Tea Time for the Traditionally Built

Precious Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi continue to work through the problems of others—and a few of their own.
There’s not much action in this series; the plot certainly isn’t the thing here. These books are all about the several main characters trying their best to live good lives and do their jobs. It sounds deadly dull in this age of chilling thrillers, but it’s no such thing. The series is a gentle reflection on a life well-lived, with humor and consideration for the needs of others.
This was like an oasis in the present desert of anger and hate. I loved the book and am grateful to McCall Smith for giving this reader a welcome relief.

Interestingly, I do not like the three other series that McCall Smith write. Somehow, this series, its characters, setting, and style - it's just perfect. Reading them relaxes me, and every chapter or so, I'll come upon a passage or sentence that takes my mind off the page and into further contemplation. There're always parts that I _have_ to share with someone because they're funny, poignant, etc. Perhaps the writing style matches the setting and characters, and Botswana's pace and mood create a beautiful book.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency has a case to solve that truly puzzles them. The owner of the local football team is concerned that there is a traitor on the team who is purposely throwing the games; they had been quite successful but now they are losing to inferior teams. Mma Precious Ramotswe and Mma Grace Makutsi may not know anything about football – that is something men like – but they do know about shoes, and this knowledge will serve them well.

There is the usual personal drama as well – the beloved tiny white van is making a very bad noise, and Violet Sephotho is once again messing in Grace Makutsi’s business.

I love these gentle “mysteries” set in Botswana. Smith’s love of the country, its people and culture is show more evident in the way he talks about the landscape and the customs. The books are simply delightful. show less

Ten books into the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, and I'm still finding it as warm and lovely as ever. This time, we finally get to know something about the life of the character formerly known as The Apprentice Who Is Not Charlie, mourn with Precious Ramotswe as she faces what looks like the end of her beloved little white van, and watch Grace Makutsi seething over the fact that her fiancé has hired her man-stealing nemesis to work in his furniture store. Oh, and there's also some investigation, of course, as the owner of a soccer team hires the ladies to find who is sabotaging his team so they keep losing. But, as always, the plot, such as it is, is far less the focus than the characters, the ups and downs of their lives, show more their endearing human foibles, their heart-warming basic decency, and their gentle musings on the human condition.

Interestingly, many of said musings, even more in this book than in previous ones, involve the nature and roles and differing interests of men and women, a subject I usually find unbearably annoying. But Mma Ramotswe's thoughts on the matter, somehow, offend me not at all, perhaps because they're less about lazy stereotypes and more about very real-feeling observations, and because she is always careful not to present those generalizations as absolutes. That, I suppose, and because the women always come out of it well.

Anyway. This series remains marvelous comfort reading for me. show less

Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, takes on an unusual case for the owner of a football team. Once the best football team in Botswana, the Kalahari Swoopers are on a prolonged losing streak. The owner believes someone on the team is deliberately causing the team to lose. It's Mma Ramotswe's job to find out who. She will need help from her assistant, Grace Makutsi, to interview the many team members in a timely fashion. However, Mma Makutsi is distracted by her nemesis from the Botswana Secretarial College, Violet Sephotho, who has just been hired by Mma Makutsi's fiance, Phuti Radiphuti, to sell beds in his Double Comfort Furniture Shop. Mma Ramotswe must also deal with the loss of her beloved white show more van.

Nothing much happens in these gentle African mysteries, yet I find these books difficult to put down once I start reading. Precious Ramotswe's musings about her beloved Botswana, her late father Obed Ramotswe, and human nature in general, always remind me of the non-material blessings I enjoy in my own small corner of the world – health, a comfortable home, a supportive family, good friends and neighbors, and the companionship of my sweet dog. show less

I absolutely love this series! Even though it falls into the crime/mystery category you couldn't get much further from that than this series.
This time Mma Ramotswe's tiny white van is in dire straights. But she's too afraid to tell Mr JLB Matekoni because he'll say it's cactus & tow it. She & Mma Makutsi are are also learning about football as their most recent client, Mr Molofololo insists there is a traitor in their midst as his football team keeps on losing their matches & it doesn't look like that's going to change. And to top it all off, Violet Sephotho is back & has set her sights on Mma Makutsi's fiancee, Phuti Radaphuti....
This is the series I turn to when I need a break or I've been having a rough time. I love the simple, show more charming language that is so lyrical as well. I also love the subtle humour & wisdom in these stories. If you haven't heard of this series yet, what the heck have you been doing?!?! show less

I zipped through this in an afternoon, which is rather sad, because this entire series is worth becoming immersed in and reading slowly, and with relish, but is a testament to the undemanding writing style of Alexander McCall Smith’s entire Ladies #1 Detective Agency series. I think this book may have had a little less substance then the previous ones, with less peripheral plot-lines and character-appearances hence the speed-read, but it is, nevertheless, a warm and welcome addition to the growing pile of these books on my shelf.

In this latest (for me, ‘tho in fact I’m a book behind) instalment, Precious Ramotswe and her assistant detective have to investigate the humiliating losing streak of the country’s top football team. show more Meanwhile, her beloved little white van has made it’s last interesting noise, to her surprisingly strong grief. There is also the matter of Mma. Makutsi’s arch nemesis, Violet Sephotho, who has landed herself a sales job at the Double Comfort Furniture Store, working – and angling – for Grace’s fiancé.

Not my favourite of these books, simply because there seemed to be less peripheral exploration which is one of the things that has made me very fond of the series… the gentle and almost completely pointless visitation of one character or other’s life or state of mind. But as always, utterly readable and very… nice. show less