Since 2000, the prolific Scottish novelist Alexander McCall Smith has been writing another new novel about those lady detectives in Botswana on an annual basis. Mma Precious Ramotswe and Mma Grace Makutsi of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency now appear once again, twenty-three novels after the series launch, bringing their unique brand of investigative skills to solve the vexing problems of their beloved land. Mma Ramotswe, the agency’s founder and proprietor, and her annoying secretary and “co-managing director,” Mma Makutsi, lead us through McCall Smith’s gentle vision of one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most remarkable countries.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Life today in the land of the lady detectives
Botswana today resembles McCall Smith’s romantic depiction in significant ways. The huge former British protectorate of Bechuanaland—it’s about the size of France and much bigger than California—is one of the world’s most sparsely populated countries. About one in eight of Botswana’s 2.3 million people live in Gaborone, the country’s capital (and location of Mma Ramotswe’s detective agency). After gaining its independence in 1966, Botswana was guided by Sir Seretse Khama, a hereditary chief who had led the independence movement. Twice reelected president, Sir Seretse established a pattern of peaceful, democratic leadership transitions that has continued to the present day. And the country has thrived as a result.
As Wikipedia notes, “Formerly one of the world’s poorest countries—with a GDP per capita of about US$70 per year in the late 1960s—[Botswana] has since transformed itself into an upper-middle-income country, with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.” (It’s #10 worldwide out of 195 nations.) Unlike other countries with abundant natural resources, Botswana has escaped the resource curse. Income from its diamonds, uranium, copper, and oil has been reinvested in the country rather than flowing into the pockets of a privileged elite. And Botswana’s people have flourished. With steadily improving healthcare infrastructure, infant mortality and maternal mortality rates have been on a steady decline despite high rates of HIV/AIDS. Today, nearly nine out of ten over the age of fifteen can read and write. And they enjoy a standard of living about equal to that of Mexico, the largest GDP per capita in sub-Saharan Africa.
A Song of Comfortable Chairs (#1 Ladies Detective Agency #23) by Alexander McCall Smith (2022) 240 pages ★★★★★
Three challenges for the lady detectives
Mma Makutsi might stage a coup
As A Song of Comfortable Chairs opens, there is “a slight chance that Mma Makutsi might stage a coup.” She has ordered a carpenter to construct leaves that will extend her desk on both sides, making it larger than Mma Ramotswe’s own. And she has had a printer prepare business cards for herself (but not for Mma Ramotswe) with the letters “Bsc” after her name. This is shorthand, she explains, for Botswana Secretarial College, not Bachelor of Science. And Mma Makutsi had graduated from the college with a score of ninety-seven percent, as she will let no one forget. There are other signs as well, all adding up to just one of the challenges now presenting itself to Mma Ramotswe.
Mma Makutsi’s husband faces unfair business competition
Mma Makutsi’s husband, Phuti Radiphuti, proprietor of the Double Comfort Furniture Store, faces stiff competition from a new entry in the market, Twenty-First Century Chairs. It’s a slick new business that sells minimalist, futuristic chairs at prices that always manage to be lower than Phuti’s. Which they announce in splashy commercials featuring the glamorous Violet Sephotho, Mma Makutsi’s nemesis. And this threatens Double Comfort’s most profitable line of business. Phuti might soon be forced into bankruptcy. Which suggests that something nefarious is going on. So, that’s Mma Ramotswe’s second challenge.
An old friend may lose her chance at happiness
There is more. A young woman from Mma Makutsi’s home town has applied for a job at the Orphan Farm run by Mma Potokwane (“redoubtable matron, tireless defender of orphans, matriarch, maker of the finest fruit cake in Botswana”). And when the two lady detectives arrive at the Orphan Farm for a chat with their friend, Mma Potokwane, Mma Makutsi reconnects with the young woman for the first time in many years. She gets the job, but she has a big problem. Her fourteen-year-old son has been acting up with the man she’s living with and wants to marry. But not just getting on his nerves—actively insulting and undermining him. His mother wants help to find out what’s going on—and stop it before she loses her chance at happiness. Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi can’t possibly turn her down.
After all, Mma Ramotswe “had started the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency to help people.”
About the author
From Alexander McCall Smith‘s (1948-) biography on his author website: “Alexander McCall Smith, often referred to as ‘Sandy’, is one of the world’s most prolific and best-loved authors. For many years he was a professor of Medical Law and worked in universities in the UK and abroad before turning his hand to writing fiction. He has written and contributed to more than 100 books including specialist academic titles, short story collections, and a number of immensely popular children’s books. His first book, The White Hippo—a children’s book, was published by Hamish Hamilton in 1980. But it wasn’t until the publication of the highly successful The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series that Alexander became a household name. The series has now sold over twenty million copies in the English language alone, and since the books took off, he has devoted his time to writing.
“Alexander has received numerous awards for his writing and holds twelve honorary doctorates from universities in Europe and North America. In 2007 he received a CBE for services to literature and in 2011 was honoured by the President of Botswana for services through literature to the country.”
For related reading
Beginning shortly after the publication of the first novel in this series, I read the books from the start. And I’ve reviewed the nine previous No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency novels on this site. A recent one was The Joy and Light Bus Company (Botswana’s famous lady detectives are back). And, for my review of a more recent book in the series, see From a Far and Lovely Country (#1 Ladies’ Detective Agency #24) by Alexander McCall Smith (Down home with the lady detectives again).
You might also enjoy my posts:
- Top 10 mystery and thriller series
- 20 excellent standalone mysteries and thrillers
- 30 outstanding detective series from around the world
- Top 20 suspenseful detective novels
- Top 10 historical mysteries and thrillers
And you can always find my most popular reviews, and the most recent ones, on the Home Page.
