Review: TO THE LAND OF LONG LOST FRIENDS, Alexander McCall Smith

• 
  this edition made available by my local library
  
• large print edition from Pantheon Books published 2019
• ISBN 978-1-4328-7127-7
• 343 pages 

 Synopsis (publisher)

THE TWENTIETH BOOK IN THE BELOVED NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY SERIES The one with the mysterious reverend . . .

At a local wedding, Mma Ramotswe reunites with a friend whose daughter has inexplicably turned away from her. Elsewhere, several ladies in the region fall under the spell of a charismatic self-styled reverend. With little work on at the agency, Precious and Mma Makutsi see no harm in looking into such curious events. Meanwhile, Charlie is anxious. How can he, the part-time detective, secure his love's hand in marriage? Even in the quietest months, it seems, there's plenty for the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency to investigate . . 

 My Take: 

It seems a long time since I have read one of these books, perhaps 10 years, but I have enjoyed many of them in the past. 

Here are a few

TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT
THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS
THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB
4.5, THE SATURDAY BIG TENT WEDDING PARTY
4.5, THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION
4.6, THE MINOR ADJUSTMENT BEAUTY SALON  

The author really hit the spot when he created Precious Ramotswe and her faithful offsider Mma Makutsi. And their agency now includes Charlie, once a mechanic, not a very good one though, and now part time detective in search of a wife.

 Their homespun philosophy is still the same, and they still find solutions to problems.

 My rating: 4.4

Review: FATTY O'LEARY'S DINNER PARTY, Alexander McCall Smith - audio book

• source: my local library
• Steven Crossley (Narrator),‎ 
•  Whole Story Audiobooks (Publisher)
• published 2014 
• Listening Length: 3 hours and 47 minutes

Synopsis (Amazon)

When his loving wife, Betty, plans a trip to Ireland for Fatty O'Leary's 40th birthday things go wrong almost immediately: the seats in economy class on the plane are too small; Irish bathroom furniture is not as commodious as he'd have liked. And all the time Fatty must put up with the unthinking cruelty of strangers.

My Take

Like many generously built people Fatty O'Leary is a most forgiving man. He has very few malicious bones in his body and he quickly forgets indignities once they have been surmounted, most of the time. His trip of a lifetime quickly turns into a nightmare, and indeed progresses from one nightmare to another, all caused mainly by his generous proportions, but Fatty, an antiques dealer from Arkansas, soars above it all. His wife Betty deserves a medal.

This was a lovely entertaining read, not, I should point out, crime fiction.
Steven Crossley does a wonderful job of the narration.

My rating: 4.4

I have also read 
TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT
THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS
THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB
4.5, THE SATURDAY BIG TENT WEDDING PARTY
4.5, THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION
4.6, THE MINOR ADJUSTMENT BEAUTY SALON
4.5, CHANCE DEVELOPMENTS
4.5, PRECIOUS AND GRACE
4.5, THE WOMAN WHO WALKED IN SUNSHINE
4.4, THE HANDSOME MAN'S DE LUXE CAFE 

Review: THE HANDSOME MAN'S DE LUXE CAFE, Alexander McCall Smith

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 1042 KB
• Print Length: 257 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1408704331
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group (September 18, 2014)
• Publication Date: September 18, 2014
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00IA2E6S2
• #15 in the No 1. Ladies' Detective Agency series

 Synopsis (Amazon)

Even the arrival of her baby can't hold Mma Makutsi back from success in the workplace, and so no sooner than she becomes a full partner in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - in spite of Mma Ramotswe's belated claims that she is only 'an assistant full partner' - she also launches a new enterprise of her own: the Handsome Man's De Luxe Café. Grace Makutsi is a lady with a business plan, but who could predict temperamental chefs, drunken waiters and more? Luckily, help is at hand, from the only person in Gaborone more gently determined than Mma Makutsi . . .

Mma Ramotswe, of course.

My Take

I realised recently that I had missed reading this title and decided to catch up with it while I remembered.

As usual there are a number of stories woven into one. Mr J.L.B. Matekoni makes the difficult decision that he must let Charlie, his unqualified mechanic go, as the garage is simply not doing enough business. An Indian man and his sister come into the office with what appears to be a difficult problem - a lady living in his house does not know who she is. He needs to prove her identity so she can be issued with new identity papers and be allowed to stay in Botswana. And Mma Makutsi decides to set up a restaurant. In addition Mma Makutsi has told the new customer that she is the co-director of the No 1. Ladies Detective Agency, which is news to Precious Ramotswe.

Once again this is a quick easy read, with a good deal of Mma Ramotswe's common sense and detective skills surfacing and holding centre stage. Each of the characters are cleverly and gently developed.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read
TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT
THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS
THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB
4.5, THE SATURDAY BIG TENT WEDDING PARTY
4.5, THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION
4.6, THE MINOR ADJUSTMENT BEAUTY SALON
4.5, CHANCE DEVELOPMENTS
4.5, PRECIOUS AND GRACE
4.5, THE WOMAN WHO WALKED IN SUNSHINE

Review: THE WOMAN WHO WALKED IN SUNSHINE, Alexander McCall Smith

• this edition ISIS Large Print published 2016
• ISBN 978-1-78541-174-8
• 278 pages
• #16 in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series
• source: my local library

Synopsis (from the library)

Mma Ramotswe is reluctantly persuaded by Mr J. L. B. Matekoni to take a holiday from her detective work. 

But she finds it impossible to resist the temptation to interfere with the cases taken on by her co-director - secretly, she intends. This leads her to delve into the past of a famous man whose reputation has been called into question, and to join forces with a new assistant detective, Mr Polopetsi. 

While 'on holiday', Mma Ramotswe also manages to help a young boy in the search for his missing mother; and then of course there is the agency's arch-enemy, Violet Sephotho, scheming to set up a rival secretarial college. In the end, Mma Ramotswe finds that a little trust goes a long way, especially when it comes to having confidence in her dearest friends and colleagues.

My Take

As always I have enjoyed the easy readability of this book.

I had intended to use the description at Fantastic Fiction as my synopsis, but what I found there was so far from what actually happened in the novel that it made me wonder where it had come from - not from someone who had read what I read.

So, I am sorry if what I have used above, which came from my local library, is too revealing. I'm sure it leaves plenty for you to find out.

I particularly liked in this novel the exploration of relationships: that between Precious Ramotswe and her husband Mr J.L.B. Matekone, between her and Mma Makutsi, and the compassionate side of Precious Ramotswe. As it turns out, Precious Ramotswe has taught Grace Makutsi well

Once again there is a basis of home spun philosophy, and a gentle use of quite believable and ordinary stories.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read
TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT
THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS
THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB
4.5, THE SATURDAY BIG TENT WEDDING PARTY
4.5, THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION
4.6, THE MINOR ADJUSTMENT BEAUTY SALON
4.5, CHANCE DEVELOPMENTS
4.5, PRECIOUS AND GRACE 

Review: PRECIOUS AND GRACE, Alexander McCall Smith

• this edition published 2016, large print, by Wheeler Publishing
• source: my local library, 
• 370 pages
• ISBN-10: 1-4104-9339-3
• #17 in the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

In this latest installment of the beloved and best-selling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Precious Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi help a young woman on a quest to find someone from her past.

Changes are afoot at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, where Mma Makutsi, who has recently been promoted to co-director, has been encouraging Mma Ramotswe to update to more modern office practices. However, an unusual case will require both of them to turn their attention firmly to the past. A young Canadian woman who spent her early childhood in Botswana requests the agency's help in recovering important pieces of her life there. With only a faded photograph - and, of course, some good old-fashioned detective skills - to guide them, Precious and Grace set out to locate the house that the woman used to live in and the caretaker who looked after her many years ago. But when the journey takes an unexpected turn, they are forced to consider whether some lost things may be better off unfound.

Busy as she is with this challenging investigation, Mma Ramotswe can always be relied on to come to the aid of her friends - who seem to have a special knack for landing in hot water. Mr. Polopetsi, an occasional assistant at the agency, has made an ill-advised business decision that may lead to serious trouble. And next door at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, Fanwell, the junior mechanic, has become helplessly attached to a stray dog who proves to be a bigger responsibility than he can handle. With Mma Makutsi by her side, Mma Ramotswe dispenses help and sympathy with the graciousness and warmth for which she is so well known, and everyone is led to surprising insights into the healing power of compassion, forgiveness, and new beginnings.

My take

These books really are the reading equivalent of comfort food. I met someone today who told me that she had "never been able to get on with them." I was surprised because for me it is the opposite: I always expect to enjoy them. They are not deep mysteries but the situations depicted them show an incredible understanding of what makes people tick, and the solutions are dispensed with just a touch of philosophy.

There are reminders always that the setting is not the West, but Botswana, a country struggling to find its place in the 21st century. Technology is changing the world. Even Precious Ramotswe's husband Mr. J.L.B Matekone comments on how much cars have changed, making them so difficult for him to repair.

Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are now co-directors of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and that situation breeds its own frictions, and I enjoyed their interaction.

So if you haven't ever read these, and would like something light and cozy to read, give this series a try. But I would advise starting at the beginning.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read
TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT
THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS
THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB
4.5, THE SATURDAY BIG TENT WEDDING PARTY
4.5, THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION
4.6, THE MINOR ADJUSTMENT BEAUTY SALON
4.5, CHANCE DEVELOPMENTS

Review: CHANCE DEVELOPMENTS, Alexander McCall Smith

• subtitle: Unexpected Love Stories
• first published in Great Britain 2015
• ISBN 978-1-84697-329-1
• 236 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (back cover of book)

It is said that a picture may be worth a thousand words but an old photograph can inspire many more. In this beguiling book, Alexander McCall Smith casts his eye over five chanced-upon photographs from the era of black-and-white photography and imagines the stories behind them. Who were those people, what were their stories, why are they smiling, what made them sad?

What emerges are surprising and poignant tales of love and friendship in a variety of settings - an estate in the Highlands of Scotland, a travelling circus in Canada, an Australian gold-mining town, a village in Ireland, and the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. Some will find joy and fulfilment - others would prefer happier endings. Each of them, though, will find love, and that is ultimately what matters.

My Take

First of all, I need to point out this book is NOT crime fiction. It is part of ploy to widen my reading horizons although of course McCall Smith, the creator of Precious Ramotswe, is already an author that I enjoy.

What the author has done is to take five black and white or sepia photographs and imagine the stories that might be behind the photos. His stories make you look more closely at the photos, perhaps even to curse their fuzziness and the fact that you can't enlarge them. And yet each story seems very appropriate to the particular photo.

Just five short stories. So it is a pretty quick read, and an interesting one at that.

My rating: 4.5


I've also read

TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT
THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS
THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB
4.5, THE SATURDAY BIG TENT WEDDING PARTY
4.5, THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION
4.6, THE MINOR ADJUSTMENT BEAUTY SALON 

Review: THE MINOR ADJUSTMENT BEAUTY SALON, Alexander McCall Smith

• published 2013
  
• ISBN 978-1-4087-0431-8
• 248 pages
• #14 in the No 1. Ladies Detective Agency series

Synopsis (Publisher: Little, Brown)

As Botswana awaits the familiar blessing of the rains and the resumption of the eternal cycle, seismic upheaval is taking place at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

Not only is Mr J. L. B. Matekoni attempting to reform himself into a modern husband, but after her marriage to Phuti Radiphuti, Mma Ramotswe's challenging but irreplaceable associate Mma Makutsi has joyful news.

With the arrival of an heir to the Double Comfort furniture empire and Mma Makutsi busy with motherhood, Mma Ramotswe must tackle tea-making and detective work alone. Well-known troublemaker Violet Sephotho may or not be behind a smear campaign against the Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon, and a dispute over the will of a local dignitary points to a shocking family secret. But the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is resilient and adaptable, and change brings salutary lessons: that our enemies are not always obvious, that a snake under the bed may be an ally, and that a mother's love conquers all.

My Take

The ability of these cozies to delight never ceases to amaze me. I was thinking after I finished this one that you rarely see a body and almost never sight blood. Most of the "cases" the agency takes on are domestic issues. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency has been operating for some years now and although it charges fees, rarely makes a profit when costs are taken into consideration. Many of the investigations they take on do not actually come in through the door, but result from people consulting Precious Ramotswe on a casual basis as she does or shopping or sits at the market drinking coffee.

THE MINOR ADJUSTMENT BEAUTY SALON is all about relationships. Mma Makutsi's maternity leave brings Precious Ramotswe to a realisation of how much she enjoys Grace's company. Her absence in the office causes a temporary depression which sparks Mr J. L. B. Matekoni to consider how he can become a more modern husband and he has a disastrous experience in a night course he decides to attend. Mma Ramotswe takes on an inheritance investigation and misses her friend and associate when she looks for someone to bounce her ideas off.

The ending of THE MINOR ADJUSTMENT BEAUTY SALON and the knowledge that there will be another in the series will delight followers. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

My rating: 4.6

I've also reviewed
TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT
THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS
THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB
4.5, THE SATURDAY BIG TENT WEDDING PARTY
4.5, THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION 

Review: THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION, Alexander McCall Smith

• Published by Little Brown 2012
• ISBN 978-1-4087-0260-4
• 261 pages
• #13 in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Random House)

Precious Ramotswe is haunted by a repeated dream: a vision of a tall, strange man who waits for her beneath an acacia tree. Odd as this is, she’s far too busy to worry about it.

The best apprentice at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors is in trouble with the law and stuck with the worst lawyer in Gaborone. Grace Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti are building the house of their dreams, but their builder is not completely on the up and up. And, most shockingly, Mma Potokwane, defender of Botswana’s weak and downtrodden, has been dismissed from her post as matron at the orphan farm. Can the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency help restore the beloved matron to her rightful position?

As wealthy and powerful influences at the orphan farm become allied against their friend, help arrives from an unexpected visitor: the tall stranger from Mma Ramotswe’s dreams, who turns out to be none other than the estimable Clovis Andersen, author of the No. 1 Ladies’ prized manual, The Principles of Private Detection. Together, Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi, and their teacher-turned-colleague help right this injustice and in the process discover something new about being a good detective.

My take

When I watched the TV series just recently I was a little disappointed but I couldn't pinpoint just what was missing. It wasn't just that Jill Scott didn't quite fit my mental image of Precious Ramotswe. The content of the stories seemed rather thin and he-who-watches-TV-with-me read his paper because he thought the episodes were rather trite.

But now I know what was missing! What the books contain that I so much enjoy. I'm pretty sure that I have read the whole series, so I'm pretty well acquainted with all the characters. What the books contain is the carefully chosen language with that subtle touch of humour that conveys Mma Ramotswe's thoughts and feelings.

Followers of this series won't be disappointed in THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION. The stories feel fresh and while there's no murder there's plenty of everyday life, the stuff that makes these cozies so satisfying. There's no doubt about it - McCall Smith has created a cast of characters that we care about.

You'll notice that I have included THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION under Africa in the 2012 Global Reading Challenge.  The novels in this series are very firmly based in Botswana and frequently contain reflections on how Botswana is coping with the modern world. For example Clovis Andersen and Precious Ramotswe talk about how words are disappearing from the language and she often talks about the loss of traditional values. And on a deeper level the novels raise issues about how modern economics is destroying traditional and human structures.

My rating: 4.5

Other reviews of this series on MiP
TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT
THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS
THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB
4.5, THE SATURDAY BIG TENT WEDDING PART

Review: THE SATURDAY BIG TENT WEDDING PARTY, Alexander McCall Smith

• Publisher: Large Print edition Thorndike Press, 2011
• ISBN: 978-1-4104-3513-2
• 319 pages
• Source: my local library

Publisher's blurb
The twelfth installment in the beloved, best-selling series is once again a beautiful blend of wit and wisdom, and a profoundly touching tale of the human heart.

Precious Ramotswe is haunted by a dream in which she is driving her dear old white van. Grace Makutsi dreams that her 97 percent on the Botswana Secretarial College exam was a mistake. When Mma Ramotswe discovers that her van is actually still in use (and, of course, sets out to retrieve it), Mma Makutsi wonders whether her dream will turn out to be prophetic as well.

They can only wait and see, but, in the meantime, one of Phuti Radiphuti's apprentices has gotten a girl pregnant and, under pressure to marry her, has run away. Naturally, it is up to Precious and Grace to help the couple work things out. In other developments, Mma Ramotswe investigates a case of rural jealousy in which cattle are being poisoned. Add to the mix Violet Sephotho's newly begun, already unstoppable run for the Botswana Parliament and the possibility that wedding bells may finally ring for Phuti Radiphuti and Grace Makutsi--whose love for each other is as great as their love for Botswana--and we have a charming and delightful tale in the inimitable style of Alexander McCall Smith.

My take:

Reading the next installment in the cozy series The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency has become an annual delight and this one came up to expectations. Essentially they are quick and easy reads, set in Botswana, and just the cup of tea for those who like cozies.

On the eve of Mma Makutsi's long awaited wedding the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency takes on a new case with a new client who had not wanted to meet Mma Ramotswe in the office. Someone has killed two of Botsalo Moeti's cattle and he would like Precious Ramotswe to find out who and why.

This is typical of the cases that the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency takes on and eventually Mma Ramotswe comes up with several possible scenarios. She also applies her mind to a number of domestic issues, resolving all of them satisfactorily.

I'm sure the fact that I enjoy this series so much is related to the fact that I've been reading them since the first was published back in 1998. They've all been good reads, cozies, and there has been story-line development. So, if you've never tried them, hunt down the first THE NO. 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY and begin your journey.

My rating: 4.5

Other reviews on this blog:
TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT
THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS
THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB

Review: THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB, Alexander McCall Smith

Read on my Kindle
eISBN 978-0-7481-1110-7
Published 2010
#11 in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.

Following a pattern established in the previous titles in the series, THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB is really a number of stories connected by the main characters Mma Precious Ramotswe, chief detective of the agency, her assistant Mma Grace Makutse, and Mma Ramotswe's husband Mr J.L.B. Matekoni.

In the first of the 17 connected stories Mr J.L.B Matekoni drives out of Gaborone to assist a female customer whose car has "died". Another car arrives at the breakdown at the same time as he does, and he notices that the man driving the car and the woman whose car has broken down appear to be well acquainted. This story crops up throughout others when Mma Ramotswe is asked by a friend to investigate whether her husband is having an affair.

In another story Mma Makutse's fiance Mr Phute Radiphute suffers a dreadful accident at work and again the ramifications of this story extend throughout the book. In another story we learn of a man who has been duped out of his house by Mma Makutse's arch rival Violet Sepotho. The final story that is really a thread throughout the book is Mma Ramotswe's search for a Safari park guide who has been left a legacy by a wealthy American tourist.

The stories are woven together with a good dose of Precious Ramotswe's home spun Botswanan philosophy. There's a good dose of humour too. The particular episode that made me laugh occurs when our two "traditionally built" ladies are travelling by canoe to the Safari Club. They notice that the rim of the canoe is perilously close to the water. The boatman decides to explain to them what could happen if they move and the boat swamps - what awaits them in the water - hippos, crocodiles, snakes and the like, and then he begins to discuss which would be the best death: being bitten in half by a hippo, or drowned in a roll by a crocodile.

As I've said in other reviews, these are gentle books, easy reads, at the cosy end of the mystery spectrum. They are full of regularly recurring characters whose lives advance just a little with each book. They are not filled with horrific crime, blood is rarely spilled, and I'm struggling to think of one book that features a murder. These are the sort of mysteries that could occur in everyday life. They focus on the values that make life worthwhile.

In the final pages of THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB Precious Ramotswe is thinking about the legacy of her father the late Obed Ramotswe and the lessons she learned from him about how to lead a good life.

I think it is the essential goodness we see in Precious Ramotswe, how she is such a tower of strength, that  keeps me reading these stories. Alexander McCall Smith has fallen into a bit of a pattern in writing these books, even recycling some of the back stories and some of the philosphy from book to book, and some may find that dissatisfying.

My rating 4.3

My reviews on this blog of other books in the series
TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT
THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS

Review: THE DOG WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, Alexander McCall Smith

The Dog Who Came In From The Cold is a Corduroy Mansions novel by Alexander McCall Smith. Yesterday I completed listening to the final chapter, number 78 - at least I think it was the last chapter.

To be quite honest I'm not sure I really know what the novel was about. I'm a bit stuck to string more than a few words together about it. It had an air of having been written on the fly, and for me some of the story lines feel a bit unfinished - or did I just miss them being rounded off? Sometimes I think it was just AMS exploring an idea or having a small pontificate.

I don't think Alexander McCall Smith could really count it as one of his great successes. I certainly didn't engage with it in the way I can see The Telegraph hoped I would. I didn't join the FaceBook club, or follow Freddie de lay Hay on Twitter, or ask questions in the forum. Oh yes, I kept going back, listening to the next chapter, then the next, but I have only a hazy idea of how they all meshed together. If you have the time and inclination, you might like to start listening to them.

If I had a suggestion, perhaps next time the producers could consider making it possible for me to listen to Andrew Sachs reading the text while my eyes follow along. Each chapter is about 7 -8 minutes long, just long enough for my mind to wander and even lose track of the narration. Even Andrew Sachs can be a bit soporific at times. I think it would certainly help me remember events from one day to the next - bearing in mind that sometimes I listened to 3 or 4 chapters consecutively, and then often left it for a week - just long enough to develop great holes in my memory!

Weekly Geeks 2009 - 42 : Podcasts: The Dog Who Came In from the Cold

This week's Weekly Geeks task from Suey asks us to talk about podcasts.

I thought I'd tell you about THE DOG WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, Alexander McCall Smith's second in the Corduroy Mansions online series.

Last year I listened to most of the first novel. This year's online novel began back in September - the first chapter can be found here, and it is now up to chapter 47.
Access the current list of chapters here.

It continues mainly with the characters from last year's novel but you don't have to worry too much about that. If you want to read it, there is a summary of the first novel here, and there are plenty of other features on site to bring you up to speed.

Currently I'm about 5 chapters behind because I don't always get around to listening every day. Each chapter is 7 or so minutes, so theoretically it should be possible, but I just don't seem to do it despite the email alerts I get reminding me. Consequently my understanding of what is actually going on is a bit hazy, but what keeps me going back for more is the beautiful reading of Andrew Sachs (you remember - Manuel from Fawlty Towers).

There are a number of reading options available to you - read it visually online, listen to Andrew Sachs read the chapter, subscribe to the podcasts through your iTunes account, and subscribe to email alerts. In addition oyu can follow in Twitter, join a Telegraph community to discuss and influence the direction the book is taking.

The Dog Who Came In From The Cold

Notification came this week that the sequel to Alexander McCall Smith's CORDUROY MANSIONS, THE DOG WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, takes off on September 21.

This was probably my only departure from crime fiction last year, but I do enjoy McCall Smith's writing, particularly his quirky sense of humour, and who can resist Andrew Sachs reading?

I have to admit though that real life got in the way of me completing my reading of CORDUROY MANSIONS last year. I finished 14 of 20 weeks. Somehow my habit of listening to a chapter a day got broken, and I never went back. It is a bit like running a marathon. Sit down, and you never stand up again.

So maybe this year I'll do better.

If you'd like to catch up with this new online novel visit the Telegraph site. Lots of information there from McCall Smith too. There's a list of the characters from CORDUROY MANSIONS, and interviews etc.

Visit this website for more information on the first novel, character profiles. This is a publisher's promo, but very enjoyable nonetheless. Uses Flash animation. You can easily catch up with the story and characters here.
Andrew Sachs reads each of the chapters, mostly a little over a minute each.
Be warned there will be 80 of them so set some time aside. You can come back though and scroll through to the next chapter.

If you are interested you can follow progress on a special FaceBook site too.

Check my other blog posts mentioning Alexander McCall Smith.

This 2 minute video explores Pimlico which is where CORDUROY MANSIONS is set. Here's the link if the video doesn't display below.

Up for grabs: a copy of THE GOOD HUSBAND OF ZEBRA DRIVE, Alexander McCall Smith

Another competition, this time to win THE GOOD HUSBAND OF ZEBRA DRIVE
I will post it anywhere, but it will come by surface mail if you are outside Australia.
This competition will close on Saturday 23 May, midnight my time (Adelaide, South Australia)

#8 in the No. 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY series.
After I read the previous title in this series, I thought perhaps it was coming to an end; that McCall Smith had no more to tell, could do no more with the material. How wrong I was! With THE GOOD HUSBAND OF ZEBRA DRIVE the series swings upward to another peak. Matters come to a point between that traditionally built lady Precious Ramotswe and her secretary Mma Makutsi when the latter takes the afternoon off to do some shopping when she is supposed to be minding the office. Mma Makutsi decides to resign and to look for a new job. Meanwhile, when Mma Makutsi was absent, Precious Ramotswe’s husband, Mr. J L. B. Matekoni interviewed a client, and he tells his wife he would like to follow that case through, carrying out the investigation himself. A cousin working in the administration of the public hospital in Mochudi comes to see Precious Ramotswe about some unexplained deaths at the hospital, so once again the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency has its hands full.
My rating: 5

Just 3 questions to answer correctly to enter the draw for this book.
Enter your answers on the form you'll find here.
You might like to check what else I've written about this series.

Leave me a comment if you also like this series.
Which one is your favourite?

Just Desserts - McCall Smith style

Why is the writer of detective fiction put under such pressure to deal out just desserts to wrongdoers? The truth is that for many of us fiction is in some sense real and that what happens to fictional people is, in a curious way, happening in the real world.

This comes from an article by Alexander McCall Smith that was originally published in The Wall Street Journal, and then republished in the Weekend Australian. It makes very interesting reading. McCall Smith took up a suggestion by one reader that his character Isabel Dalhousie should have a relationship with one of the other characters, a male 14 years younger than her. Then rather predictably, another reader, at a book signing, told him it was a bad idea, after he had incorporated it in the next book.

I'm not sure how much notice writers normally take of their critics and readers, but certainly McCall Smith has made himself available and approachable in a number of ways. In the case of both 44 SCOTLAND STREET and CORDUROY MANSIONS, both published as serials in daily newspapers, he made a point of suggesting that readers could give him feedback and suggestions about characters and plot points.

Do you know of other authors who welcome this sort of reader participation?
I read a comment by an author recently when he said that a negative review had "scarred him for life".
Would you be game to tell an author face to face what he or she had got wrong? At a book signing?

Review: TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT, Alexander McCall Smith

Little, Brown, 2009, ISBN 97801-4087-0103-4, 250 pages

An annual meet up with Precious Ramotswe, proprietor and founder of the No 1. Ladies Detective Agency in Gaborone, Botswana, is one of the pleasures of life. For me it is like renewing a friendship with an old friend.
For TEA TIME for the TRADITIONALLY BUILT is #10 in the series, the first of which was published back in 1998.

Mma Ramotswe and her assistant Mma Makutsi are called upon to investigate why a local football team has begun to lose on a regular basis. Mma Ramotswe's faithful little white van has a terminal illness, and Mma Makutsi's fiance Phuti Radiphuti does not recognise a Jezebel when he comes into contact with one. There is a more detailed synopsis in my earlier posting.

If you are looking for a blood and guts read, then this is not the book for you. As always with all the books in the series, this is a gentle progress, characterised by investigations into the small problems that loom so large in ordinary lives.

While I enjoyed the book, it is not the best in the series. I thought it felt a little padded out, with descriptions and philosophising as Mma Ramotswe ponders the meaning of life.

My rating: 4.0

The series:
1. The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (1998)
2. Tears Of The Giraffe (2000)
3. Morality for Beautiful Girls (2001)
4. The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002)
5. The Full Cupboard of Life (2003)
6. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (2004)
7. Blue Shoes and Happiness (2006)
8. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (2007)
9. The Miracle at Speedy Motors (2008)
10. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (2009)

Alexander McCall Smith's website is at http://www.alexandermccallsmith.co.uk

My other McCall Smith postings: all of them

• Corduroy Mansions
• THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS, rating 4.5
• some mini-reviews
  

Other Reviews

• EuroCrime

Some books are meant to be read aloud

I have a poll running at the moment in which I ask Do you ever listen to a novel?.
Look for it over in thhe right hand column.
You might like to read the accompanying post at Are novels designed to read not heard?

But there are some books where you have to read them aloud, even if only in your mind.
The book I am currently reading, TEA TIME FOR THE TRADITIONALLY BUILT by Alexander McCall Smith, the 10th in the No 1. Ladies Detective Agency series, is just such a novel. And isn't this cover lovely?

I am convinced McCall Smith names his characters to provide audio pleasures to his readers.
Here is a "product description" for TEA TIME courtesy Amazon:

It is a troublesome fact on which even Mma Ramotswe and her assistant Mma Makutsi agree: there are things that men know and ladies do not, and vice versa.
It is unfortunate, for example, when Mma Ramotswe's newest client big-shot Leungo Molofolo, owner of the ailing Kalahari Swoopers, that one thing lady detectives know very little about is football.
And when the glamorous Violet Sephotho sets her sights on Mma Makutsi's unsuspecting fiance, Phuti Radiphuti, it becomes exasperatingly clear that some men do not know how to recognise a ruthless Jezebel even when she is bouncing up and down on the best bed in the Double Comfort Furniture Shop.

In her attempt to foster understanding between the sexes and find the traitor on Mr Football's team, Mma Ramotswe ventures into new territory, drinks tea in unfamiliar kitchens and learns to trust in the observational powers of small boys. And, as wise and warm-hearted as his heroine, Alexander McCall Smith reminds us that we must dig deep to uncover the goodness of the human heart.

Of course I don't read it all aloud to myself, just some passages so I can roll the names off my tongue.

Even the titles of the books in the series have that audio interest:
1. The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (1998)
2. Tears Of The Giraffe (2000)
3. Morality for Beautiful Girls (2001)
4. The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002)
5. The Full Cupboard of Life (2003)
6. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (2004)
7. Blue Shoes and Happiness (2006)
8. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (2007)
9. The Miracle at Speedy Motors (2008)
10. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (2009)

Do you agree?
Are there other writers who appeal to your sense of sound?

Progress reports - various books

I have been "reading" 3 books recently and am not likely to finish any of them this side of Christmas so my post today is a progress report.

I've been faithfully reading Alexander McCall Smith's online novel CORDUROY MANSIONS for 14 weeks now. There are 6 weeks to go.
Today the Telegraph has changed the way you access the book, particularly the audio part. The result is that, rather inconveniently, the widget that I have running on Crime Fiction Journeys now takes you to the home page of the Telegraph, not to the exact page of the chapter you've chosen. So then you have to locate the link to CORDUROY MANSIONS. Once you get there, they have changed the chapter layout, and it is not easy to locate the audio file you've gone there to listen to. Grrr..
The book (or rather Alexander himself we are told) is taking a 2 week break and will resume on January 5. I hope they've reinstated the old system by then.
Am I enjoying the book? As I've commented before I'm enjoying listeningto Andrew Sachs reading each chapter, but I'm not quite sure where the book is heading. You'd think that, 2/3 of the way through, I'd have more idea wouldn't you?

For the last week I've been listening to Matthew Reilly's SEVEN ANCIENT WONDERS in the car to and from work. There are 11 CDs with over 13 hours and I'm in the middle of CD 3, so I'll be a while yet. If you want to read a blurb, here's the one on Fantastic Fiction.
Basically it is a thriller where opposing forces are looking for pieces of gold that basically make up the golden capstone of the Great Pyramid. It a race against time to save the world from a cataclysm that will be caused by a sunspot on the Sun's surface.
It is not my usual style of "reading", rather a thriller that makes me feel like I'm inside an action game, a bit like World of Warcraft or a Dungeons and Dragons one. There's a lot of description, and for the first hour at least falling stones, great dangers, boiling lakes of tar and so on.
Reilly has rather disconcertingly begun the book with the search for the first piece, and then regressed 10 years to tell us why this is all happening.
I hope I don't forget too much in the 10 days I'm having off from work.

The third book is THE PRIVATE PATIENT by P.D. James. We know right from the start of this novel that 47 year old Rhoda Gradwyn is only 23 days away from being murdered. She has decided to have a leading plastic surgeon remove a disfiguring facial scar that she has had for over 30 years. She goes to the surgeon's private clinic at Cheverell Manor in Dorset to have the operation. Indeed the operation is a success, but only hours later Rhoda Gradwyn is dead, throttled.

This is an Adam Dalgleish book and James' fans have been waiting since the publication of THE LIGHTHOUSE in 2005 for the next. We are reminded of that book several times by the investigative team. THE LIGHTHOUSE was a variant on the closed room mystery: an island cut off from the mainland by bad weather with seemingly no-one coming and going, so the murderer had to be on the island. (see my mini-review below: my rating was 5.0)

What we have in THE PRIVATE PATIENT it seems is a variant of the same sort of scenario, only this time using an English country house as the backdrop. Cheverell Manor isn't quite as isolated as Combe Island was, but the list of possible perpetrators is limited. Many in the cast of characters have secrets to hide, the Manor itself was locked at the pertinent times, but there is a local legend about the nearby standing stones, just to complicate things.

THE LIGHTHOUSE (2005)
Combe Island off the Cornish coast has a bloodstained history of piracy and cruelty but now, privately owned, it offers respite to over-stressed men and women in positions of high authority who require privacy and guaranteed security. But the peace of Combe is violated when one of the distinguished visitors is bizarrely murdered.
Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called in to solve the mystery quickly and discreetly, but at a difficult time for him and his depleted team. Dalgliesh is uncertain about his future with Emma Lavenham, the woman he loves; Detective Inspector Kate Miskin has her own emotional problems; and the ambitious Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith is worried about working under Kate. Hardly has the team begun to unravel the complicated motives of the suspects than there is a second brutal killing, and the whole investigation is jeopardized when Dalgliesh is faced with a danger more insidious and as potentially fatal as murder.

CORDUROY MANSIONS, Alexander McCall Smith

I've been listening to CORDUROY MANSIONS for 10 weeks now.
It is not a mystery or crime fiction, rather an exploration of the lives and interactions of the people in a fairly middle class London area.
In fact, the 2 minute video above explores Pimlico which is where the novel is set.


There's a lot of information on the daily Telegraph website about the novel which is due to have 100 chapters and won't be finished until February 13. You can read online, listen online, get a daily podcast for iTunes, get a daily chapter by email or an RSS feed.
So far each of the episodes, read online by Andrew Sachs, goes for somewhere between 7 to 8 minutes.

Alexander McCall Smith: 'My digital novel'

Alexander McCall Smith interview

Review: THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS, Alexander McCall Smith

From the book of the same title published 2008
ISIS AUDIO BOOKS, 7 Compact Discs, 6hrs 40mins, Product code ICD080615, ISBN 978-0-7531-2792-6
An unabridged reading by Adjoa Andoh.

#9 in the series THE NO. 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY.
Precious Ramotswe, that traditionally built Botswanan lady, receives nasty threatening letters, and Mma Makutsi and her fiance buy a bed. The events narrated in these books are deceptively simple but they are full of human interest and little mysteries. An orphan asks the agency to find her family and Mma Ramotwe's husband, Mr J.L.B Matekoni, looks for a miracle for their crippled foster daughter Motheleli. The voice characterisation by Adjoa Andoh is excellent and makes listening a delight.

If you have never read one of these, then you will enjoy this if you like "cozies".

My rating: 4.5

But my advice would be NOT to start here, but at the beginning of the series.
Here is a list
No 1 Ladies Detective agency
1. The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (1998)
2. Tears Of The Giraffe (2000)
3. Morality for Beautiful Girls (2001)
4. The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002)
5. The Full Cupboard of Life (2003)
6. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (2004)
7. Blue Shoes and Happiness (2006)
8. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (2007)
9. The Miracle at Speedy Motors (2008)

and good news! Another title early next year!
10. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (2009)

Early this year, Alexander McCall Smith had 3 titles in the top 10 Amazon UK Crime Fiction best sellers list, a mean feat for any writer. Check my other postings this year that feature McCall Smith titles.