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In the Company of Cheerful Ladies, Alexander McCall Smith
Polygon
Reviewed by Jan Treliving-Brown (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

This author is a machine. These warm, elegant African gems keep coming. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency was the first in the series. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies is the sixth and in hardback.

Balmy Botswana is the home of a remarkable, corpulent female private investigator, Precious Ramotswe. Having survived an earlier abusive marriage, Mma Ramotswe is happily married to local mechanic Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, thoroughly agreeable proprietor of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors.

As much as I enjoy the delightful, intimate commentary on these colourful African characters, I couldn't face wading through all six in the series. Not much happens – perhaps three or four incidents per book – yet McCall Smith, in his incredibly understated way, keeps momentum going to the point that millions worldwide are panting for the next.

This time, Mma Ramotswe has two unpleasant encounters – one between her antiquated white detective's van and a local on a bicycle; another with her malevolent ex. Putting personal matters aside, she pushes on with detective agency demands: One of her husband's apprentices has shacked up with an aging, married, fancy woman.

Furthermore, assistant detective Mma Makutsi has her sights set on capturing the heart of a man: "Mma Ramotswe would have to admit that she herself was not above the occasional attempt to get people to do things. She would not have called that pushiness, she would rather have described it as ... Well, it was difficult for her to think of an exact word to express the mixture of psychology and determination which one had to be able to invoke if one was to get anything done."

See, the writing is spare, formal and predictable. Despite the engaging narrative around Mma Makutsi snaring her sweetie at dancing classes, I suspect this will be my last McCall Smith.