The Full Cupboard of Life - Alexander McCall Smith

This is the fifth installment in the popular series detailing the unconventional detective techniques of the traditionally built Botswanan detective Mma Precious Ramotswe. I don't feel it is essential to have read the previous books as there are no real plot spoilers, any background knowledge you need into the characters is provided briefly and succinctly whenever necessary, mainly in the first chapter. Again Mma Ramotswe is ably assisted by Assistant Detective and Assistant Garage Manager Mma Makutsi and she is still engaged to Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, the proprietor of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. Mma Ramotswe's main case in this book is to check the suitability of a ...  Read the complete review

Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s finest (and only) female detective is just a little bit impatient about her engagement to Mr J L B Matekoni, the proprietor of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. She doesn’t wish to put pressure on her fiancé, but she does wonder if they will ever get married. He’s got other things on his mind though. The matron of the orphan farm wants him to raise some money by doing a sponsored parachute jump. Mr Matekoni has never even been in a plane. Meanwhile Mma Ramotswe is approached by the wealthy owner of a chain of hair-braiding salons, who wants the No1 Detective Agency to investigate not one, but four suitors. This is the fifth book ...  Read the complete review

Alexander McCall Smith's enchanting stories about that most unlikely detective, Precious Ramotswe, have occupied the best seller lists practically unceasingly since they were first published in paperback in the UK in 2003. Many have been very surprised by this. After all, none of the books follow the fairly common trend of being weighty tomes. None run to much more that a couple of hundred pages and yet are full price. My own view is that they are unique in style. I don't think I have ever read another book quite like them. Now, we hear, such is their success that either the BBC is ...  Read the complete review