The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon

The latest novel in Alexander McCall-Smith's "No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series is another fun, entertaining entry in this popular series.  The novels are cozies set in Botswana, and the star of the series is Precious Ramotswe, owner and lead detective at the agency.  In this installment, Mma Makutsi has to be away from the office for a few weeks due to personal reasons, and Mma Ramotswe feels the loss as she tries to solve cases without the helpful advice of her associate detective.  Meanwhile, her husband, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, has his own hands full with his errant mechanic apprentices and his own desires to become a "modern husband" for Mma Ramotswe.  Mma Ramotswe's main cases are trying to find the person making threats against Mma Soletti and her Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon and discovering if the boy set to inherit his Uncle's farm is who he says he is.  One of the best parts of these books is the character development.  The books' characters are charming and the reader truly gets a taste of what it means to live, today, in Botswana.  These books are one of my favorite mystery series, because the country of Botswana figures as prominently as the mysteries explored.  The series needs to be read in order, so start out with the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" if you want to begin the series.  Alexander McCall Smith is Professor Emeritus of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, who was born in Zimbabwe.  He has taught law at the University of Botswana and lives in Scotland.    

The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection

WCVPL Online Catalog

I just finished reading the newest installment of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and it was just as good as the rest of the books in the series!  Alexander McCall Smith's latest, The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection is set in Botswana as is the other books in the series.  The novel showcases the same familiar characters, with the addition of at least one new one!  Besides developments in their personal lives (Mma Makutsi and her new husband Phuti Radiphuti are building their dream house and one of the apprentices at the Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors is in trouble with the law), Mma Ramotswe has been having dreams about a tall stanger who waits for her.  To top it off, Mma Potokwane, defender of Botswana's orphans, has been dismissed from her post as matron of the orphan farm!  Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi have their hands full trying to "make everything right" and deal with a surpise visitor to the detective agency!  I enjoy how McCall Smith brings Botswana to life in this series and I feel as if Mma Ramotswe and the rest of the characters are family members to me.  If you enjoy cozy mysteries, learning about Botswana and its people, you will enjoy reading this series.  I suggest you start with the first book, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency,  as the events in the characters lives build on each other in each successive book.