The Joy and Light Bus Company (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Book 22)

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There is no need to be unkind to people who are unhappy inside themselves. There is room for everyone. Everyone should be able to find somewhere on this earth to sit down.” As always, the setting of this latest in the #1 Ladies Detective series in Botswana is an escape for all non-Botswana readers. Seldom has an author made a foreign country and its people sound so attractive. Mma Ramotswe is horrified by this modern slavery, but the rich family is powerful, so Mma Ramotswe must be creative to deal with them. Yet another wonderful entry in this series. But there was an outstanding question: How did T.K. Molefi know who Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi were? (There is one other related loose end, but it would be a spoiler.) Smith usually explains everything and ties up all loose ends, so I found this a bit disconcerting. In Smith’s meandering 13th 44 Scotland Street novel (after 2017’s A Time of Love and Tartan), the latest personal developments among the residents of the Edinburgh street will strike many as Continue reading »

People had to be left to make their own mistakes, even if the rest of us could see quite clearly the dangers that lay ahead.” In another plot line, their client, Mr. Baboloki Mophephu, has come to them because he is concerned that his very wealthy father, Mr. Fidelis Mophephu, has left his farm and farmhouse to his long-time nurse. The son suspects undue influence and wants the agency to investigate. But both Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are wary because of their instinctual dislike of their client. It's a lot of fun to follow their investigation and the creative solution that emerges.Smith’s disappointing sequel to 2019’s The Department of Sensitive Crimes has its memorable and moving moments, but not enough of them. Det. Ulf Varg and the other members of Sweden’s Continue reading » As always, the ladies muse on many topics, including what is required to keep men happy, and Mma Makutsi coins an excellent term for those old-fashioned males who still indulge in sexual discrimination: Past Tense Men. I think the title says it all. Who other than Alexander McCall Smith would dream up the name "The Joy and Light Bus Company" which is just so fitting for the atmosphere of this lovely series set in beautiful Botswana. Several recurring characters make an appearance in the book, one of them being beautiful, husband-stealer Violet Sephoto, who's always making trouble.

Sometimes there were doubts, and those doubts could persist, but often you really had no choice. You had to feel your way through the complexities of this life and hope, just hope, that you got it right more often than you got it wrong.” THE JOY AND LIGHT BUS COMPANY was available as an ebook from my library and I decided to see if anything had changed. It hadn’t. Mma Ramotswe, Mna Makutsi, and Mma Potokwane are still investigating small personal problems, and still dispensing wisdom and tact while doing so. Violet Sephona is still carrying out outrageous activities. Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is still floundering as men sometimes do. Except for a brief interlude about unpaid orphan slaves, which Mma Ramotswe solves, all the events in the stories could have occurred the author’s native Scotland. And unfortunately orphan slaves occur in many parts of the world besides Africa. I enjoyed visiting with Mma Ramotswe and her entourage, and its fun to see Mma Ramotswe solve problems in her unique fashion. In the end, Mma Ramotswe's patience and common-sense will win out, and, without a doubt, all will be the better for it. When you are with somebody you love the smallest, smallest things can be so important, so amusing because love transforms the world, everything. And was that what had happened?

Multibuys

attends a business seminar where he happens to meet an old acquaintance called Mr. T.K. Molefi. Mr. Matekoni and Mr. Molefi decide to start a bus company that would put Mr. Matekoni's mechanic skills to good use. A new client wants Agency to investigate the nurse looking after his elderly father when it emerges that his father has willed her his farm, alleging that the woman has exercised undue influence on the old man. When Precious and Mma Potokwani visit the farm, they tend towards a different conclusion but, heeding Clovis Anderson’s best advice, they reserve judgement. A meeting with the daughters of the family reveals that thin If your ceiling should fall down, then you have lost a room, but gained a courtyard. Think of it that way. Their client is a wealthy man who has discovered that his elderly father has left his house in a will to a younger woman who has been his nurse for 10 years. He is dismayed that the evil woman has unduly influenced his father to do so and wants her investigated. Even as she puzzles over mysteries on the domestic front, Mma Ramotswe’s professional duties must take precedence. When a concerned son learns that his aging father’s nurse now stands to inherit the family home, he begins to doubt her intentions and takes his case to Botswana’s premier detective agency. Fortunately, Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are committed agents of justice and agree to investigate.

Mr JLB Matekoni, husband of Number One Ladies’ Detective agency proprietor Mma Precious Ramotswe, is feeling uncertain about the future of his business, leading to a possible risky course of action. In the meantime, the detective ladies Ramotswe and Makutsi are hired to investigate an issue of the nurse of an elderly man being named to inherit his family home. They talked about the sorts of things they liked to talk about when there were no important decisions to be made and when the conversation could wander comfortably along uncluttered shores.” In any case, Mr. Mophephu is concerned about his rich elderly father, whose caregiver may be exerting undue influence - perhaps even planning to marry the old man - for financial gain. This is a delicate situation that requires diplomacy from Mma Ramotswe. What is the alchemy that makes this series so successful? Certainly at the start, there was the novelty. It’s unusual for an English-language series to be set in Botswana, or at least, it was when this one began. But it takes a lot more than that to sustain a series over so many years.McCall Smith is a master …. There’s beauty and revelation of one kind or another woven expertly into every line.” — The Christian Science Monitor In spite of her limited stature, Mma Pula-Pula had about her a strong confident air of authority. But it was not authority of the sort that one would encounter in a school principal or a magistrate or somebody of that sort: this was the authority of the bully.” Finally, while visiting Mma Potokwame at the Orphan Farm, Mma Ramotswe hears about what amounts to domestic slavery. Can she help?

There was rarely anything new in life, she thought—but it was not just human failings that repeated themselves: so too did those things that were positive. They recurred, which was a good thing, in a way, as familiarity brought with it a certain comfort. So it was reassuring when people followed routines that you had seen them follow countless times: without pattern the world could be a perplexing and frightening place. That was why Mma Ramotswe liked the old ways; that was why she appreciated it when people greeted you in the traditional manner, or enquired after your health, or made mention of things that had happened a long time ago and that people liked to hear about. These things reminded you of who you were, where you were, and how, even after you had gone, there would still be this place, this earth, this happiness—all still there for those who came after you.” Once again, your wonderful friend Mma Potokwani helped you through some personal crises and you helped her solve the problem of children working as slaves. What a terrible thing to encounter now Mma. Humans can be so cruel to one another. After the ladies converse over tea and fruit cake, Mma Ramotswe learns that a new orphan girl, who arrived with a broken wrist, was forced to work for a wealthy family without pay. My great thanks go to Edelweiss and Penguin Random House for the review copy. This charming tale will be for sale November 16, 2021.

Toys

I wish to express my sincere thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada. I was delighted to receive this ARC in return for an honest review. It is astounding that this is the 22nd book in the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series, and they always remain fresh and enjoyable and provide food for thought. of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars The Joy and Light Bus Company by Alexander McCall Smith