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Author Smith's Book Reviews

44 Scotland Street
Pat, a plain but likable 20-year-old in Edinburgh, Scotland, is taking a year off school for the second time to work in an art gallery run by Matthew, who doesn't seem to be much of a business man but whose father pays the bills. Her fellow residents at 44 Scotland Street include: Bruce, a vain and self-centered surveyor with whom she unwillingly falls in love; Domenica MacDonald, a feisty middle-aged widow; and Bertie, a 5-year-old whiz who practices sa...
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
In this sixth book in the story of the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency, detective Precious Ramotswe must use all her detecting skills to solve personal problems. The centeral problem is the return to Gabarone, Botswana of Mma. (African equivalent of Ms.) Ramotswe's husband, Note Mokoti. Mma. Ramotswe is happily married to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni Botswana's most skilled auto mechanic, but she has neglected to get a divorce from Note. He is using this fact...
Morality for Beautiful Girls
Precious Ramotswe's business is having financial difficulties and to save money, Precious and her fiancé, Mr. Matekoni, have decided to run both her detective agency and his mechanical garage out of the same house. Mr. Matekoni is not feeling well, but refuses to see a doctor, and Precious suspects depression. She gets the formidable Mma Potokwani, whom Mr. Matekoni has immense respect for, to take him to the doctor and take care of him while she sets of...
Portuguese Irregular Verbs
Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld is a noted scholar and author of Portuguese Irregular Verbs - a great hit with philologists. Unfortunately the book has sold only a few copies, and an interior decorator wants to buy out the stock because the binding is impressive and the book will look great on a shelf. Igelfeld and his friends are totally absorbed in their field, too scholarly to be athletic and extremely jeaolous of any accomplishment of anothe...

Smith booklist

Tears of the Giraffe
Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's first and only female private detective, has been handed her most difficult case to date: to find out what happened to a young American who disappeared on the edge of the Kalahari desert 10 years ago. She investigates the case, using her common sense and knowledge of human nature, along with a little bit of guile. In the meantime, her fiancé, Mr. Matekoni, gets talked into taking in a pair of orphans, and becomes worried tha...
The Full Cupboard of Life
Mma Ramotswe and her assistant, Mma Makutsi have been asked to help a wealthy woman who owns a chain of hair-braiding salons. She has four suitors but is uncertain which one to choose for fear that they may only love her for her money. Meanwhile Mma Ramotswe is anxious to set a wedding date but Mr. J.L.B. Matakone seems to be dragging his heels. As usual there is a lot going on in addition to their investigations. Mma Makutsi is doing well with her...
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency has got competition and Mma Ramotswe and her assistant/secretary Mma Makutsi are both worried about the future of the agency, especially after their competitor arrogantly dismisses them as amateurs in a newspaper interview. Mma Makutsi starts a typing school for men in order to supplement her income, and meets a man. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe takes a case where she is asked to track down some people for a man who wants...
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
When her father dies, Precious Ramotswe inherits a substantial herd of cattle which she sells to open a Detective Agency. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency has a slow start but enough cases come in to ensure Miss Ramotswe a modest livelihood. Critics have compared this private detective to Miss Marple and Kinsey Milhone, two other fictional lady private detectives. I find her very different. She lives and works in Botswana, formerly Bechuanaland, whi...
The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Miss Ramotswe takes her inheritance from her father and opens up The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency in Botswana. With the help from her friends, a mechanic, a secretarty, and other eccentric townspeople, Mma Ramotswe investigates the disappearance of a husband, the mystery of a doctor who only knows what he's doing half the time, and the kidnapping of a young boy. She has ingenious mystery solving skills, including tricking a man into revealing he is no...