The Sunday Philosophy Club

 

By Alexander McCall Smith

Isabel and a companion are at a concert when they see a young man fall to his death from the upper deck of the hall. 

Witnessing a tragedy like that leads Isabel into a an investigation of the man and what may have led to his death and whether it was an accident or something else.

Being a woman of wealth and means, Isabel has the time to undertake such an investigation. Her friends don't think it is a good idea, but she ignores their advice. Her inquiries lead her to conclude that the dead did not fall, that there were reasons he might have been pushed, mainly insider trading. His position at the firm where he worked may have led him to suspect that people in the business were using inside information to take advantage of the markets.

Was this why he died? Or was it a romantic entanglement? Or perhaps it truly was just that he lost his balance and fell? Isabel stirs things up and finds more than one villain. And her own life may be in danger as a consequence.

This was an OK mystery story. The evildoers are unmasked but oddly no one is brought to justice, which made for a rather weak ending, I think.

Here is a review of the novel by Kirkus Reviews.

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency

By Alexander McCall Smith

The first book in the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, this one gives the backstory of Mma Ramotswe, the chain of events that led to her setting up as a detective.
After her father died, as his only child, Mma Ramotswe inherited all his assets that, once liquidated, enabled her to buy a house and small office building and a vehicle.
Naturally, the detective business didn't take off right away, but, due perhaps to the novelty of a woman detective, Mma Ramotswe did get a few good and fairly straightforward cases. She tracks down a missing husband, exposes a couple of con men twins, and helps a father discover what his teenage daughter is doing in her spare time.
Her most serious case, though, is that of a missing child. Her inquiries lead her to turn down the case as being too dangerous and sensitive to handle. But eventually she stumbles onto the solution to the mystery, with the help of her suitor and friend, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, the owner and chief mechanic of Speedy Motors garage.

I finally got around to reading the first book in this series. The first book I read was the seventh in the series. Like that book, this was an entirely enjoyable and gentle mystery story, completely absent of any murders, the only death being that of a poor fellow who got eaten by a crocodile. The story is enhanced by its exotic location, Botswana on the continent of Africa and containing part of the Kalahari Desert.

Review by The Guardian.

Morality for Beautiful Girls

By Alexander McCall Smith

Things are changing at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. The biggest change is that the agency is moving into a room at  J.L.B. Matekoni's garage, Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. For another, Mma Ramotswe, founder of the agency, has given her assistant Mma Makutsi a raise and a promotion from mere assistant to assistant detective.
Mma Makutsi even ends up managing the garage and the detective agency. Mma Ramotswe has to leave town on a case and J.L.B. has become overwhelmed with guilt about something in his past and has lost interest in the garage and is under the care of a doctor after some persuasion and management by Mma Ramotswe.
Mma Ramotswe is out of town of a case brought to her by an  important government man who is worried about his brother. The brother, recently married, manages the family farm and the government man thinks his new wife wants the farm for herself and is trying to poison her husband.  So he arranges for Mma Ramotswe to pay a visit to the farm to see if his suspicions are correct.
Meanwhile, back in town, Mma Makutsi is managing both the agency and the garage and seems to be doing very well. The two apprentice mechanics seem to enjoy being under her eye and business is booming.  She also has an important to case to investigate all on her own. The owner of a beauty pageant ran into a little disgrace with the previous contest when one of the girls turned out to be an unsavory character. So this time, he wants the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency to do some sniffing around and make sure the five finalists are upstanding and virtuous.

This was a pretty good read, if a little thin on plot. Three of the story lines are left open-ended. Mma Makutsi makes her recommendations about the beauty contest girls but we are not told definitely that her judgments are correct. J.L.B.'s guilty secret is not revealed. And the story of a little lost boy who appears only briefly is only hinted at and made not plain. So those unfinished plot lines were quite annoying.
But despite the obvious cliffhangers designed to lure the reader into opening the next book in the series, this was still an enjoyable read. Reading one of these No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books is like taking a little mini-vacation to a foreign and different land. They are a breath of fresh air.

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built

By Alexander McCall Smith

Precious Ramotswe's van is on its last legs and she is afraid if she tells her husband he will just junk the van instead of repairing it, not wanting to waste his time on such an old vehicle. Plus Grace Makutsi, Mma Ramotswe's assistant detective has found out that her old enemy and rival, that nasty piece of work Violet Sephotho, has gotten a job at the Double Comfort Furniture Shop. Seems like Violet, an attractive single woman, has decided to settle down and who better than Grace's well-off fiancé, the owner of the Double Comfort Furniture Shop? Grace knows she is outclassed when it comes to looks by the vile Violet, but will her fiancé stay true?
And the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency has an important new client, the owner of a football team who needs to know why his team is suddenly experiencing a losing streak. The owner suspects a traitor is on his team and he wants the two lady detectives to take on the case. Precious and Grace are not too sure they are the right ones to handle the case since neither of them know anything about football. But after talking it over they decide it couldn't hurt to try and so another detective adventure set in the country of Botswana is off and running.

I have enjoyed every book I have read in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and this book is no exception. Dipping into the lives of these people is both exhilarating and relaxing. For one thing, in these gentle detective stories, you know there will be no gore, no murder, no extreme cruelty, just a good, engrossing and captivating story. It's like a mini-vacation, fun and comfortable and a real good time.

The Miracle at Speedy Motors

By Alexander McCall Smith

Mma Ramotswe and her assistant Grace Makutsi are the two detectives of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency located in Gaborone, Botswana. The lady detectives are not in the business of tracking down dangerous people. That kind of work they are glad to leave to the police. No, their investigations are of the domestic type, like their current case of a woman trying to locate her family. Mma Sebina's mother died with a secret and Mma Sebina believes the secret was that her mother adopted her and now she wants to locate her relatives. So Mma Ramotswe has to discover first, if the woman was adopted and second, where her family might be.
Another mystery is more personal to Mma Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi. Someone has sent them an unsigned letter that says: "Fat lady: you watch out! And you too, the one with the big glasses. You watch out too!" Mma Ramotswe is not the kind of person to step on other people's toes so she is at a loss to understand who would send her a threatening letter. She even begins to fear she is being followed as she goes about her investigations.

So the story goes, composed of small yet fascinating situations and minor mysteries that Mma Ramotswe manages to handle with grace and composure, including her husband getting swindled by a crooked doctor making promises of a cure for their crippled child. Visiting with The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency is a sweet escape and makes for very pleasant, escapist reading. I enjoyed this novel a lot.

For another review see Mostly Fiction Book Reviews.

New Words

Vade mecum: a handbook; a concise reference book providing specific information about a subject or location. 'They had not invented the term, having found it in the pages of her vade mecum, Clovis Andersen's The Principles of Private Detection.'

Kudu: large African antelope. '"But her eyes are quite big, aren't they? Have you seen them, Mma Ramotswe? They are big, like the eyes of a kudu."'

A Kudu:

Blue Shoes and Happiness

By Alexander McCall Smith

Set in Botswana, this is the seventh in Smith’s series about the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, which is run by Precious Ramotswe with the assistance of Grace Makutsi. Mma Ramotswe is very intuitive and helps people deal with mysteries that are the stuff of every day life.

I was not familiar with this series when I picked up the book because of its cute title. Everyone knows how a new pair of beautiful shoes can make a person feel confident and attractive, even if they do make your feet hurt. I pretty much enjoyed the story, though it was very different from any mystery novel I had ever read before in that no one is murdered. I didn’t really identify much with the characters though and I thought Smith’s tone towards the Africans in the story was a little patronizing. But overall it was a good read, if only to get a taste of another culture.

Publishers Weekly review:  https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-375-42272-0.