Mma Grace Makutsi, assistant detective and graduate of the Botswana Secretarial School with an unsurpassed 97% average, is soon to be married to Phuti Radiphuti so they begin shopping for furniture for their new home.  This includes a glorious new bed with a stunning heart shaped red velvet headboard.  Mma Ramotswe is troubled by a series of threatening letters directed specifically aimed at “the fat lady” and “the one with the big glasses.” Everyone knows that Mma Ramotswe is “traditionally built” not fat and Mma Makutsi needs her large spectacles.  Since the entire country is so small she wonders why it was not addressed – after all the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency is famous.

Family is very important in a country which still has tribal allegiances so the detectives know how important it is for their latest client Manka Sebina to discover if she has any family still living.  Precious sets out in “her tiny white van” which some people have said needs alignment owing to the weight of its driver (an idea easily dismissed by Precious) and interviews a woman who has a chair in a tree.

While repairing a retired physician’s car, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, husband to the owner of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, hears of the possibility of a cure for their adopted daughter Motholeli who uses a wheelchair.  The problem is the expense involved.  How can they manage?  How can they price love? 

McCall Smith weaves a wonderful story that reflects his love of Africa, its people, and their land.  Growing up in the former Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, he shows his love for this great continent.  You come to care about his characters.  While their cases are not lurid or grandiose they reflect compassion and what ii is to be a member of a society, a patriot, a human being who understands the innate goodness within us all.  Welcome, friends, to Gabarone.  Come sit under a tree and drink a cup of bush tea and talk about the many miracles in our everyday lives.

--Jane Davis