply. But there's a tendency to cliche, and a sense of the author choosing all the things that are supposed to appeal to women and throwing them all into the book to keep us happy. Orphans in wheelchairs, a mother seeking for a 10-years-lost son, womanising men being punished, and faithful men being rewarded. All very moral, which I usually like in a book, but it all seems a bit too purposefully designed to tug at the heart strings. Which it didn't really do for me.

All the same, it was a good read, great for a palate cleanser in between heaver-weighted books. I have every intention of reading the whole series over a very long period of time, just one here and there, when the opportunity arises and the mood takes me. I have long loved the title of the next in the series, Morality for Beautiful Girls, and like the idea of reading it some day.

Just as enjoyable as the first! Mma Romatswe finds herself with new mysteries to solve and a brand new family. This is one of the most leisurely book series I've ever read, and I look forward to reading book 3! ( )

In this installment of life in Botswana, Mma Ramotswe solves the mystery of an American boy who disappeared from an experimental farm 10 years previously. She also acquires a fiance and two adopted children.

The style is just as charming as the first book. The difficult side of life is not ignored but is downplayed in favour of the hopes of people for whom life is getting better and who therefore don't get in the headlines. ( )

The follow-up book to the No 1 Detective agency – and more of the same folk wisdom and insights. Lovely to read. Read December 2008 ( )

Charming. Mma Makutsi is promoted to Asst Dectective. 10 year old case is solved. Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni takes in two children.