Publishers Weekly
09/18/2017
The case of Charity Mompoloki, who claims she was fired unjustly from her job at an office supply company in Gaborone, Botswana, preoccupies Precious Ramotswe and her ambitious assistant, Grace Makutsi, who now styles herself principal investigating officer, in Smith’s pleasing, leisurely paced 18th No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novel (after 2016’s Precious and Grace). Charity was charged with having been rude to a customer, but might her male boss have had devious reasons for getting rid of her? Meanwhile, Precious’s disreputable ex-husband, trumpet player Note Mokoti, has resurfaced in Gaborone. And Precious’s chance discovery of a hitherto-unknown relative, a nurse named Mingie Ramotswe, initially causes her a great deal of angst. Precious, who’s so good at helping others in need, suddenly has serious personal problems, and her gentle husband, Mr. J.L.B. Maketoni, can provide only limited solace. On the way to the surprising resolution, Smith delivers some important lessons about human frailty and the value of charity. Agent: Robin Straus, Robin Straus Agency. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
Praise for The House of Unexpected Sisters:
“Perhaps one of the author’s most charming books on the topic of Precious Ramotswe.” —The Washington Times
“There is no end to the pleasure that may be extracted from these books.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Longtime fans of the series will feel as if they've come home again.” —Booklist (Starred Review)
Praise for Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series:
“An oasis. . . . Full of wit, nuance, and caring.” —Chicago Sun-Times
“McCall Smith explores diverse matters of the heart. . . . Vibrantly appealing. . . . A respite from the rush and worries of daily life.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Entrancing. . . . A tapestry of extraordinary nuance and richness.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Smart and sassy . . . [with] the power to amuse or shock or touch the heart, sometimes all at once.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Enthralling. . . . Mma Ramotswe is someone readers can’t help but love.” —USA Today
“The best, most charming, honest, hilarious, and life-affirming books to appear in years.”
—The Plain Dealer
Library Journal
06/01/2017
No plot details yet for the 18th outing of the top-notch ladies' detective agency run in Botswana by Precious Ramotswe with the help of Grace Makutsi, but McCall Smith has been busy. On May 9, he received the Medal of Honor for Achievement in Literature from the National Arts Club in New York.
Kirkus Reviews
2017-09-19
A deceptively slow opening movement ushers in one of the most complicated dockets ever for the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency."Life," thinks Mma Precious Ramotswe, is "more or less perfect." But only a few hours after this contented reflection, Mr. Polopetsi, the part-time chemistry teacher who volunteers his services at the agency, presents her with an unexpectedly vexing problem. Charity Mompoloki, the sister of a fellow teacher, has been fired from her job on the sales floor of The Office Place for speaking rudely to a customer—something she tearfully assures Mma Ramotswe she didn't do, a statement Mma Grace Makutsi, the agency's co-director and a fellow alumna of the Botswana Secretarial College, is prepared to defend to the death. If Charity wasn't rude, then why did her boss, Mr. Gopolang, show her the door? Looking for answers, Mma Ramotswe (Precious and Grace, 2016, etc.) visits Charity's mother, Mma Lentswe, in Mochudi, her own hometown, and inadvertently makes a discovery that seriously threatens to derail her from the increasingly puzzling case she's agreed to investigate, a discovery that will lead to still further developments, some of them wonderful, some shattering. Meanwhile, word comes that Note Mokoti, Mma Ramotswe's abusive first husband, has been spotted at the local branch of the Standard Bank. The traditionally built detective, normally a rock of strength and sanity, might well be overwhelmed by all this intrigue if her creator didn't trot out perennial bad girl Violet Sephotho for one more round of villainy, provoking Mma Ramotswe's unsurprising reaction: "Well, she does get around, doesn't she?"Though the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency increasingly feels more like a therapy group than a commercial enterprise, there's no denying the slow-burning power of its revelations in this 18th installment.
