I heard this as an audio book, in 15-minute segments as I drove my kids to and from school. It was a strange way to experience a book, as if it were serialized as a tiny daily radio program. I don’t think this detracted too much from it, however, as the structure of the book lent itself to this sort of presentation.

It is episodic, following the adventures of one Mma Ramotswe, a native of Botswana who opens that country’s first Ladies’ Detective Agency, with some detours into the points of view of other people connected to her by blood or by her cases. It has an unhurried, charming feel to it, easy to put down and pick back up again. Ramotswe seems to live a somewhat charmed life herself—as she boldly strides into the dangers attendant with each case, she has a few brushes with death which nevertheless leave her unharmed and do nothing to interfere with her resolve to find out the truth and put things right.

It has been a few weeks since I finished this book, which makes this a good time to reflect on what endures and remains about the writing. What I remember best are Ramotswe’s unblinking confidence, the careful, slightly redundant speech patterns of the people, and most of all, a feeling for Botswana itself, which comes across as as island of peaceful gentleness in Africa, committed to tradition and experimenting in a bemused way with modernity. The crimes in the cases are in the same spirit: one of them hints at ancient and hidden horrors, but rather than escalating apocalyptically in the style of Stephen King, turns out to be more mundane, though not without malice.

The book is written by Alexander McCall Smith, who was born and educated in Zimbabwe before moving to Scotland to study law. He later taught law at the University of Botswana, and his portrait of the country in this book shows his affection for it.

My Recommendation: It’s not the kind of book I usually seek out to read, but after a slow start I found myself engaged and enjoying it, and looking forward to my next 15-minute episode. I have to admit that I have a pretty crude idea of Africa that comes from reading headlines of the latest wars and other atrocities there, and this book was an excellent antidote. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to see this part of Africa more closely, with a different and valuable perspective.