In this 26th book in the 'No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' series - set in Gaborone, Botswana - the sleuths look into their clients' marital problems, and Mma Ramotswe is concerned about her husband's new friend. The book can be read as a standalone but familiarity with the characters is a bonus.
*****
Mma Precious Ramotswe is the founder of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.....
.....and her assistant Mma Grace Makutski began as the agency's secretary. Over time, Grace promoted herself to assistant detective, associate detective, co-director and so on, and she's now calling herself executive president for development. Mma Ramotswe doesn't mind what title Grace uses, as long as the work of the business gets done.
The agency also has a part-time employee called Charlie, who splits his time between the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, owned by Mma Ramotswe's husband Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. Both businesses occupy the same premises, so Charlie can go back and forth as needed.
Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutski acquired their sleuthing skills from a book called 'The Principles of Private Detection' by Clovis Anderson, whose wise counsel is sprinkled throughout the story.
The detective agency sees it share of troubled people, and that's the case with Mr. Excellence Modise, a flashy, middle-aged man who owns a successful pest control business.
Mr. Modise tells Mma Ramotswe that his wife has lost interest in him, and he thinks she has a lover. Mma Ramotswe isn't surprised because Clovis Anderson wrote: "Unfaithfulness is the bread and butter of our profession. Unfaithfulness, I'm sorry to say, is everywhere."
Mma Ramotswe agrees to investigate Mr. Modise's wife, but the situation gets more complicated when the lady herself, Mma Modise, comes to the detective agency. Mma Modise says her husband is having an affair, and she wants Mma Ramotswe to find out who the woman is.
This conflict of interest puts the detective agency on the horns of a dilemma, and things turn out to be more complicated than anticipated.
Mma Ramotswe becomes concerned about a personal situation as well. Her husband, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni....
.....has an acquaintance called Mr. Freddie Mogorosi, a wealthy man who owns one of the largest garages in Botswana. Mr. Mogorosi is urging Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni to serve on a government committee concerned with the motor trade, and he's invited J.L.B. to go fishing with him.
J.L.B. is pleased to have this new friend, but Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are suspicious of Mr. Mogorosi's motives. Moreover, after a fishing incident with a crocodile, Charlie - who's overheard some talk in Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors - suggests Mr. Mogorosi plans to kill J.L.B. to get his garage.
Mma Ramotswe often consults her best friend, Mma Potokwane - director of the local Orphan Farm - when she's troubled. So Mma Ramotswe visits Mma Potokwane to discuss her concerns, and the two ladies chat over tea and fruit cake.
Mma Potokwane also shows off her 'competitive pumpkins', which she's growing to enter in the Tlokweng Agricultural Show.
These novels always have a bit of wry humor, and in this story Mr. Mogorosi makes the mistake of referring to Mma Makutsi as a secretary. Mma Makutsi can't let it pass, and tells Mr. Mogorosi, "Not every woman whom you find in an office, Rra, is a secretary, you know. Some women in offices are the boss - or, as in this particular case, the executive president for business development."
Mr. Mogorosi responds, "I have never heard of such a person....but if that is what you are, then of course that is what you are." To add to the fun, Mma Makuski's talking shoes weigh in about Mr. Mogorisi, saying, "That man, bad news if you ask us, Boss."
As events progress, Mma Ramotswe makes some interesting discoveries, and everyone is a little wiser by the end of the book. Like always, Mma Ramotswe demonstrates her usual empathy for all people, including wrongdoers. The world would probably be a better place if everyone had Mma Ramotswe's wise compassion.
I'm a big fan of these books, which are more slices of life than detective stories. Highly recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley, Alexander McCall Smith, and Pantheon for a copy of the book.
Rating: 4 stars
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