The Handsome Man's Deluxe Café

Botswana’s only lady detective — actually the only detective of either sex — Precious Ramotswe, returns in The Handsome Man’s Deluxe Café to the delight of longtime fans of Alexander McCall Smith’s coziest of cozy mysteries. In this book, the 15th in the series that began with The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Precious investigates an East Asian woman who says she can’t remember anything about herself: not where she’s from, not how old she is, not even her name — nothing from before the moment she stumbled to the gates of the stately home of the office-supplies magnate and fellow East Asian Mr. Singupta and his sister, Miss Rose.

Meanwhile, the worldwide recession has stricken Botswana as everywhere else. Mr. J.L.B. show more Matekoni, Mma Ramotswe’s husband and owner of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, finds himself with a terrible choice to make to save his garage.

Which makes the decision of Grace Makutsi — Precious’ über-efficient secretary, she of the renowned record of 97 percent on her final examination at the Botswana Secretarial College — to start up a restaurant, which she dubs the eponymous Handsome Man’s Deluxe Café — even more puzzling. With a new baby, a worldwide recession, and absolutely no knowledge of hospitality management or the culinary arts, even the determined Mma Makutsi has probably taken on more than she can manage. Grace Makutsi, thy name is hubris! Mma Makutsi — despite no knowledge of the hospitality management industry or even much about cooking — refuses to listen when others advise her. But the experience will teach Mma Makutsi more than humility — thanks to her circle of selfless and clever friends.

Readers can expect that Mma Ramotswe will tease out the true identity of the East Asian amnesiac, resolve the quandary of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, and come up with good advice for the troubled Handsome Man’s Deluxe Café — although she gets assistance along the way from her many friends. Despite the feel-good ending, the novel never turns cliché or saccharine. Like a visit to a favorite relative who one sees much too rarely, readers will savor their time in Gabrone with Precious Ramotswe and her extended family. Now to wait an entire year for the next one! show less

Book number 15 in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.

It had been some time since I read the previous book in this series, and it was a bit disconcerting to come back to Alexander McCall Smith's somewhat odd writing style and realize that I'd almost forgotten what to expect from it and how to sit back and enjoy it. For a brief moment, I was even worried. I hadn't somehow lost my taste for it, had I? But, nope, well before the end of chapter 2, I'd settled right back in as if I'd never left, a feeling rather like slipping into an old, familiar, comfortable pair of shoes.

And what we get here is, indeed, very much like what we've gotten for the first fourteen books. Well, there is a mystery set up that feels especially intriguing this show more time. There's a woman with amnesia! Who is she, and where has she come from? But that mystery gets largely ignored for much of the novel while we deal with the personal lives of the characters (one of them starts a new business venture while another has to change jobs) and frequently pause for little digressions full of homespun philosophy and lots of warm, low-key humor. In the end, the mystery gets solved almost off-handedly, with the most interesting thing being a little ethical dilemma the solution leads to. But -- and I really don't think this counts as a spoiler for anyone with even the vaguest familiarity with the tone of these books -- everything nevertheless works out nicely in the end for all of these nice people.

I really, really do not understand how this author was able to make a novel like that work once, let alone consistently making it work over and over and over again. But somehow, he pulls it off. I cannot read these and not smile at least a little, and this one was no exception. show less

Alexander McCall Smith's 2014 novel "The Handsome Man's De Luxe Cafe," the 15th in his The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, revolves around questions of identity.

The agency's only case this time around involves a woman known only as Mrs. who says she doesn't remember who she is or where she is from. With few clues to work with, Precious Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi must try to discover who she is.

But identity questions don't only ask who someone is but also what someone is. Take Mma Makutsi, for instance. She was hired in the first novel in this series as a secretary, even though Mma Ramotswe, still having no cases, really didn't need a secretary. Over the years, the ever ambitious younger woman has won from her employer not more show more money -- the agency makes little money -- but a series of new job titles, each more impressive than the last. Now she is made a partner, or perhaps a co-director, although Mma Ramotswe struggles to make it clear she remains the senior director.

Yet Mma Makutsi still works at defining herself. In previous novels she has started a typing school for men, married a prosperous furniture store owner and become a mother. Now she decides to open her own restaurant, The Handsome Man's De Luxe Cafe, even though as co-director of a detective agency, wife and mother, she has little time to manage a restaurant. And who are those people she has hired for her new business? Soon the restaurant has an identity problem of its own: Is it really The Handsome Man's De Luxe Cafe or something else?

Then there is the problem with Charlie, the longtime apprentice of Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, the auto mechanic husband of Mma Ramotswe. Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni can no longer afford to pay the young man, who shows no promise of ever becoming anything more than an apprentice, so he lets him go. The compassionate Mma Ramotswe then hires him, even though she cannot afford to pay him either. He becomes an assistant detective or perhaps an auxiliary detective, or should it be an apprentice detective? The discussion of choosing the right title is priceless.

After Charlies bungles his first assignment, Mma Ramotswe decides they need a secretary more than they need another detective, especially since Mma Makutsi, now a co-director, no longer likes to do secretarial work. But should he be a full secretary? The prickly Mma Makutsi strongly objects to that title. So should he be a para-secretary, an assistant secretary, a clerk or what? Again the debate proves entertaining, especially as it reminds us how important job titles become in actual workplaces.

Mma Ramotswe once again displays her gift for solving problems. The novel's closing lines -- "She held her husband's hand. No further words were exchanged, or needed." -- reveal two people who know exactly who they are and what they are. show less

The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Cafe - A.M. Smith
3 stars

I always enjoy a visit to Botswana with Smith’s likable characters. There’s never anything earth shattering in the plot; it’s just a pleasant diversion. This book was no different. It rambles a bit. Mma Makutsi attempts a new business and is in way over her head. She should have listened to her shoes. Tough economic times force Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni to terminate Charlie’s endless apprenticeship. Mma Ramotswe rescues Charlie and Mma Potokwani steps in to redeem Mma Makutsi in a fortuitous, Deus ex Machina, happy ending. Keep Calm, Carry On, and go to Botswana.

Can't help myself. It is downright therapeutic to roll easily along with the fine prose of McCall Smith knowing that the only mystery is how Mma Precious Ramotswe, detective par excellence, will resolve the difficulties arising in all directions. The word cosy, when applied to mystery novels, made me turn up my nose for many years. Our author places the very best of our selves in the hands of his protagonists. He makes a world of goodness and light seem within our reach. Fortunately he is prolific...but...more please...more...

Audiobook performed by Lisette Lecat

Book # 15 in the popular No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series has the ladies investigating a case of amnesia. In the meantime, Mma Grace Makutsi has decided to open a new restaurant, “The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café” and she’s not inclined to take advice from anyone.

I love this series. I feel like I’m spending time with old friends when I open one of these books and become immersed in their lives in Gabarone, Botswana. Precious Ramotswe is ever the diplomat, gently steering her protégé (and now, “co-director”) towards solutions and tempering Mma Makutsi tendency to tactlessness. The supporting cast is a delight as well: Mr. J L B Matekoni, Phuti Radiphuti, Mma Potokwane, and show more Charlie.

The cases the agency works on are less important in this series than the relationships between the characters. While they are still sold in the mystery section of the bookstore, I don’t really classify them as mysteries. But who cares. They’re a delight in any case.

Lisette Lecat does a marvelous job of voicing these audiobooks. She really brings the characters to life. I read the first three books before discovering her marvelous audio interpretations. I imagine if I read a text version again, it would be Lecat’s voice I hear. show less

Gently proffered wisdom, unobtrusive detail of African life, fascinating characters familiar and new, and, of course, just a touch of quiet mystery – blended together these make for another smooth read in Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. The author maintains his light touch with dialog, internal and external, inviting readers into many characters heads, and revealing the world through different pairs of eyes. The fact that it’s a different world from our own makes it no less relevant – rather it makes us more likely to ask the right questions of ourselves. Why does housework belong to women? Who should be granted asylum? And how can tact be learned (ah, poor Mma Makutsi).

Addicts will read this show more series from the beginning and eagerly grasp each new book. But even with a glorious plethora of fascinating characters, it would be easy for a new reader to start straight in with this book and find their way. Enjoy!

Disclosure: It was a gift. show less