Tea Time For The Traditionally Built
No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Mystery, #10

by Alexander McCall Smith     

At last, the wait it over, and here is another entry in the hugely enjoyable and life affirming series about Mma Ramotswe’s No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.  This time she has a commission from an important man, Leungo Molofololo, the owner of the Kalahari Swoopers.  This formerly successful football team has been losing all its recent matches, and Mr Molofololo suspects a traitor.  Then there is Assistant Detective Grace Makutsi’s new problem; her old nemesis Violet Sephotho has just taken a job at her fiancé’s furniture store and is selling a lot of beds.  As if this wasn’t enough, Mma Ramotswe’s beloved tiny white van is making a very strange noise...

These bestselling books probably ought to be available on prescription.  They depict the sort of place we would all like to live, where, although modern ways are everywhere, there is still time for the things that matter most: good manners, respect, and compassion—and the time to stop and enjoy a good cup of bush tea.  If you think that detective stories ought to be exciting with dead bodies all over the place, then this won’t be to your taste, perhaps, but there is still plenty of detecting going on.  What makes these books different, besides the things already mentioned, is the celebration of the small things that make our lives good or bad.  We get introduced to the quiet second apprentice, Fanwell, and learn about his home life. Despite all the bonhomie, real problems are never trivialized and the spectre of AIDS, and Africa’s other problems, is always in the background as it should be.  If you haven’t read any of these books yet this is not the place to start—you will have to read the other nine first and what a treat!

Reviews of other titles in this series

Reviews of other titles in this series

Blue Shoes and Happiness, #7
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive, #8
The Miracle at Speedy Motors, #9
Tea Time For The Traditionally Built, #10
The Double Comfort Safari Club, #11
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, #12
The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon #14
The Handsome Man’s DeLuxe Café #15
The Woman Who Walked In Sunshine #16
Precious and Grace #17
The House of Unexpected Sisters #18
The Colours of all the Cattle #19