The Good Husband of Zebra Drive: A story of Botswana As It Once Was. (The Good Husband of Zebra Drive - Alexander McCall Smith)

Member Name: janharper

Product:	The Good Husband of Zebra Drive - Alexander McCall Smith
Date:	10/02/08 (65 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Light humour, easy to read and relaxing. Great story telling.

Disadvantages: Couldn't put it down!

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive is the latest addition to the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. It was first published in 2007 (hardback edition) by Polygon Books of Edinburgh.

Precious Ramotswe the owner of the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency has recently married Mr J.L.B. Matekoni of Tlokweng Road Motors. This is the ninth book in the series and we still don't know his first name.

Mma Ramotswe is a large Botswana lady who is having trouble with her staff at the detective agency. Her husband offers to help by investigating a case involving a husband who is suspected of being up to no good, but she sincerely doubts a man's ability to deal with matters of this nature.

Then Precious falls out with her assistant, Mma Makutsi, who then leaves the agency.

The story is interwoven with everyday life in Botswana and domestic arrangements at Zebra Drive where Precious and her husband live with the two orphans they adopted.

The No.1 Lady Detective sets out to solve a series of unexplained deaths at the local hospital and to find out where the missing supplies from a local printers have gone.

This is not a detective story in the true sense of the word and doesn't really belong in that category. It is more a gently humorous tale of life in Botswana as it once was. McCall Smith is a real artist at injecting humour into almost any situation. He was born in Zimbabwe and he uses this background to the story very well.

To enjoy this book fully the reader needs to start at the beginning of Precious Ramotswe's story with the first book in the series 'The No1. Ladies Detective Agency.' Crocodiles, the hot African sun, red bush tea, poisoners and runaway husbands are all just part of a day's work for this 'traditionally built lady.'

'The Good Husband of Zebra Drive' can be read as a standalone novel, but if you know the background of the main characters from Precious Ramotswe's first marriage to an errant jazz saxophonist and the loss of her baby, to Mr J.L.B.Matakoni's nervous breakdown and Mma Makutsi's search for a suitable husband, the story is much more satisfying.

An excellent, relaxing read, which will leave you reluctant to put it down and a little disappointed when you get to the end, because you just want more.

Summary: The ninth book in this series is excellent but will be better if you have read the others.